A Week In San Francisco On A $1,673,000 Joint Income

Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.

This week: An operations manager working in technology who makes $210,000 per year and spends some of it on a coffee grinder.

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This diary was written in 2026. This is a follow-up diary, you can read the previous diary here.

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Occupation: Operations
Industry: Technology
Age: 38
Location: San Francisco, CA
Salary: $210,000 salary plus $63,000 annual bonus (30%), and 5% ownership in RSUs.
Joint Income/Financial Setup: My husband, W.’s salary: $400,000 base plus $600,000 bonus (bonus is the average he has gotten over the last five years). We have a joint account that all of our expenses come out of.
Assets: $8M ($1.2M 401K, $4M investment accounts, $800K in various bank accounts, $2M equity in home).
Debt: $1M (loan on house)
Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $6,200 (and W’s is $11,000)
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses

Housing Costs:
Mortgage: $5,500
Loan Payments: $0
Health Insurance: $200
Internet/Cable/Security System: $400
Water/Sewer: ~$250 (depends on the month)
Electricity: ~$650
Garbage: $40
Netflix: $0 (share with family)
Cell Phone: $150
Spotify: $20
GCloud: $1.99
iCloud Storage: $2.99
Disney+: $7 (share with our families)
Donations: $500 (Planned Parenthood, Red Cross, American Heart Association, Habitat for Humanity, etc.)
Preschool: $3,000 (will be increasing to $5,000 for K. in the fall)
O.’s extra-curricular activities: $500
Undergraduate Donation: ~$2,000 annually
Homeowner’s Insurance: $2500 annually
Car Insurance: $2250 annually
Car Registration: $750 annually
Property Taxes: $29,000 annually
Amazon Prime: $119 annually
Chase Credit Card Fees: $795 annually
Amex Credit Card Fees: $795 annually

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes. From a very young age, my parents were clear that college was an expectation, not a question. Education was a central value in our household and academic success was strongly emphasized. My parents paid for my undergraduate education and expenses. While I considered getting an MBA and applied, I never followed through on enrolling after deferring.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s) educate you about finances?
Due to my dad’s career, money was discussed openly and regularly in our household. My parents were transparent that we had a privileged upbringing. My parents both came from families where they didn’t have to budget or track spending, and I had a similar upbringing, as well. One consistent principle they emphasized was avoiding debt whenever possible and prioritizing financial stability and long-term planning.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
My first job was a summer internship in college at a financial services firm in NYC. I got the internship to build my resume. My parents paid for my summer expenses in NYC. I was a Resident Assistant in college and got paid for it. I invested the income from it and we ended up using it as part of our down payment for the house we bought in San Francisco.

Did you worry about money growing up?
No. My parents consistently provided for everything we needed and most things we wanted. We were aware that we grew up with the ability to not have to worry about our financial position. I got quite a bit of flak about calling myself upper middle class in my previous diary. I stand by that assessment — I compare myself to those who grew up in the same city and my neighbors. In the area where we lived, we were upper middle class, but for the rest of the broader US or global population, we were in the top 1%.

Do you worry about money now?
We don’t track our expenses or worry about what we are spending daily. In my last diary, I was concerned about the future, but over the last two years, we have significantly increased our assets. I worked for a tech company that had a successful IPO, and the company my husband works at has paid him well in the 10 years he has been there. Also, he has a large upside if he continues to perform well. If my husband and I maintain our current lifestyle, with minimal creep, we will be more than fine for the future.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I started being self-sufficient when I graduated from college and started my first professional full-time job. My parents and W.’s parents have been our safety nets since we graduated from college, but we were fortunate to never rely on them. Over time, we have noticed that my parents have been more generous with us than W.’s parents.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
I received passive income in college to pay for expenses outside of room and board and tuition. This worked out to be about $20,000 over four years of college. My parents contributed $20,000 for my wedding, W.’s parents contributed $20,000 as well, and the remaining we covered. When our son was born, my parents gave me $25,000 and we used that to start a 529 for our son.

Day One: Sunday

6 a.m. — My son, O., wakes up and calls for my husband, W., so he gets him up. He then comes to my side of the bed to wake me up. We have about 15 people from W.’s company (10 adults and five kids) coming over for brunch and it’s all O. is talking about.

9 a.m. — We have spent the last three hours prepping for the brunch — asparagus frittata, chocolate chip pancake, breakfast potatoes, croissants with lavender blueberry jam, citrus salad, bacon, granola parfaits, cinnamon rolls, and fresh fruit. O. helps me squeeze orange juice for the mimosas. $353.73

10 a.m. — Folks have started arriving and we spend the next three-ish hours entertaining the kids and adults. It was great meeting everyone and their families. O. does an incredible job being a gracious host and sharing his toys. I’m super thankful that we are left with minimal leftovers.

1 p.m. — O., W., and I tidy up the living room, dining room, and kitchen. O. goes down for his afternoon nap. He only naps on the weekends since he is at home. At school, he suffers from FOMO and doesn’t nap anymore.

3 p.m. — O. wakes up from his nap and we decide to go to the park since it’s such a beautiful day in SF. It is over 70 degrees and the park isn’t too far. O. and I ride his scooter to the park while W. stays home to work.

5 p.m. — At the park, we happen to run into one of his classmates from preschool. I love when we see friends there because O. then hangs out with them rather than asking me to play with him the entire time. The other kid’s parents and I socialize and watch the kids play together.

6 p.m. — O., W., and I head to O.’s swimming class. O. has a ritual where he goes to the local taqueria for tacos and then goes to his swimming lesson. W. gets some fajitas but I’m not craving Mexican food and skip. O. has been taking swimming lessons for a year and we have seen a huge improvement in his abilities over that time. $57

8 p.m. — We return home after the lesson. We get O. ready for bed — shower, brush teeth, stories, night light/white noise, and he’s in his bed.

10 p.m. — I watch an episode of The Real Housewives of SLC and sleep. It’s always interesting to watch the show when it was shot sometimes a year plus ago, and you know that some major things have happened since then.

Daily Total: $410.73

Day Two: Monday

7 a.m. — Ever since the time change, O. sleeps in and wakes up an hour later. W. is already downstairs making coffee for himself. O. grabs me from bed and we head downstairs to get ready for preschool. I make him some eggs, a toasted bagel, bacon, and cut him some berries. He eats most of it and gets ready for school.

9 a.m. — I drop O. off at school and head to my desk to work. When I come home, I notice that W. has left for work. I’m lucky to have a job that is fully remote/virtual. It gives me the flexibility to start working after I drop off O. at school without having to worry about a commute to an office.

10 a.m. — I try to catch up on any open items that might have come in over the weekend. I shared my Calendly link for the various candidate interviews I have and ended up with over 20 hours of interviews this week. Definitely didn’t do a good job spacing out the interviews.

12 p.m. — I have a new hire starting today and after his orientation this morning, he is finally logged in, so I meet with him and walk him through his onboarding plan, including his 30/60/90 day expectations. I’m excited to have him after three months of searching for the right person. The two of us end our call and join our weekly team meeting. I quickly make some noodle soup with tofu, veggies, noodles, and coconut peanut broth I have in the fridge. I eat it during the team meeting.

3 p.m. — I spend the afternoon doing more interviews. I’m thankful when a candidate sends me a message that she needs to reschedule. I meet with my new hire again to check in on how onboarding is going. I’m blown away by how quickly he is picking things up and how much of a self-starter he is.

5 p.m. — I pick up O. from school and take him to his soccer class. O. is eating a sandwich in the car. On our way to soccer, we have a bathroom emergency so need to make a pit stop at home. We’re a few minutes late to soccer but since it is our first class of the season, the class hasn’t started yet. Also, this is toddler soccer so no sweat.

6 p.m. — O. finishes soccer and heads to the playground attached to the field. W. is waiting for us there. W. brought some pizza from a local restaurant we like. I say bye to O. so I can head to my monthly book club. $62

9 p.m. — The book club is at another lady’s house and she has a beautiful view of the SF skyline. The entire time we are at the book club, I’m gawking at both how clear it is and that I can see everything from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Palace of Fine Arts to Alcatraz from her living room. I like that this book club is low pressure — I didn’t get to read the book from last month. I bring along a bottle of red wine, crackers, and cheese. $46.50

10 p.m. — I watch an episode of Love is Blind and sleep. Again, it is already public knowledge that one of the couples is divorced after only being married for a few months, so it feels anti-climactic to watch the wedding when I know what has happened. As you will probably see, I watch a lot of reality TV. I feel like my life is so boring and mundane that I love seeing the drama that reality TV has.

Daily Total: $108.50

Day Three: Tuesday

7 a.m. — Similar morning ritual every day — O. wakes up and grabs me. We head downstairs and I make him a croissant sandwich filled with Nutella and fruit. He eats most of it, plays a bit with his Lego, and gets ready for school.

9 a.m. — I drop O. off at school and head to my desk to work. I stop by the plant store to buy three plants, and the grocery store too to buy some more fruit. I don’t have enough time before my first meeting to buy everything on the grocery list. I spend the first hour checking in with my new hire and making sure he has everything he needs. I check my email and see that we got into one of the private schools we applied for. It’s a relief to know that we don’t have to move. $72

10 a.m. — I get an alert from one of our employees that the direct deposits for the entire team didn’t get deposited today. I start scrambling with various team members to get an update and resolve the issue, while also attending an interview where the candidate is doing a presentation.

12 p.m. — We still haven’t resolved the payroll issue. Multiple members of the leadership team have weighed in on this and the Slack thread is now 76 messages over two hours. There isn’t a DRI [Designated Responsible Individual] who owns this. I’m going to let someone else dictate messaging here since I don’t agree with the decision being made. I make a quick egg scramble with veggies and toast. I’m trying to be good about incorporating more protein into my meals.

3 p.m. — I spend the afternoon doing more interviews. I’m monitoring responses from some of the folks who didn’t get paid, and understandably they’re very agitated.

5 p.m. — Before heading to pick up O. from school, I send a message to the team saying I think the responses to the employees lack empathy and we should regroup in the morning to talk about how we respond.

6 p.m. — O. and W. eat dinner. I didn’t have much time to prep today so I make some ravioli with pesto, veggies, and chicken for dinner. I decide to go for a run so I can clear my head. The weather in SF is beautiful in the spring. I’m loving that it’s brighter in the evenings.

8 p.m. — W. folds laundry, while I do dishes from dinner. O. is playing with his Lego. O. goes to bed, and I message a friend who I’m supposed to grab lunch with tomorrow about when and where we’re meeting. I don’t have the energy tonight to watch TV, so I call it an early night.

Daily Total: $72

Day Four: Wednesday

7 a.m. — Similar morning ritual every day — O. wakes up and grabs me. We head downstairs and I make him a pulled pork sandwich with Hawaiian rolls and cucumbers. O. isn’t always into breakfast food so sometimes I make him lunch/dinner meals for breakfast. He eats most of it, plays a bit with his Magna-Tiles, and gets ready for school. On Wednesdays, he doesn’t like the lunch his school provides him so I make him a deli sandwich with turkey, salami, and sopressata on Dave’s Killer Bread.

9 a.m. — I drop O. off at school and head to my desk to work. I stop by the dry cleaners to pick up W.’s shirts ($22) and go to Trader Joe’s to buy our weekly groceries ($147.52). I also happen to go to Whole Foods to buy coffee for W. ($52.61). I liked this Whole Foods since they have a coffee grinder. Only to find out that they got rid of it as well, so I will now have to buy a coffee grinder. I spend the first hour checking in with my new hire and making sure he has everything he needs for the day. $222.13

10 a.m. — I spend the next two hours conducting interviews for candidates. I used to try to mute my Slack and email notifications, but have realized it makes me miss supporting my team. I find it so hard to be present during an interview while also ensuring the broader business has the support they need for escalations.

12 p.m. — I meet a friend, M., for lunch. It’s beautiful weather and we sit outside. I get a plate with rice, beans, salsa, avocados, and a yummy chipotle sauce. They have a delicious watermelon agua fresca I usually get but I have been trying to cut down on my sugar and lately haven’t been craving anything sweet. I have a great time catching up with my friend. She updates me on her work, personal life, and job search. She just ran an ultramarathon, so I hear all about that. We used to work together about 10 years ago, and she is one of my closest confidantes. In a remote work environment, I haven’t been able to make the same quality of friends as when I was in an office. $32.67

3 p.m. — I spend the afternoon doing more interviews. In between interviews, I help review some SOPs my team created, provide feedback on some open items and start creating a product request I have for our Engineering Team.

5 p.m. — I meet one more time with my new hire to check in, answer any questions, and give him some context about the meetings he will have tomorrow. W. comes home and we catch up about our days before heading to pick up O. from school. I also buy a De’Longhi burr coffee grinder. $119.95

6 p.m. — O. and W. eat dinner. I made a rack of ribs and grilled some corn for them. I head out to an art gallery opening I got tickets for. I meet a friend who is joining me. The wife is a painter while the husband is the musician. It’s really nice to see both together and how each of their works ties together.

9 p.m. — I head home after the event and O. is already asleep. W. is working in his office so I pop in to say hi. I appreciate that O. and W. cleaned up after dinner, started the dishwasher, and swept the floors so I don’t have any household tasks I need to do. I watch an episode of Shark Tank. I like all of the new guest judges. It reminds me that I couldn’t be an entrepreneur. I enjoy being a cog in the machine at a company.

Daily Total: $374.75

Day Five: Thursday

7 a.m. — Similar morning ritual every day — O. wakes up and grabs me. We head downstairs and he just wants the leftovers from yesterday night’s dinner: ribs and corn. He finishes it all and asks for more. I don’t have more so I offer him other options and he picks eating strawberries while playing with his cars. I make my tea for the morning and get ready for drop-off.

9 a.m. — I check the portal and find out that W. got into another school. This school is low on our list, so we still prefer the one we heard back from on Tuesday. I cancel my morning check-in with my new hire, so I can spend some focused time on creating the product request before my first candidate interview.

10 a.m. — I spend the next two hours conducting interviews for candidates. I get alerted that one of the people who did not get paid wants to set up time with me to chat. She says she is available at 12 p.m., which is perfect since it’s when I’m free as well.

12 p.m. — I speak to the person who didn’t get paid. She asks me if I’m confident that she will get paid tomorrow. I’m transparent with her that I confirmed with the vendor that she will be and we should definitely check in tomorrow to ensure that it happened. She is much more understanding than I would be if I didn’t get paid, so I appreciate it. I eat my leftover rice plate after I hang up with her before my 12:30 p.m. meeting. I log into the portal a final time and find out that we got into the last two schools. We feel so fortunate to have so many choices and need to spend the next few days assessing our options.

3 p.m. — I spend the afternoon having our weekly meetings. We have one with cross-functional partners. We have our team meeting as well. I check in with the team and make sure I address any questions or concerns they have. They remind me of a couple of open projects that they need my guidance on, so I provide real-time responses. My team is great at staying on top of things and does an incredible job with all of the moving pieces we have.

5 p.m. — I do my daily check-in with my new hire. W. comes home with O. and I make them dinner. Tonight is chicken burritos with veggies, Spanish rice, and black beans. O. likes them deconstructed so he can do it himself. W. actually uses a soft taco-size tortilla since it makes it more manageable for him to hold it. We spend the rest of the evening before bedtime doing puzzles, painting some papers with watercolors, and listening to stories on Alexa.

9 p.m. — O. goes to sleep and I get ready for bed as well. I spend an hour reading the book for my book club, All The Other Mothers Hate Me by Sarah Harman. I can’t say I’m surprised this was the pick since we are all mothers! This book is great. It’s an easy read and the main character is everything I strive not to be as a mother. I start getting tired so I call it a night around 10:30 p.m.

Daily Total: $0

Day Six: Friday

7 a.m. — Similar morning ritual every day — O. wakes up and grabs me. We head downstairs and he eats hash browns, scrambled eggs, toast, and some sliced oranges. Today our cleaning lady comes, so O. is responsible for putting all his toys away before school. On Fridays, he does not like the lunch his school provides him, so I make him spinach ravioli in pesto sauce and put it into a thermos. I appreciate that the school is open to me providing lunch on days he doesn’t like what is on the menu.

9 a.m. — I spend the morning in meetings. I’m glad this super heavy meeting week is coming to an end. We have our hour-long weekly business review, followed by a meeting with the product/eng team on priorities. I spend the next two hours in candidate interviews and responding to Slack and email escalations. Our cleaning lady has a key to the house so she lets herself in at some point. $140

12 p.m. — I take a quick break to go get my car washed and a walk around the neighborhood while it is being done. $50

1 p.m. — I spend the afternoon trying to get organized for next week — determining any open items that I need to close out on for today, prioritizing what I need to work on for next week and updating my various weekly 1:1s with my direct reports about what projects they will need to work on. I take a break to eat some fried rice with tofu that I make.

5 p.m. — W. comes home with O. and we go to a local Italian place for dinner. Friday is a night I try not to cook and we usually go to a restaurant. We order a mushroom pasta, lasagna and a lamb ragu pasta. $117

8 p.m. — O. goes to bed and I need to respond to some emails and text messages from friends. I try so hard to put my phone away, but randomly I will notice I’m doom scrolling. I spend a little time reading my book as well before calling it a night early at 9:45 p.m.

Daily Total: $307

Day Seven: Saturday

7 a.m. — O. wakes up and jumps into our bed to shake W. awake. After some silly games like I Spy, we all head downstairs to start our morning.

8 a.m. — W. and O. usually go to get bagels and the farmers’ market. They each get a bagel with butter and a side of pastrami ($14) and buy some fruit from the farmers’ market ($16). I decide to skip today so I get some things done at home. $30

10 a.m. — O. is back home and anxiously awaiting for his friends to arrive for his playdate. Unfortunately, his friends are late and we end up playing tag on the street while waiting for them to arrive. They arrive around 10:30.

12 p.m. — The five kids have a blast playing with the trucks, trains, and other toys we have at our house. The moms hang out on the couch just catching up. All of the kids are going to start Kindergarten in fall, so we spend a majority of the time discussing where we got in and what we anticipate doing. We all eat spaghetti and meatballs with a choice of berries and cucumber or carrots for lunch.

2 p.m. — All the kids leave, we clean up and O. takes his nap for the next 90 minutes. I prep for the crispy pan pizza I’m making for dinner and rest for a bit as well.

4 p.m. — After O. wakes up, I take him to get his hair cut. After over five years, I have finally talked him into going to the salon. I was doing a terrible job with the razor and I’m so happy to have a professional cut his hair. $47

5 p.m. — I put the pizza in the oven and spend the time while it is in the oven to power wash the stairs. It feels so satisfying to see the stairs free of dirt and moss. The pizza comes out delicious and golden brown. I serve everyone some pizza. I go back to power washing after dinner.

8 p.m. — O. starts complaining that he is itchy. I assume it is from the haircut even though we rinsed off after the haircut. After almost 90 minutes of stalling, he finally falls asleep in his bed.

10 p.m. — I watch the reunion episode of Love is Blind (season 10). W. and I try to talk about which school we like. Our top two schools are in opposite directions from where we live, so logistically the same one is more academically driven, which is the one W. prefers, and I prefer the other one because it seems more like a community. We’re at an impasse and have another 48 hours to decide. I get tired and go to bed.

Daily Total: $77

The Breakdown

Conclusion:
I realized that while I didn’t have any major big-ticket purchases, I had a lot of everyday purchases and spending to maintain our household. In my previous diary, I booked travel and a trip, which I considered our big-ticket item. It felt like a good mix of time alone, time with friends and family, and time running errands. I feel like our family spending is mostly around how to make my family and my life easier and run smoothly.

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