Where’d your last hundo go, LaToya Jovena?

$28.08, beauty products from online beauty shop. I could have gotten comparable items much cheaper at any drug store, but I had a gift card to this specific store. Still, not a bad price if I think of the gift cards as a discount because my entire order was over $50.

$9.25, burrito from Chipotle. Plus gauc.

$2.25, parking fees. 75 cents of this is the cost of parking outside of Chipotle, while the rest is the cost I accidentally overpaid because the meter I put my bank card into was malfunctioning. I called to complain, but do I really want to chase down “the man” for $1.50?

$49.35, full tank of gas. This will hopefully get me to work, back home, and where ever else I need to go for a full pay period. Doubtful, but hopeful.

$38, bottles of flavored vodka and seltzer. To celebrate my first joint tax filing with my husband, (we’re newlyweds)! All the cards on the table—cheers! Easier to make financial decisions—cheers! Actually receiving a refund—cheers! One lump sum directly deposited to one joint checking account—cheers! Here’s to hoping we don’t spend it all before we actually receive it.

LaToya Jovena likes hanging out with her husband and puppy. // photo by sanberdoo

Where’d you spend your last hundo, Allegra Ringo?

$1, Box of pancake mix at the 99 Cent Store. Used to make pancakes that were used as props in a sketch, not eaten. I felt like a real first-world shithead about it.

$13, Ramen at my favorite ramen restaurant. I don’t mean to brag, but I added tofu AND an egg. Then I made it into two meals by adding packaged ramen noodles to the leftover broth, so I feel this purchase was well-justified.

$10, Having the groomer expel my dog’s anal glands. I still have no idea what expelling anal glands entails, and I would pay thousands of dollars to keep it that way.

$24, Pizza delivery. I was hungry and it was raining, and in Los Angeles there is an explicit rule that we do not leave the house when it rains. My hands were tied.

$27, Misc. dog supplies. $15 of this was a harness she chewed through in 10 minutes. Another portion went toward an adorable if unneeded toy.

$22, Breakfast for my boyfriend and me at Ed’s. It’s my favorite diner and the only place I have a “usual” (we share a breakfast burrito and a stack of pancakes).

$3, Mysterious Japanese candy. I stopped at a Japanese market and bought some strawberry candies so I could use my debit card to get cash. Then I threw in some tomato-flavored candies because they sounded weird. Both candies were pretty bad, and the store didn’t give cash back.

Allegra Ringo writes for Top Story Weekly.

$100! It is a lot of money, and yet, it is also not a lot of money at all. What happened to your last hundo, Chanel Dubofsky?

Mistake Coffee, $3.36: Generally, I’m obsessed with bodega and cart coffee, but I lost my mind one morning and flew into the Pret that’s across the street from my consulting gig and bought a latte. I try not to regret things, but this latte was NOT delicious and I fully regret it.

New sheets and fleece blankets, $48.50: Some people are fastidious about their bedding, but I actually tend to forget things like sheets and covers that are warm enough for winter until I’m wearing twelve layers of clothing and shivering in my bed in January. I consider this purchase to be a non violent, preemptive strike.

Boots, $29.00: My approach to footwear is similar to my approach to bedding. I have one pair of Converse All Stars that I wear constantly, to the point where I may or may not have duct taped the bottom so I wouldn’t have to buy a new pair. So I bought these boots, which seemed innocuous enough to me online, but in real life…I fear them. They seem like they might be a little too cool. I have yet to actually wear them outside the house.

Carbon monoxide detector, $26.15: I don’t know how my house, with all eight of its residents (two being feline), has gone so long without a carbon monoxide detector? I bought one on the internet and then emailed my housemates: “So we may live and not die.”

Chanel Dubofsky lives in Brooklyn and is interested in your personal decisions.

Where did you spend your last hundred bucks, Edith Zimmerman?

$7, Vodka and soda at a bar. ($5 drink, $2 tip because I want them to like me and I do a lot of stupid shit there.)

$4, Two bottles of seltzer.

$3, ATM fee for cash withdrawal from CVS, which is a lot, I know, but my Bank of America ATMs across the street were both out, and I’d seen several in the past few days that were also out, and I was running low and kept envisioning apocalyptic-type situations where I’d have to bribe someone for something crucial, but because I couldn’t find an ATM I’d have to be like, “Here, take my … North Ireland 20 pound note, omg but you can exchange it, omgomgogmgomg.”

$22, Wine from the wine store.

$50 to the Red Cross! Haha, exactly as I always do. But I did actually do this.

$8, Two bottles of seltzer, and a Five Hour Energy drink. I don’t know if Five Hour Energy works (“works”?), and I generally try to avoid processed stuff and bottled drinks, but I also really hate to sleep or get tired, and I like to wander around my apartment and consume things. And then it’s not like I finished these seltzers and had to buy the two others above, but that a friend wanted seltzer, so instead of bringing her my opened/flavored ones (these), I bought her new ones (above). Although the ones above should have cost like seventy cents each, I don’t know why they were $4. Should I go on???

$7, Hummus, onion, stamps.

And haha, too bad this isn’t the last $200 you spent, or you could hear about the crazy stuff I bought at the health foods store. Ask me about jojoba oil!!!!

Edith Zimmerman runs The Hairpin. 

What happened to your last hundo, Lauren Kelley? 

$21: Three Six Point IPAs plus tip at Abilene in Carroll Gardens. I announced to my friends that I had never gone to Abilene without running into someone I know. I did not run into anyone I know.

$3: Egg, cheese, lettuce, and tomato on a poppy seed bagel from the good bodega by my apartment. Everyone in New York has a good bodega and a bad bodega right? Like, there’s the one with the good sandwiches where the guy behind the counter cracks jokes and gives kids candy, and then the one that smells like mustard and you’re pretty sure is a mafia front?

$10.88: Bottle of white wine. Because wine. 

$11.50: An onion, a head of garlic, two zucchini, two ears of corn, a giant heirloom tomato (a striped something-something?), two peaches, and a bunch of parsley at the downtown Brooklyn greenmarket. Partial ingredients for an evening picnic at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

$40.48: Epic Goodwill trip: a pair of Frye boots (FRYE BOOTS), a jacket, a sundress, a black top, and two scarves.

$14.39: This stupid expensive dental floss that I have to buy because I have a permanent retainer and some vitamins at Duane Reade.

TOTAL: $101.25

Lauren Kelley is an editor at AlterNet and a freelance journalist. She’s taller than you.

$100! It is a lot of money, and yet, it is also not a lot of money at all. Where did your last hundred bucks go, Kate Dries?

$75.68, Dinner at Chicago’s new “hip” restaurant Ada Street. I feel that this is a ridiculous amount to spend on dinner and drinks for one person on a Thursday. But my ex-boyfriend was in town and he’s a foodie and I wanted to try this new place and it just seemed like, well, you’re not dating anymore, so pony up for your half modern lady. The drinks were good though the food was overpriced for such “small plates”. The ambiance is recommended, despite their sort-of pretentious “record collection.” And I enjoyed the bartender Joe(l?) who gave us free shots of limoncello (like in Rome!). And the new barback who was learning how to separate eggs and struggling with it. I love nothing more than to watch people struggle at separating eggs.

$6, Hamm’s at Happy Village. Two beers, one for a friend without cash. This purchase was followed by a long conversation with another friend about how to properly pronounce Hamm’s. Decided it didn’t matter because it’s basically the worst beer in existence.

$9.50, Magic Mike ticket. FINALLY made it to this cinematic classic. Worth every penny.

$13, Whiskey sour and then a whiskey and Coke. This was at a new bar where you can play arcade games that I’m terrible at. The whiskey sour was also terrible, so to remedy the situation, I followed it up by ordering a whiskey “rum”, which prompted the bartender to look at me quizzically and made me start questioning every decision I’d made recently.

$10, Best old fashioned in the city at Bar Deville. Almost made up for the earlier alcoholic experience I don’t even want to go back to. Mom, I swear I do things other than go to bars and see how well they make my favorite drinks.

$2, Key deposit. Paid all in quarters, this was a deposit for a key to the studio my photography class is housed in that I had forgotten at class the week prior. “Laundry money!” exclaimed the eccentric woman who collected it from me. I thought she was joking but no, that’s a celebration that extends past college.

$6.73: Trader Joes dark chocolate peanut butter cups and low fat blue chips. Purchased for a viewing of The Bachelorette season finale (which was fantastic, but that goes without saying). I’d like to note that I had also made guacamole and kale chips myself, and am therefore a delightful person you should always invite over for television viewing experiences.

TOTAL: $122.91. This makes it look like I lead an active, food and drink infused lifestyle, which is at least true on the weekends.

Kate Dries is surprisingly happy with her Schwab bank account — there’s no physical bank but no ATM fees! She can be found here and here. (This is not an ad. She just really likes her bank.)

$100! It is a lot of money, and yet, it is also not a lot of money at all. Where did your last hundred bucks go, Brittany Shoot?

$62.30: Whole Foods produce run, which included: carton of apricots, bag of cherries, bundle of asparagus, two avocados, one purple onion, one lime, two vine tomatoes, two cartons of raspberries, one carton of blueberries, one carton of strawberries, two bell peppers (red, yellow), two heads of broccoli, four bananas, one sack of tiny red/purple/white potatoes, and one blueberry vegan donut. Opted for organic when possible, and almost everything was.

$18.97: Apple iTunes store, purchased new albums by Bobby Womack (The Bravest Man in the Universe, $9.99) and The Tallest Man On Earth (There’s No Leaving Now, $7.99), plus “The Break-Up Song” (re-recorded, what? $0.99) by Greg Kihn because I couldn’t get it out of my head.

$1.94: Subway. Bought iced tea for homeless (?) guy sitting out front as I passed. If you have a sign that says you are hungry, I will feed you—and especially if you sit in front of a cafe. Hey, let’s all buy and eat food in front of people who don’t have any! What? No. In this case, he just wanted a cold drink.

$30: Cab rides to/from Japandroids concert over in NOPA. $12.20 there, $11.75 back, and I believe in generous tips. Cab drivers know more about my city than I ever will, and they always drive faster than I do.

That’s actually $113.21. Wouldn’t have gone over paying for cabs if I’d forced my we-share-our-income sweetie to shell out, though I likely would have gone over on something else.

Previously: Aurora Almendral

Brittany Shoot is a journalist with some disposable income.

$100! It is a lot of money, and yet, it is also not a lot of money at all. Where did your last hundred bucks go, Kevin Nguyen?

How I Thought I Spent My Last Hundred Bucks: 

$15 on happy hour drinks at an Irish pub near work. (I’m only now realizing that when someone says “but it has a good happy hour,” it really translates to “we probably shouldn’t go there.”)

$25 backing a Kickstarter campaign for an illustrated tribute to Metroid (which seems like exactly the kind of endearing, nerdy thing Kickstarter was built for)

$10 at a new bakery called Crumble and Flake for a chocolate croissant, scone, cream puff, and tummy ache

$9 for lunch at the cafeteria (I work at one of those big tech companies that has a cafeteria, but not one of those Google-type cafeterias where the food is free.)

$20 on a ticket to see Beach House in October

$6 to do laundry (In my building, to wash and dry is a criminal $2 per load, and I usually have to dry things twice.)

$8 for two slices of pepperoni pizza at a food truck

$2 for an iPhone/iPad game called OLO, which I still haven’t played

$5 to rent This Means War on Amazon Instant Video, apparently the price of seeing what would happen if McG directed The Bachelorette (I fell asleep halfway through.)

 
 
How I Actually Spent My Last Hundred Bucks: 

$23.71 on happy drinks (had two more drinks than I thought)

$35 backing a Kickstarter campaign (backed for more than I remembered)

$10.75 at a new bakery called Crumble and Flake

$8.21 for lunch at the cafeteria

$29 on a Beach House ticket (CONVENIENCE FEES SDJFKLSJDKFJALJFDS)

$6 to do laundry

$10 for two slices of pepperoni pizza (forgot about the tip)

$2.18 for an iPhone game

$4.99 to rent This Means War

 
 
The Additional Hundred Bucks That I Didn’t Even Think About: 

$78.28 for utilities

$9.99 for an Rdio subscription

$8.75 for a Hulu Plus subscription

$20 for a New York Times digital subscription

$4.75 for coffee

What I Thought I Spent: $100
What I Actually Spent: $251.71

Kevin Nguyen is an editor at The Bygone Bureau. He also writes a monthly book column for Grantland and tweets from Seattle.

$100! It is a lot of money, and yet, it is also not a lot of money at all. Where did your last hundred bucks go, Alissa Burton?

$58.28:  Walmart. 4 medium packing boxes + 4 large boxes (still not enough wasn’t enough). Bubble wrap. Vacuum bags. Box of 8 Mr. Clean Erasers. Swiffer sheets. Tape. Toothpaste. In case it slipped you: we’re moving.

$0.99: Hastings (it’s like Borders, but it still exists). Team America rental—it was Memorial Day, after all.

$49.75: Bath & Body Works. At checkout, “Is this price correct?” appeared on the debit screen. Was it? Couldn’t be. Six antibacterial hand soaps for $20—that one I remembered, a candle half-off, and a candle holder half-off … oh yeah, and that new lotion. Does taking advantage of a Memorial Day sale count as smart shopping if  I’m still  spending almost $50 on smelly good stuff?

$4.20: Hastings. A bag a king size (plain) M&Ms and This Means War rental. Definitely worth a watch given the team up of Chris Pine and Tom Hardy (hello, gorgeous accent that can talk to me all night long) and it’s funny once you get over Chelsea Handler’s “acting”.

…okay, that was $113.22. You win debit card. You always do.

Alissa Burton never says no to a Sunday matinee at the theater and blogs here. Picture: Alissa Burton

$100! It is a lot of money, and yet, it is also not a lot of money at all. Where did your last hundred bucks go, Alex Sachon?

$132: My half of the weekly daycare payment for my two-year-old son

Previously: Choire Sicha

Alex Sachon lives in Washington, D.C.