A Week in Monroeville, PA, on a $50,000 Salary
Welcome to Spending Notes, where we do a weekly deep dive into how our readers spend their cash.
Today: a sports betting writer who makes $50,000
Occupation: sports betting writer
Age: 29
Location: Monroeville, PA
Salary: $50,000 (approx. $1,600 per pay period)
Day One
I’ve been writing remotely for a gambling-focused marketing company these last two years. I cover everything about betting on the competitive gaming industry known as esports. Since I cover gambling within professional gaming, I have to keep up with all esports, from Overwatch League to CSGO. I decided to go back and look through the archives about Daniel “Dafran” Francesca for a piece I was writing. He played for Selfless but was suspended after throwing games. A lot of people search for Dafran Overwatch settings because he was big on the competitive scene. But Dafran was rather unhappy and had unsportsmanlike conduct, which earned him a lifetime ban from Solary’s VALORANT tournaments and a week-long ban from Twitch, too. Eventually, he left the community. As a writer, it’s always interesting to read about past popular players. HotSpawn is a great resource for anything related to esports.
Total: $0
Day Two
I decided to work from a coffee shop today because I get a little stir-crazy working from home all of the time. There aren’t really any good coworking spaces in Monroeville, so I usually end up at a local coffee shop when I work outside of my house. It’s always fun to watch people come in and out while I stay in the same spot all day. In total, I had about three cups of coffee and a cinnamon roll.
Total: $14.75
Day Three
My partner, V., and I have been living together for the last three years but have only just purchased our home at the beginning of this year. It’s a bit of a fixer-upper, so we have some work to do as homeowners. Earlier in the year, we did some bathroom remodeling. Over dinner today, V. mentioned that we needed a complete roof replacement. I will have to look into that at some point. We had takeout at home.
Total: $31
Day Four
After writing up a few betting articles on upcoming esports matches, I decided to look for a roofing company in Monroeville. Personally, I’ve seen the condition of our roof, and I don’t think we need a new roof. We may just need some shingles looked at and some gutters replaced. Either way, I found Buccos Roofing and decided to request a free quote. Buccos Roofing is a roofing company that does everything from a new roof to siding installation.
Total: $0
Day Five
It’s Friday, so V. and I like to celebrate after work by cooking a fun meal together. We went to the grocery store to buy some ingredients for chicken pot pie. V. insisted on making every part of the process from scratch. She is usually the one cooking while I do most of the prep work. It’s like she’s the head chef while I am the sous-chef.
Total: $29
Day Six
Because we had the day off together, V. and I started the day playing one of the most popular esports: League of Legends. V. wants to be a Twitch streamer at some point. By the time we finished playing, it was already dark out. We decided to skip going to dinner and had leftover pot pie instead.
Total: $0
Day Seven
For lunch, my friend A. asked me to go out to an Asian fusion restaurant. It combines Taiwanese and Japanese food. Because it was chilly out, I enjoyed a beef stew noodle soup. A. told me about how he was searching for a new job. I wrote two betting articles for work.
Total: $17
Total for the week: $91.75
