Welcome to our Saving Cents series, in partnership with South State Bank, where we publish anonymous peeks into locals’ personal finance habits, spending, and savings goals over the course of seven days.

Saving Cents FAQ

What info do I need to provide?

We’ll ask you for the following:

• Name + email (we won’t publish this)
• Age
• Neighborhoods where you live + work
• Industry + job title
• Income information
• Recurring monthly expenses (rent, bills, leases, loans, insurance, transportation, etc.)
• Three financial goals you have currently (in life)
• Daily purchase diary
  
  • Total spend each day
  • What expense you could cut each day, in hindsight
• Total weekly expense breakdown by category
• What you learned
  
  • How much you could have saved by cutting one expense per day
  • Three savings strategies you’ll use for future budgeting

What do I include in my daily diary?

• All daily purchases (everything that you buy in a day – from your morning coffee run to the on-demand movie you fall asleep to)
  
  • Record everything you’d normally spend money on (like food, even if it is free or made at home; noting ‘free’ as the expense)
  • Record if anything is expensed because of your job or paid for by another person; noting ‘free’ as the expense
• Don’t include recurring monthly expenses; you’ll list these out as part of your basic info, not your daily expenses (i.e. rent, utilities, leases, bills, loans, medical, transportation, etc.)
• Include any one-off or emergency purchases
• Joint diaries can be submitted if two people share the majority of expenses together (this is usually the case when couples live together); specify basic info (income, job, age, etc.) for each person contributing to the expenses
• Explain one expense per day that you could cut to better save for the future

How do I record daily purchases?

Log the following:

• Amount spent
• Time of purchase
• Details of purchase: the what + why (treat this like a diary – the more personality + details, the better)
  
  • Example: 7:30 p.m. Take an Uber to Il Giorgione ($9.87). Boyfriend and I sit outside (so nice with the string lights), and split a bottle of wine, a caprese salad and a pizza. He got dinner and a lot of beers when we checked out the new Hunter Gatherer Hangar this weekend, so I pick up the check. ($49).

At the end of the day:

• Add up total spend from that day
• Explain one expense you could cut from that day to better save for the future

How do I break down my expenses at the end of the week?

• Food + Drink | dinner, coffee, drinks, juice, cost of making food at home, groceries, meal subscription boxes, etc.
• Entertainment | experiences like event tickets, movies, shows, bar covers, books, recreational drugs, fun park passes, etc.
• Home + Health | toiletries, beauty, prescriptions, pet expenses, decor, tech accessories, cleaning supplies, etc.
• Clothing + Beauty | makeup, skincare, haircuts, recreational spa/beauty treatments, dry cleaning, clothes/shoe shopping, etc.
• Transportation | public transportation tickets/fees, gas, oil changes, repairs, airline travel, etc.
• Other | expenses unable to be categorized – sometimes shared group charges/payments, gifts, one-time or emergency expenses, donations, etc.)