Ice cream came out to $10.
Even? No tax?
$10.45.
Meet Amy, Brian and their son Henry. They live in Dallas, Texas and bring in approximately $168,000
a year combined.
I work in architecture.
I work as an audit manager.
This is us.
I would say we are definitely super savers.
The couple paid off all student loans, own their cars, and are paying off their $313,000 house.
They have $39,000 left on their mortgage.
A lot of the things instead of like buying it, I'll just make it myself. So that's kind of the
way I saved.
We've found stuff that we brought back, you know, cleaned it up, stuff that people are just throwing
out.
We do get a lot of hand-me-down clothes and toys, which has been a real saver.
They typically spend about $350 a week. They knew they'd spend a bit more this week first because
they're driving to Houston for a long weekend trip.
It is a pay week, and so we allocate a lot more of our paycheck to our 401k, into our mortgage and
brokerage account.
Their biggest daily expenses? Daycare, meals and experiences. Here's the breakdown of what Brian
and Amy spent every day for a week.
So Monday Walmart, it was a last minute run for our trip.
So that came out to $18.24 and then we also had $5 some Walgreens prints.
Tuesday is when we found out we're kind of pivoting from our original vacation plans that
Tuesday we bought the hotels, and daycare usually charges on Tuesdays so that was $182.
Amy bought some shirts.
Online.
Just personal shopping. That came out to $45.31.
Update on the tacos?
They're ready.
Our son was born June of 2020. So, in the thick of the pandemic.
Being born, the pandemic was definitely a bit crazy.
Henry's biggest expenses include daycare, diapers and eczema cream.
Wednesday was the day before our trip so I made a last minute run to Walmart.
And then we filled up the rest of our tank and that came out to $17.
Quick, easy, cheap dinner right before we leave for vacation.
Thursday we dropped our dog off. Thursday came up to $220 with the dog boarding
And Thursday was also the day that we drove to Houston. So we ended up going to the museum
district, so parking was free and a lot of museums on Thursday were free.
We did spend on food there, that's $45 on lunch.
Because they love their dog, Rider, so much, Brian and Amy recently began dog-sitting. In the last
year, they've brought in about $2,000 from this side hustle.
So we ended up going to the beach on Friday and that turned out to be free. Parking was free,
admission to the beach was free. I guess we found the public beaches.
Lunch. And then we also filled up again that was about $24, $25 for gas.
We did buy some ice cream to cool off because Houston in summertime can get humid and hot, that
turned out to be $10. And then after that, we went to go eat dinner.
It was about $38. And there was a lot of food, so we actually saved some.
Yeah, we ate it for lunch the next day.
Yeah.
So that was the NASA day.
$60 for two adults, Henry's free because he's under 3.
The souvenirs that we bought there that came out to $38 $40 after taxes
And after that we went to Chinatown and got some teas.
Teas were about $13 and the restaurant, shoot, that was like $30. Yeah.
We're here at the park, the city park. City of Seabrook.
And then Sunday, so the two tickets came out to about $140 plus parking. And we had coffee
beforehand so that was about $10 and then brunch was, that was about $35 and we only bought one
water bottle, $5.94. That one I do remember exactly. After that we did have dinner. Probably
$40.
In total, Amy and Brian's budget this week amounted to $6,097. That includes $1,324 spent on
everyday purchases, and $1,800 toward their mortgage. They directed an additional $2,973
toward their 401 K's, HSA, ESPP and high yield savings.
The goal for me is that mortgage in the short term, and then in the long term, I want to be able
to retire early. If that means paying off a little bit upfront for the next 10-15 years and pushing
as hard as we can, then I think that that is a huge goal.