If you’re curious about real-life budgeting, today I’m giving you a peek into what I spend in a week living in Atlanta as a 40-year-old! Life is getting expensive, y’all — and if you feel like you can’t get ahead, trust me, you are not alone. Let’s get into my honest weekly expenses based on my budget categories, using my budget notebook and spreadsheet.
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How I Budget: Setting Up Categories
I keep my budgeting simple with seven main categories:
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Savings
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Home Expenses
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Food
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Transportation
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Subscriptions
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Debt Payments
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Miscellaneous Spending
I track everything in a Happy Planner, using printed budget worksheets that help me stay organized and mindful of my money goals.
1. Savings: $0 This Week
This week wasn’t a payday week for me, which means no additional savings. I have my savings set to automatic draft on payday, so tune in next week to see those numbers grow!
2. Home Expenses: $1,822.44
This is always my biggest category, especially at the start of the month. Here’s what was included:
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Phone bill
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Life insurance
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Short-term disability
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Mortgage payment + Utilities
Note: My portion of the mortgage is increasing by $250 due to escrow shortages and rising fees beginning in May 2025— yikes! Between mortgage, utilities, and aftercare fees, it’s been a heavy start to the month.
3. Food: $307.00
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A grocery trip to Walmart helped me stock up.
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BUT, I did grab fast food (Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s) during my lunch breaks.
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Goal for next week: pack more snacks to save more at lunchtime.
Real Talk: I wanted to shop at Costco but didn’t budget for the membership fee ($60/year). Right now, I’m focused on paying off debt and can’t afford another subscription.
4. Transportation: $32.92
Only one gas fill-up this week — a small win!
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I normally budget $60/week for gas but saved about $27 here, which will help cover rising home expenses later.
5. Subscriptions: $49.96
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This week was unusually high for subscriptions. 😩
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After updating my payment method, old subscriptions like iCloud Storage and an unwanted Instagram Membership pulled from my account.
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Lesson learned: double-check auto-renewals and cancel what you don’t need!
6. Debt Payments: $93.00
I made a minimum payment toward my credit card debt.
Debt Focus Right Now:
I’m working hard to pay off my Capital One Saver credit card (~$2,900) using extra income from my online side hustles. Once debt is tackled, I can’t wait to start stacking my savings and investing.
7. Miscellaneous Spending: $0.00
No extra spending this week!
I’m so proud because this is usually where I blow my budget. No random Target runs or impulse buys.
Total Weekly Spending: $2,035.32
Most of it went toward necessary bills, especially my mortgage and utilities. Even though the total looks high, I stayed on track with my budget — no overspending on extras.
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