money musings: april 2025
the last month of the job, costco membership busting my grocery budget, and a disappointing $300 purchase
Notable mentions this month include: celebrating the last day of my job, getting a job offer (and being paid more than my previous job), breaking my no buy and spending too much on home organization, getting a Costco membership and destroying my grocery budget, hosting two groups of friends (two separate weeks) without getting overwhelmed, and more.
A detailed overview of my income sources, mandatory expenses, non-essential expenses, and savings/investments. I use YNAB, a budgeting tool that allows me to budget with the money I already have, instead of what I plan to make. This section does not contain any financial advice; please do research on your own prior to making any investment-related decisions.
NET WORTH was $183,772.01. I actually don’t think I updated this number on time since YNAB requires me to do this manually at the end of each month (the only downside of this app). Therefore, take this number with a grain of salt.
INCOME was $6,289.25. My day-job contributed 66% to this, and the rest are miscellaneous and side hustles.
9-5: +$4,140.33 (last two paychecks + 80ish hours of PTO cash-out)
Tax Return: +$1,507.00
Beans: +$54.34 (incl. Gumroad, Instagram, Substack, Partnerships)
Resell: +$65.00
Government Benefits: +$405.00
Wealthfront Interest: +$117.93
PERISHABLE EXPENSES was -$1,074.09.
Rent1: This was a weird category, since Mr. Beans sent me part of the security deposit from our previous apartment and I didn’t have to pay rent. Therefore, I was in the positive this month at +$150.
Health: -$139.39. Money fail here, as my parents pressured me into enrolling in health/dental insurance for the next month (because I didn’t have a job secured yet). Turns out, I still did have coverage from my previous job for 30 days after my last day. Half of this spend was a Target haul…not sure what exactly I ended up getting.
Groceries: -$869.71. So, this should not be a normal number for two people — at least for people like me and Mr. Beans. We are not fancy eaters, so this spend is quite ridiculous. The culprit: getting a Costco membership.
Gas: -$50.00.
Taxes: -$14.99. Used FreeTaxUSA to file my taxes. For federal filings, it would’ve been free but I also filed for state (worth it because my state tax return was ~+$600).
PRIVILEGED EXPENSES was -$482.01.
Spotify2: Renewal month! This is the one anomaly month since this is the time where I message our Spotify family plan group chat if they still want to continue being on our plan — if so, they Venmo me a year’s worth of their subscription. I literally talked about this category one year ago!
Maintenance: -$441.79. Blaming the Costco membership for this since I purchased laundry detergent, Lysol, Draino, Cambro containers, and Clorox wipes. I also restocked on my Honest Beauty alcohol wipes, purchased some blue tape (for labeling) and a label maker (for the aesthetics), and a vacuum attachment for my Dyson vacuum. I also got some Japanese haircare from Yesstyle.
Dates: -$26.12. Mr. Beans paid for most of our dates this month. I covered an ice cream date at Salt & Straw and got myself some vegan empanadas.
Social: -$14.10. Got coffee when Mr. Beans’ friends stayed over one week.
RICH LIFE was -$707.40.
Academics: -$73.00. Spent on an application to a Master of Data Science program that I applied to thinking that I wouldn’t get a job (but current me knowing that I’m in the best job I’ve ever had knows that this was a complete waste since I won’t be able to balance an incredibly difficult Master’s program on top of excelling at this role).
Canva: -$119.99. Despite not creating as much content on Beans lately, Canva is useful at the most random of times in my personal life. My favorite use is resizing it to what would fit a website’s requirement.
Low Buy: -$514.41. Yeah…this category was a problem. I purchased a bunch of containers from The Container Store and I finally got the HAY crates that every single tech/beauty girl online owns. The big expense for this category was for my Tekla towels.
Gifts3: I got Thai food for my dad’s birthday, but because he likely felt bad for me that I didn’t have a job lined up, he Venmo’ed back how much the meal cost. While I won’t pay him back now that I’m employed fast forward to May, I will be getting him a thoughtful gift for Father’s Day.
SAVINGS was +$4,025.75. All of this funded future month’s categories on YNAB. I don’t closely track my savings as I follow the pattern of funding everything based on the goal amount, and I keep doing it from top to bottom (highest to lowest priority), rinse and repeat for the next month.
I told myself I would stay on my no-buy until I got a new job, and I did, which was why I went a biiiit crazy this month. Here’s every single item I’ve purchased with a short review.
Container Store Large Cabinet Shelf: Initially, I thought that I should’ve purchased the extendable one since this shelf doesn’t extend all the way from one side to the other in my cabinet. However!! In the empty space, I’ve placed my tall smoothie cups (that literally never fit vertically into any space but it somehow does on this specific shelf), and I think I now have a good system going on.
Container Store Large Tall Cabinet Shelf White: This was supposed to be for my plates cabinet but it didn’t fit because it was too tall (my fault as I did not measure properly). I tested this in my pantry and found it to be the perfect solution for storing my pots and mixing bowls!
Container Store X-Large Multi-Purpose Bin (x4): The reviews on this were good so I got it just because. Initially, I didn’t know how to use this in my space, but after testing out a few spots, I’ve learned that this is the perfect underwear/sock bin — it also magically fits the depth of our closet shelves! We also put this under our coffee table and store snacks.
Lustroware 8.45 qt. Smart Locks Keep Box Crystal Clear (x2): This fits the bottom shelf of my Ikea Tornviken cart (sadly not the first shelf). I now own two and use it to store our cane sugar and protein powder from Costco.
Design Ideas Hook-Over Overdoor Hook (returned): It didn’t fit the width of my door frame — it was too wide?
Container Store Extra Wide Stackable Plastic Utility Bin (x2): I got the shallow and deep bin to stack on top of each other, and I’m currently using them in my pantry! I actually purchased this for medicine organization, but it works better in the pantry.
Container Store Large 4-Sort Wire Divider: Would not recommend despite keeping this item, since it moves around too much! However, it is a good solution for now, and maybe if I add those rubber feet at the bottom it’ll stop moving so much when I pull out items from the divider.
OXO 3.7 qt. Tall Rectangle POP Container: Got the largest size, and it’s still pretty small. It fits my bulk Banza pasta though, so that’s a plus. My parents once purchased the OXO POP set from Costco years back and the “pop” part of it stopped working – the mechanism in their new ones seem different so I’m hoping it lasts.
HAY Recycled Colour Crate: I got three smalls and two mediums. They’re not as sturdy as I thought they’d be, but as long as I hold them by both handles on each side, I think they’re fine. The colors are what makes these outstanding, plus the little notch that ensures that the crate stays in its shape without its sides collapsing in (my mom purchased a Daiso dupe that that’s what kept happening to hers).
Tekla Terry Towel in Racing Green Stripes and Forest Green: I got these in the 70x140 and 50x90 size, and while I can admit that these are incredibly soft (but also dense?), the quality isn’t aligning with the steep price point. I’ve noticed threads coming loose, pilling, and color transfer upon first wash. I’m working with their customer service to get these towels returned ASAP.
Brother P-touch PTD220: Obsessed with this little guy, but I hate how much excess white tape it prints out. I know I’m not the only one experiencing this, and what I try to do to save as much tape as possible is to create multiple labels at once in one strip. That way, I get multiple labels while only having to snip off the excess twice, instead of each time I print a label.
KAMINOMOTO Medicated Shampoo: I actually consider this an essential purchase, but I’m including it here just to give my dandruff-prone readers a recommendation. After attempting to use Nizoral (clinically studied to be an effective solution for seborrheic dermatitis) and suffering from an unbearably itchy scalp (even itchier than not using it at all), I had to revert back to my old dandruff shampoo (this Kaminomoto one). The instant switch-up from itchy scalp the moment I step out of the shower to feeling a smidge of an itch after the two day mark after a hair wash was incredible.
KAMINOMOTO Super Strength Hair Serum Gold: This was an *impulse* purchase, but I think it’s doing more than increasing hair growth? I really can’t make any claims at this moment since it’s only been three weeks since first use. I suspect it’s improving my dandruff situation since it’s allowed me to extend days between hair wash a bit more (two instead of one). Not that hair washing is inherently bad, but I am occasionally lazy and prefer a quick body shower instead of the full routine.
Shiseido Tsubaki Premium Volume & Repair Shampoo: I didn’t need this immediately, but I wanted free shipping (don’t recommend) and I knew I’d be out of my current hydrating shampoo soon. I like to have two shampoos on hand for different purposes — hydrating and clarifying (usually a dandruff/medicated one). As I’m writing this post, I still have my hydrating shampoo left (I swear it feels like I have two uses left but more shampoo keeps coming out of the bottle?!).
This category had a positive balance and was not calculated as part of the expenses total.
This category had a positive balance and was not calculated as part of the expenses total.
This category had a positive balance and was not calculated as part of the expenses total.