Photo 12/14
Real-life Budget: Patti, Salesperson
Annual Salary: $200,000
Monthly Take Home Pay: $12,261
Monthly Beauty Expenses: $243
Beauty Budget Breakdown: Patti gets a $100 facial every other month and a $120 hair cut and dye every two months. She spends about $50 on organic makeup and beauty products and $1,000 a year on Botox injections.
Why: Patti says that she's fairly low-maintenance compared to most women her age with similar incomes. "I don't get manicures or pedicures, and I've never had plastic surgery. I think I have to do the things I do in order to maintain a professional image in my line of work," she explains.
Photo 13/14
Expert Advice
"An estimated two-thirds of baby boomers haven't saved enough money to maintain their standard of living in retirement," says Matthews. "A 2010 survey showed that 34 percent of Americans actually have zero retirement savings and 22 percent of that number are people older than 65." If a baby boomer has no retirement plan in place, she should immediately cut back on all nonessentials. "A baby boomer doesn't have that much time to save, unless they're OK with working until they're 80 -- assuming there is a job they can do, and they're in good health," says Matthews.
Her best advice? "We need to spend on certain things to make our lives meaningful, and we do have to take care of our present selves as well as our future selves. So the general principle is to find a balance."
Photo 14/14
Where to Save
At her age, Patti's not willing to put money into a high-risk investment account. Five hundred or 600 dollars won't amount to much in a savings account, but Patti reasons that it will be nice to have a cushion for any unforeseen expenses or a special trip after she retires. After all, a few sacrificed facials and dye jobs won't be as memorable as a well-deserved vacation.
There's nothing quite like the feeling of purchasing a new beauty product. In part, it's a gamble. (Will this lipstick shade work with your skin color?) It's also a way to improve or even redefine yourself. (New highlights will show your ex that you're a mysterious lady he never had a handle on anyway.) It's a thrill that never really gets old.
But beauty comes at a cost. If you're 11, that tube of lip gloss is worth an hour and a half of babysitting money. If you're interviewing for a new job, a spruce-up might cost a week's rent. If you're a brunette who's finally fulfilling her redheaded calling, it might add up to $200 every three months.
Where do you draw the line? We called in Wall Street veteran Jacqueline Ko Matthews and personal finance expert Farnossh Torabi, author of "When She Makes More," to provide some insight into what these four women's beauty buys really cost them.
But beauty comes at a cost. If you're 11, that tube of lip gloss is worth an hour and a half of babysitting money. If you're interviewing for a new job, a spruce-up might cost a week's rent. If you're a brunette who's finally fulfilling her redheaded calling, it might add up to $200 every three months.
Where do you draw the line? We called in Wall Street veteran Jacqueline Ko Matthews and personal finance expert Farnossh Torabi, author of "When She Makes More," to provide some insight into what these four women's beauty buys really cost them.
