20: I have already spent $2,000 this month
for context: my average spending in a month hovers between $800 - $1200
I was sick for the first part of June (boo!) hence why the June newsletter is late. Now that I’ve recovered from my on-and-off cold/flu, I finally mustered the energy to write this month’s newsletter!
Let’s get into it!
RW announcement corner
A space where I share updates on Researching Wealth such as freebies, available digital products for sale, and anything else that comes to mind.
I’m excited to announce that by the end of June, I will be releasing my Ultimate Graduate Application Guide. Drawing from my experiences applying to graduate programs for the 2024-2025 PhD cycle and working in academic research for 3+ years, I created a 20+ page guide with specialized advice AND my exact materials (e.g. statement of purpose, email templates) on how to make a successful graduate application.
Even if you are:
a) an international student;
b) a first-generation student and/or;
c) wasn’t a star student with a 4.0 GPA
I fall under all those categories and was invited to all in-person interviews/recruitment weekends (paid for by the institution) and received a 5-year fully-funded PhD offer totalling ~$100,000 USD per year (which includes a living stipend, healthcare, a one-time relocation fund, and a tuition waiver).
This will be a fantastic resource for anyone interested in applying to graduate programs for the 2025 - 2026 cycle and beyond. Summer of last year is when I seriously began my process of applying to PhD programs.
The guide will be available for only $5.50 CAD. At no additional cost, you will get access to any updates that are made to the PDF. This price was decided upon after consultations with the RW community as I wanted to strike a balance between affordability and respect for my knowledge and work.
I specifically applied to US PhD programs, but it is definitely applicable to other contexts as I drew from my experiences, having done my undergraduate studies in Canada and my masters degree in the UK. Sneak peek below!
Stay updated on the official release of the product on my instagram @researchingwealth
The appreciation corner
A space where I express five (or more) things I’m grateful for and appreciative of from the month before
reunions with friends: may was a travel month where I got to visit my friends in the UK - it almost felt like I never left!
walks by the rivers: I got lucky with some good weather while I was in the UK (it can always be 50/50) so I got to enjoy some great walks by the river
cows: where I was in the UK, there are these amazing fields with grazing cows. It always makes me so happy to see them!
the opportunity to travel/visit the UK: when I left the UK to move back to Canada, it felt extremely rushed and last-minute. I felt like I didn’t get a chance to say proper goodbyes so I’m really really really grateful to have spent some time in a place I called home for more than 3 years
visiting my partner: It was my turn to visit! My partner was 70% of the reason I wanted to go back to the UK and it was so nice to spend time with him
I have already spent $2,000 this month
A shallow dive (300-600 words) on a specific topic pertinent to the Researching Wealth brand such as personal finance, academia, travel, social media and lifestyle
June is always a crazy month for me. 3/4 members of my family have birthdays (including myself), as well as a couple of my friends, no matter where I’ve lived. Because of this it’s always been a busy month.
However, this year is especially busy because for the rest of June I have 3 weddings to attend - one of them being my best friend’s wedding, where I have the greatest honour of being her maid of honour!
But I do have a confession to make: it’s June 9th at the time of writing and I will 100% surpass my budget for June.
While I was sick, there wasn’t much I could do, so I decided to do a revamp of my notion dashboards with the support of slow cozy kelly and tsune on YouTube (highly recommend their videos for all things notion!).
In doing so, I decided to start properly budgeting again this month using notion as my platform (before I used a Google spreadsheet).
16: I haven't formally budgeted in over 6 months
February newsletter is finally in… more than halfway through the month, whoops.
For anyone interested, I spoke about why I hadn’t formally budgeted in my February newsletter
While I don’t think Notion has all the capabilities for people who want to strictly keep track of their spending, I find it suitable for what I want now: Something simple, streamlined, and will keep me motivated to budget broadly (i.e. I don’t need to know where every cent is going and to what, I just need the overall picture).
And well… I discovered that my budget has totally gone out the window.
In anticipation for the busy month, I set my budget pretty high for June at $2,500. This is much higher than previous months.
Unfortunately, we are not even halfway through June and I’ve almost hit $2,000.
The main culprits: travel + weddings.
My partner and I are going on a trip next month and we still needed to book our accommodation which came to ~$1,200, after receiving a credit statement of $100 since I used my AMEX cobalt credit card to book the hotel. Side note: this is definitely one of the best credit cards for Canadians - I highly recommend it.
My friends will be joining for part of it and since my partner will be driving us around A LOT since it’s a multi-city trip, I told him he only needs to pay me for 1/4 of the accommodation. He has helped me so much financially in the 3 years we have been dating, so I thought it was only fair, especially since I can afford it.
But the big expenses this month will be wedding-related.
For each wedding I’m attending, it is customary to give cash. This is a cultural practice. The determinant for how much you give is usually based on how close your relationship is to the bride and/or groom. So I’ve estimated that the total cost for the money gifts for all 3 weddings will come to $900.
Which obviously brings my total for the month to be $2,752. But I will obviously need to spend more money this month, to support my basic living expenses and birthdays, as well as certain wedding-related items I will be paying for as my duties as a maid of honour.
For example, I need a strapless bra since I’ll be wearing specific traditional outfits that require one, paying for my portion of gifts, and spendings on bachelorettes. I will also be buying beauty-related treatments such as a haircut, waxings, and makeup which will also increase that total.
So I’ve recalculated and anticipate that my total spending will actually be closer to $3,200. Truthfully, I have not spent this much money in a single month for a long time, when not accounting for rent/housing.
Despite this mind-boggling amount, I’m taking steps to make some extra money to offset some of these costs.
I am challenging myself to make at least $1,000 from reselling online. So far, I’ve made $60, which is far off from where I want to be, but I will be posting 5 items per day starting on June 11 on FB marketplace/ebay/poshmark until mid-July (since I will be moving in August to start my PhD).
I also have yet to sell my BLACKPINK tickets which will also help buffer some of the costs from this month once I do (I paid ~$430 for 3 tickets).
So I’m confident that I will be back on track by the time July rolls around but it is definitely a financially draining month so close to my move which makes me nervous! But I’m choosing to trust the process and remember that I am doing okay financially.
As always thanks for reading ♡. Where else you can find me:
Instagram: @researchingwealth
Pinterest: @researchingwealth