What is a Money Diary?

Welcome to Money Diaries, where we tackle what might be the last taboo facing modern working people: money.

Whether you’re saving up for a house, vacation, or you just want to be smarter with money, tracking your purchases is a great starting point. With Money Diaries, we’re asking YOU to share how you spend your hard-earned money over seven days.

How do I submit my Money Diary?

Simple! Log your spending over seven days and report back to us all of the details. Keep in mind that all Money Diaries published to the site are anonymous. We post your age, location, job, salary information, and daily diary entries but never your name or contact information. This information is only given to our Money Diary editors, who may reach out with questions.

Prior to submitting your Money Diary, please read and consider Refinery29's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy (or Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for UK and Ireland). Submission of your Money Diary does not guarantee publication by Refinery29. Should your Money Diary be selected for publication, Refinery29 may, in its sole discretion, elect to pay you a fee, subject to such further terms and conditions as Refinery29 may deem necessary. Money Diaries that are not published are not entitled to receive any payment. Refinery29 will not remove Money Diaries once published. By submitting your Money Diary to Refinery29, you agree to abide and be bound by the applicable Terms of Use and Privacy Policy linked above.

Tips for tracking your spending:

Record the time of day, amount spent, and a little blurb about what you bought for every purchase. The more detail you provide, the better understanding we get of your day-to-day which is what makes a Money Diary fun to read.

We encourage you to record all meals (even if they are for free at work or home) and if you go grocery shopping during the week, include a list of everything you bought. Use the “expensed” check box to denote anything that will be expensed as part of your job. If you have a partner that you share finances with, please include any of their purchases for the week. Please try to keep your Money Diary between 3,000-5,000 words.

More Info & FAQs:

You will be contacted if your diary is chosen for publication. In order to keep to a timely publishing and pay schedule, we require a response within 24 hours.

Additionally, you can find our Money Diaries FAQs doc here: r29.co/mdfaqs

If you have any questions not answered in the above link, ideas, or general feedback you may email the Money Diary team at moneydiary@refinery29.com or moneydiary@refinery29.uk (for UK and Ireland submissions).