Welcome to Spending Notes, where we do a weekly deep dive into how our readers spend their cash.
Today, a tour guide who makes $50,000 a year in Rockwall, Texas, lets us into his week’s expenses.
Occupation: Tour Guide
Age: 26
Location: Rockwall, Texas, U.S.
Salary: $50,000 (approx. $1,800 per pay period)
Day One
Today is an easy day as a tour guide in Rockwall, Texas, because I’m only going downtown for a couple of tourist groups. As a joke, I mentioned how sometimes my apartment smells like our lake’s fish but I never eat fish, and one of the tourists who is a Rockwall resident took it to heart and helped me find an electric company. Apparently, that fishy smell could be from burning outlets or wires in my walls and could cause a power outage or even a fire. They recommended I call a technician from Rockwall Electric so they could help me find the source of the issue in my electrical system so they can repair it. I just called them right now, and they are coming over after my shift.
Total: $34.32
Day Two
As the week progresses, I’m getting more tourists to sign up for my services. It’s great that I’m getting so many clients because I’m currently looking at listings for Malibu beach front homes for sale to move over to California. I want to enjoy the ocean views, fireplace, sunsets, coastline views, and the Pacific coast highway in California without having to wait until I retire. I know it’s going to take me a lot to get there, but it doesn’t hurt to dream, you know?
Total: $0.00
Day Three
It’s Wednesday, and I’m showing my tourists local businesses and restaurants they will love such as The Fatted Calf and the Zanata. It’s now after work, and I stopped at The Fatted Calf to get myself a little appetizer. I didn’t want to step into the store and wait at a table, so I just called and placed an order from my car. They mentioned it would take a bit but they would get it out as soon as possible. I finally got my order and am driving home to eat in peace.
Total: $24.98
Day Four
It’s Thursday and I don’t get too many tourists for today, so I’m working on my side gig, which consists of being a part-time travel agent. As a travel agent, I help my clients create the vacation of their dreams. I help them look for hotels, rental properties, beachfront houses, cabins in the woods, and their means of transportation. I sign them up for tourist adventures as well as buying them their flight tickets and entrance admissions to different attractions. It’s the end of my day, so I’m headed to the farmers market to buy some ingredients for my dinner tonight.
Total: $46.77
Day Five
My Fridays are a little bit different from the norm. I head out to an animal shelter every Friday to help the crew clean the areas, feed the animals, and fill out some paperwork when they’re too busy. I’m done for the day, but I’m headed out with the shelter volunteers to a local vegan restaurant to have a meal and continue home.
Total: $27.98
Day Six
My Saturday is booked with lots of tourist expeditions from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. I’m currently on my lunch break and decided to call my chiropractor because my back has been bothering me a bit lately. They said they could see me tomorrow before noon, so I’ll be heading over in the morning.
Total: $0
Day Seven
I’m about to leave my chiropractor’s office, and he just told me that I probably just have a spasm and that I need to exercise my back muscles a bit more so they can keep up with my active work style.
Total: $57.00
Total for the week: $191.05