Real Talk: I Spend Over $900 a Month to Get to Work

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Leah Thomas866
Updated: 2/19/2019

Are you ever shocked by what you spend your money on? One FGB'er asked the Fairygodboss Community what monthly expenses shocked them. 

"Your most surprising monthly expense?,” she asked, before sharing she pays $900 a month on transportation. 

“I just looked at my bank app, and it told me I'm spending almost $900 month on transportation," she said. "I was surprised until I realized that's a car payment, my commuter and parking passes and my gas card. Still, surprised how much that is! What are you paying out each month that surprises you?”

Several other FGB'ers responded to the post to offer their own crazy monthly expenses.

Coffee!” one woman said. “[My partner and I spent] $1,000 during a three-month period. I've officially stopped buying coffee on the way to the office every morning.”

Travel,” another wrote. “Not just for vacation, but also for weddings, births and funerals. Popular holidays are the only expected travel expenses I can consistently keep track of.”

“My nails!” a third wrote. “Maintaining my nails is expensive (almost $100 a month).”

One FGB'er had a controversial response to the women's posts about their expenses.

“I'm beyond stunned that anyone has $100 in their budget for their nails, let alone more [money] than my mortgage payment to put toward transportation,” she wrote. “Who are you people?"

This post yielded responses from several FGB'ers who disagreed with her.

“This is a very disrespectful post,” one wrote. “[The original poster] can't help how expensive travel is, and that amount is pretty normal in parts of the country where people commute in from the suburbs to work in major cities. And why judge someone who chooses to put that amount of money towards maintaining something that they clearly take pride in? You clearly [live] somewhere with a lower cost of living than others, and it would do you well to bare in mind that people have different and unique struggles. If you're looking for a community to support you through your struggles, perhaps consider being supportive of other women who make choices different than yours.”

“I spend $800/month on transportation because that’s what it costs,” another said. “If not, I wouldn’t be able to get to work to make money to pay for rent and food.” 

“I do think you need to understand that people have different lives,” a third wrote. “And just because you may find the amount extreme, you do not know their circumstances. And if someone chooses to spend $100 dollars on their nails, that's their choice, not yours. It may be excessive to you, but it’s not to them.”

Each woman has her own spending habits, which involve personal priorities, career choices, geographic location, and more. And unless a spending habit is negatively affecting one’s own life, we should work to be supportive of women who want to spend their hard-earned money in their own way. 

For other spending questions, reach out to the Community and receive advice and personal anecdotes from FGB'ers everywhere. 

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