Money Diaries

5k/year tuition (after financial aid) » $550/month. Paid by loans » $138 per week
Miscellaneous monthly expenses (Netflix, Spotify, etc) » $7.50 per week
$620 rent per month (including utilities) » $155 per week

Friday, March 25, 2022. Daily total: $16

8:00 a.m. Woke up for a meeting with my boss for my educational policy internship, only to check my email and find out it was cancelled, so I go back to sleep since I don’t have class on Fridays. $0
10:00 a.m. Got up for real and made myself a big fancy breakfast to celebrate my meeting being cancelled! $0
3:00 p.m. Got back from a walk around campus taking photos for work and made myself a super late lunch of pesto grilled cheese, apples, and coffee. $0.
9:00 p.m. Had some friends over before we headed to our intramural volleyball game, where we lost (as usual) but had a ton of fun (also as usual). We picked up some beer and wine for the night and ice cream sandwiches. $16.

Saturday, March 26, 2022. Daily total: $34

8:30 a.m. Got up early for a weekend and spent the day at the law library finishing up my 20-page final paper for my Latin American politics class. On my way, I stopped for a snack. $6 for an oat cappuccino plus tip.
12:00 p.m. Got through about half of my paper and headed home. Made myself some mac and cheese for lunch, which I ate in bed, and then took a long nap. $0
6:30 p.m. Made myself a nice big batch of tortilla soup since it’s getting cold again (despite being almost April) and to get through some more of my groceries. $0
9:30 p.m. Had some friends over before heading to a party thrown by the ultimate frisbee team. Headed home pretty early and sat and talked on my roof for a couple of hours. $0

Sunday, March 27, 2022. Daily total: $0

10:00 a.m. Decided to take a walk through the neighborhood to avoid lying and managed to resist buying coffee. It was freezing cold out, and I was not dressed for the weather. $0
12:00 p.m. Got back from my walk and made myself a nice bean and egg bowl for breakfast to celebrate not having to do any work for the day. $0
6:30 p.m. Ate some tortilla soup leftovers after a long nap and a full season of Trailer Park Boys. $0

Thursday, March 24, 2022. Daily total: $15.25

7:30 a.m. Woke up for my 8:30, threw together a really quick bagel for breakfast and ran out the door without coffee. ☹ $0
10:00 a.m. Got out of class and headed to Dispatch in McConnell Eng to grab a coffee before meeting a friend to study in the Birks reading room (the prettiest place on campus!). $5.25 including tip.
12:00 p.m. Got burned out of doing work and headed home to make myself a quick lunch and take a nap before my French class from 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. $0
6:00 p.m. Went to see my friend’s play as a part of the McGill drama festival – she was incredible, and it was my first time seeing a play at McGill! $10 for my ticket.
7:00 p.m. Had a few friends over for dinner and wine – they bought the wine in exchange for dinner! I made vodka pasta and salad, my go-to “having people over” meal composed of groceries I already had. $0.

Wednesday, March 23, 2022. Daily total: $79.92

9:00 a.m. Woke up and realized I was completely out of groceries, so I ran in my pajamas over to my favorite grocery store to stock up. I ran into about five people I know on Boulevard Saint-Laurent! $54.47 for about ten days’ worth of groceries.
10:30 a.m. I realized I was starving at the grocery store, so to celebrate my haul, I cut up some fruits and fried an egg with coffee for breakfast. $0
2:30 p.m. Made myself another coffee to take to my three-hour class (I’m trying to cut down my spending on coffee) and snatched my roommate’s Desautels mug to keep it cold. $0
8:00 p.m. Went to trivia at a pub around the corner on Saint Laurent with some friends! We did remarkably badly, but we go every week and always have a great time. I got two beers and sweet potato fries! $25.45 including tip.

Monday, March 21, 2022. Daily total: $0 (thanks to my family!)

10:00 a.m. Woke up, made myself a bagel and coffee at home because I don’t have class! Went for a walk around the neighborhood to celebrate the snow and ice melting and being able to wear sneakers again. $0
2:00 p.m. Got back from my walk and had leftovers for lunch. My family was in town for the weekend, so I took full advantage and ate tons of great food and had tons of great leftovers! $0
7:00 p.m. Had leftovers again from my favourite bar/restaurant on Av Duluth, Reservoir, and ate with my roommates!

Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Daily total: $89.53

7:30 a.m. Woke up and got dressed, brushed my teeth, had a quick bagel and ran out the door for my 8:30. Often I’d stop for coffee on the way to class, but fortunately (?) I didn’t have time today. $0
10:00 a.m. Walked to Milton gates to meet up with friends, and picked up a coffee and muffin from the Soup Café in Burnside basement to fuel a few hours in the Geographic Information Centre. $5.66 including tip.
4:00 p.m. Left campus after some studying and French class and resisted the urge to pick up another coffee on the way home. I made myself an iced coffee at home to power through some more work! $0
6:30 p.m. I finished work and had some friends over to eat arepas from our favourite takeout place in the neighborhood on my roof since it’s warmer and still sunny! $18.87 including tip.
9:00 p.m. Bought tickets and a dress for the Political Science Students’ Association Semiformal at Crew in April. $65 (35 tickets, 30 dress)

Louisa Hanson. Second-year sociology major with a minor in political science, living in the lower Plateau with three roommates in a furnished four-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment.
Vegetarian, grocery shop once a week or so at a small local market
Work-study student at McGill taking 4 courses this semester

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