🎂 Age: 48
📍 Location: Annapolis, MD
💼 Occupation: HR Director
💍 Marital Status: Married
💸 Annual Income: $375,000 (combined)
💰 Total Weekly Spending: $6,963
Larisa describes herself as “the money person” in her family. She downloads her expenses weekly, maintains annual budget spreadsheets, and knows exactly which subscriptions she’s paying for and why. She even shares her spreadsheets with friends and family to help them track their own spending.
“It’s something I enjoy doing,” she told Jean Chatzky, “which I know sounds crazy to a lot of people.”
But Larisa’s week was anything but ordinary. It fell right before spring break, which meant the usual monthly bills were stacking up alongside vacation prep, last-minute kids’ gear, and a full road trip to Florida with her family. Oh, and her rental condo needed an AC repair.
Here’s how the week unfolded.
Day 1: Car Registration, a Condo Repair, and Book Fair Money
💸 Total Spent: $934.08
Monday opened with a flurry of bills. Larisa paid $204 for her husband’s car registration, $425 for an AC unit repair at the Annapolis condo she rents out, two cell phone bills totaling $248.32, an EZ Pass replenishment, and $31.76 in book fair money for her fourth-grade son.
Most of it wasn’t a surprise. “While the expenses seem high, they’re things I try to plan for,” she said. The rental repair was the one curveball, but even that didn’t rattle her, because she keeps a separate checking account exclusively for rental income and expenses.
That condo, it turns out, has been part of Larisa’s financial life for decades. She bought it right out of college as her first home. When she and her husband got married about ten years later, they decided to keep it and rent it out, and they’ve been landlords ever since. With only seven or eight years left on the mortgage and a property that has appreciated significantly, the long-term math is looking good.
When speaking about her retirement plan to Jean, she said, “Maybe it’ll be full circle, and I end up back at the condo I started in,” she laughed. “Who knows?”
Day 2: A $1,200 Water Bill and Sam’s Club Impulse Buys
💸 Total Spent: $2,616.70
Tuesday was the biggest day of the week. Larisa had her annual eye doctor appointment ($105 out of pocket after insurance, plus a trial set of contacts she’s trying for the first time), two outstanding medical bills from prior visits ($76.71 and $80.88, both covered by her HSA), a condo escrow shortage payment of $68.56, her husband’s car payment of $386, a home equity line of credit payment of $375, and a $1,214 annual water and sewer assessment.
Then there was the Sam’s Club trip, and we’ve all been there. Larisa went in for paper towels. She came out with strawberries, coffee, shorts, a bathing suit, and popcorn, for a total of $107.68.
“I don’t think I’ve ever gone into Sam’s and just gotten one thing, even though that’s always the intention,” she said. It’s why she usually sticks to pickup orders or deliveries. “The paper towels are in the back of the store, so I’m passing all kinds of fun things and good deals.”
The day also included a $15 prescription at Walgreens, a $70.30 Love Shack Fancy water bottle for her daughter’s Easter basket (complete with shipping she wasn’t happy about paying), and a last-minute $117.63 trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods. Her son’s soccer cleats were too small on the night of his very first practice.
“I prefer to price shop ahead of time to get the better deal,” she said. “But in this case, we were desperate because soccer had started.” She uses Rakuten and Capital One Shopping to find deals and cash back when she can plan ahead, and her kids have even picked up the habit. “They’ll always say, ‘Mom, is it on sale? Is there a coupon?'” she says.
Day 3: Cleaning Service, AppleCare, and a Mani-Pedi Before Vacation
💸 Total Spent: $453.20
Wednesday felt more like a normal day. Larisa’s biweekly cleaning service, which comes out to $145, is a non-negotiable she’s happily budgeted for years. “I do not enjoy cleaning, and I value the little bit of time I have on weekends,” she said simply.
She also paid a quarterly security alarm bill ($95.40) and AppleCare charges for three phones ($37.45), though she’s starting to question whether the coverage still makes sense. Her iPhone 13 recently got a raised eyebrow from an Apple employee who called it a dinosaur. Her philosophy: use it until it lags too much or the battery gives out.
Before vacation, she also treated herself to a manicure and pedicure, which came out to $67, including tip, something she does roughly once a month. She admits she still feels a flicker of guilt spending money on herself. “I think because I know it’s not a necessary thing,” she said. “Could I be doing this myself? Do I really need to go and have it done? I have those thoughts whenever it’s spending on my own things.”
The day wrapped with an $83.15 Old Navy pickup order for her son, new shorts, shirts, and a bathing suit, because he’s grown since last summer.
Day 4: Camp Payments, Dog Food, and the Vacation To-Do List
💸 Total Spent: $601.96
Thursday was pure logistics. Larisa realized she was running low on dog food before heading out of town, so she placed a next-day Amazon order, which came out to $84.72 for a large bag that will last a while. A Target run covered Easter basket fillers and coffee essentials: half-and-half and monk fruit, which was $55.26 total.
She also got a $40 car wash before the road trip, made a $338 summer camp payment (which her dependent care spending account will reimburse), picked up a few vacation clothing items for her daughter for $37.93, and filled up at Sam’s Club gas station for $46.05. She always gets gas at Sam’s because she says the prices are better.
Day 5: The Road Trip Begins: Wawa, Gas, Buc-ee’s, and a Hotel
💸 Total Spent: $1,365.71
Friday was the day Larisa and her family left for their Florida spring break road trip. One car payment came out automatically ($925 for Larisa’s car), and the family hit I-95 headed south to Florida for spring break.
Their first stop was Wawa, $52.84 for lunch and road snacks for the four of them. Larisa usually packs most of their road trip food, but the week had been hectic, and she wasn’t as prepared as she’d like to have been. Gas was $51.54 further down the road, plus $12.65 in snacks and coffee.
Then came Buc-ee’s.
For the uninitiated: Buc-ee’s is part gas station, part grocery store, part restaurant, part bakery, and entirely an experience. For Larisa’s family, a stop at the South Carolina location is a road trip tradition. Her son got a Buc-ee’s lunchbox and a Buc-ee’s Easter bunny stuffed animal, with some of his own birthday and Christmas money from the envelope Larisa keeps for each kid. Her daughter got a Buc-ee’s bathing suit. The family spent $110.40 on dinner, snacks, and souvenirs, with the understanding that Buc-ee’s souvenir is separate from whatever they’ll pick up at their actual destination. “They get such a kick out of it,” Larisa said. “It’s worth it.” Then, they stayed overnight at a hotel along the way for $213.27.
Day 6: The Final Stretch: McDonald’s, Another Buc-ee’s, and Arriving in Florida
💸 Total Spent: $325.27
Saturday, they woke up at the hotel and finished the drive to Florida. McDonald’s breakfast for the kids was $16.06. Starbucks for Larisa and her husband was $21.87. They made one more unplanned stop at Buc-ee’s for gas ($55.84) and a few snacks and a salad ($43.13).
When they arrived in Florida, a Walmart grocery delivery order was waiting, pre-arranged and split 50/50 with Larisa’s sister, who was vacationing there with her family, too. Their share: $153.69. First night pizza, also split: $34.63.
The siblings don’t plan the cost-sharing in advance, but they’ve vacationed together enough that it’s second nature. “One of us pays on a credit card and we Venmo the other person,” Larisa said. “We’re very easy.”
Day 7: First Full Day in Florida
💸 Total Spent: $666.44
Sunday was the first real vacation day. Larisa ran to Publix for a few items the delivery had missed ($43.72), stopped at a beer and wine store for the week’s essentials ($35.13), went out to dinner with the family ($107 including tip), paid $20 for parking while they explored a downtown area, bought her son $10.59 in Roblox, and Venmo’d $450 to the dog sitter for the full duration of the trip.
Final Reflections: Systems, Spreadsheets, and Just Starting
💸 Total Weekly Spend: $6,963
Was it a typical week? Not even close. There was the water assessment, the rental repair, the vacation prep, and the start of an actual family trip, all stacked into seven days. But Larisa said she wouldn’t do much differently.
“I don’t think anything was super out of control or unplanned,” she reflected. “If it wasn’t that stuff, it was probably going to be something else.”
What struck Jean most was how grounded Larisa seemed through it all. Her advice to other women who want to feel more in control of their money is straightforward: know what’s coming in, know what’s going out, and just start.
“For women in particular, if you’re not the one paying the bills, you at least need to know what money is coming in, and what money is going out,” Larisa said. “It’s always just been important to me. I think you just have to know the importance of it and just start.”
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