- Jerry Brown, an Uber driver and government employee, spends and saves his $48,000 salary very cautiously.
- In addition to driving, he also runs a personal finance blog in his spare time called Peerless Money Mentor where he describes his journey from "broke phi broke to financially woke."
- For Business Insider's "Real Money" series, he shared how much he spends on food and fuel, and how he's saving money for his next vacation.
- Want to share a week of your spending? Email your money@businessinsider.com.
At this point in my financial life, my money strategy is simple: kill debt to build wealth.
After graduating from college with two business degrees, I made a few bad financial decisions and bought a car I couldn't afford. My main focus right now is to eliminate all of my consumer debts including my car loan and two personal loans. After knocking those out, I will focus on knocking out my $6,000 in student loans, increasing my cash flow.
I still manage to save plenty of money every month from my paycheck. I deposit $25 a month into a vacation fund and utilize my credit card points for flights. Last year I used the Chase Sapphire credit card reward bonus of $200 to fly to Miami for free. This year I plan on using my $600 Southwest credit card reward bonus to travel to San Diego or some other place I have not been before.
My daily food budget is still something I need to work on. Not being the greatest cook, I tend to eat out a lot, which is not healthy and generally more expensive than preparing your own meal.
Here's a closer look at how I spend my money:
I make about $48,000 a year, but my take-home pay varies based on my side hustle income. Here's what I spend in a typical week.
My brother, cousin, and I live in a house my mom owns. The total mortgage on the house is $633. Living with others gives me an advantage over other people who are struggling to eliminate debt.
My student debt is $6,000. Most of my education was paid for by grants, but I took out a small loan to cover housing one year. This loan has been with me for almost a decade now. Time to break up with Sallie Mae!
I spend 19% of my monthly budget on car expenses. Here's how the rest breaks down:
No matter what, I spend my money on gas; I cannot get to and from work without it! I also spend a good amount of money eating out as I'm not a great chef.
On Friday, I was running a little late so I was unable to fix breakfast at home. Instead, I stopped by the Racetrac convenience store to grab some breakfast.
I grabbed an orange juice and a southern style chicken biscuit for a total of $4.71
While on my lunch break, I went to Walmart where I purchased a new USB charging cable for my phone, some Dasani water, and Febreze spray for a total of $18.40
Later on during the day, I grabbed some cinnamon apple Nutrigrain bars and some gummy snacks from Family Dollar for a total of $5.25
See the rest of the story at INSIDER
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