A Week In Dallas, TX On A $77,910 Salary

Occupation: Writer/editor
Industry: News media
Age: 41
Location: Dallas, TX
Salary: $77,910
Assets: $2,307.12 in checking; $3,961.68 in a high-yield savings account; $2,076 in a CD; $154,744.19 in investments (a money market and Roth IRA); $29,634.81 in my company’s 401(k) (no match).
Debt: My mortgage: $182,028.62; car loan: $4,586.86; and credit card debt $28,687.87.
Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $2,488.34; freelance anywhere from $200 to $2,000.
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses
Monthly Housing Costs: $1,600 mortgage for the house that I own and live in by myself.
Monthly Loan Payments: Credit cards/personal loan: $2,932 total; car payment: $315
All Other Monthly Expenses:
Security System: $21.64
Wifi: $55.58
Electricity: ~$50-$60 in the winter; as high as $250 in the summer
Gas: ~$30 in the summer; ~$170 in the winter
Water/Trash/Sewer: ~$70
Cell Phone: $89.52 (work reimburses me $50 of this)
iCloud Storage: $2.99
KERA (Local PBS) Donation: $10
Planned Parenthood Donation: $10
Energy Ogre: $10
Lawn Mowing: $80 (two visits at $40 each)
Home Camera Monitoring: $1.59
Patreon: $13.50 to support two podcasts
Savings Auto-Transfers: ~$100 split between house repair fund and pet costs fund; $120 into regular savings

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Absolutely, and I was very lucky that my parents offered to pay my tuition and expenses if I went in-state (I grew up in Colorado). So my brother, my parents, and myself all attended the same college (University of Colorado at Boulder), and I graduated with no student loans. But then of course I decided to go to grad school… At a private university (Syracuse University in New York)… And I paid for that myself through loans and scholarships. I did a juggling routine by rotating the balance among credit cards through zero-percent APR balance transfers until it was all paid off. The way government interest works, there’s no way I could have paid it off before age 60 otherwise.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
My dad was a financial advisor, but surprisingly we barely talked about money. I remember my parents taking me to open a savings account when I was young, and they gave me a credit card when I was 16, but I was only allowed to use it for picking up groceries/running errands for them and gas for the car that was handed down to me from my brother, for which they also paid the insurance. When I was thrust out into the real world, I didn’t know a lot about how money worked.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
I was a hostess at On the Border at 16, because a) it was one of the few places that hired so young and b) all my high school friends worked there. I remember I wanted the job because I wanted to buy CDs. Unofficially, my whole family worked at a bingo parlor to help pay for my ice skating expenses as a kid. My mom sold the cards, my dad called out the numbers, and my brother and I sold dobbers.

Did you worry about money growing up?
Not at all — I saved that for adulthood! My family was relatively well off and my mother didn’t work, plus we often took trips, went out to eat, and my brother and I always had the clothes, food, hobby equipment, and entertainment we needed and wanted.

Do you worry about money now?
It’s better now that I have a plan for paying off debt, but it has really kept me up a lot of nights. I felt like I was drowning in a pool I filled myself. I’m constantly on the lookout for new job opportunities that might pay more, and I’m always hustling with freelance work. I’m on a very strict budget now and track every expense, even before doing this diary!

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I was 26 when I graduated with my master’s in journalism in 2008, at the height of the recession, so those first few years out were really tough. My then-boyfriend and I moved to Arizona so he could take a job… That disappeared six months later when the company shut down. I couldn’t get hired ANYWHERE, not even Target, so my parents truly supported me through that. From there we moved to Dallas, where my ex was from, and we lived with his mother for nearly a year. I was working part time at the mall, then got hired for my first professional writing/editing job, and from there was earning enough for us to get an apartment. I was nearly 30 before I really felt like I could stand on my own. I blew through a lot of my savings trying to pay off my debt, but I’m slowly building it back up. Once all my credit card debt is paid off, I plan to direct that money toward refilling my emergency expenses fund with at least six months’ worth. My parents aren’t really an option for financial support anymore, but my current boyfriend is extremely supportive (not to mention responsible with money!), so I know he would step in if necessary.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
My grandmother left me $40,000 when she died in 2001. That was immediately invested for me by my father into a money market fund, and I’ve only touched it to put an FHA down payment on my first house in 2011.