A Week In Los Angeles, CA, On A Joint $1,500,000 Income

The background

I am a 34-year-old Executive Director living in Los Angeles with my husband and our young daughter. We both work in corporate finance, a world that is as demanding as it is lucrative. Our joint income is roughly $1,500,000, which sounds like a staggering amount, and in many ways, it is. However, between a $2 million home in a city with a sky-high cost of living, private school tuition, and the various "helpers" that keep our lives from imploding, the money moves out as quickly as it comes in.

Growing up, my relationship with money was shaped by a family that valued education and hard work but didn't necessarily have this level of wealth. Now, I find myself in a position where I can drop $2,500 on hair extensions or $833 on an Hermès enamel bracelet without it derailing our monthly budget. I am currently pregnant with our second child, which has shifted my spending toward comfort, convenience, and a lot of prenatal self-care.

A week of comfort spending

My week is a blur of high-stakes meetings and pregnancy cravings. On Monday, I accidentally mixed up my schedule and ended up at Craft for a solo lunch. Instead of being annoyed, I leaned into the quiet time and ordered a salad and funnel cake ($62.56). Later, an Instagram ad got the best of me, and I spent $116.32 on Old Navy maternity clothes. It is funny how my wardrobe is a mix of high-end designer pieces and impulse-buy basics.

Tuesday was a bit more indulgent. My sister is a stylist and had $440 in Bloomingdale’s store credit that she sold to me for $250. I used it to snag a Theory leopard print coat, some Nespresso pods, and mascara, totaling $648. That evening, my husband and I went to Otium for a celebratory dinner ($217). We had planned on the roast duck, but they were out, so we settled for the pork chop. We paid the babysitter $75 for the night, which is a standard line item in our lives these days.

The luxury of outsourcing

By Wednesday, the fatigue of the third trimester really started to set in. We spent $90 on lunch at AOC, one of our favorite spots, and I booked flights to San Francisco for a friend’s wedding ($427). Much of our "extra" money goes toward buying back our time. Whether it is the $150 cash for the housekeeper, the $80 for a Saturday morning sitter so we can have a moment of peace, or the $1,514 we spend monthly on car leases, we prioritize ease.

The biggest ticket item this week was my hair. I decided to get new Italian hair extensions. I had budgeted $1,400, but the final cost came to $2,500 because of the quality of the materials. It is a massive splurge, but in my industry, looking polished feels like part of the job description.

What the week revealed

The end of the week was a mix of family time and "nesting" purchases. I bought my husband Lakers tickets for his 35th birthday ($897) and finally treated myself to that Hermès rose gold bracelet I had been eyeing ($833.13).

Looking back at the $8,095.15 spent this week (which includes a $10,397 credit card bill payment from the previous month), I realize how much of our spending is automated or driven by the need for convenience. We are incredibly lucky to have this level of security, but I still feel the pressure to maintain the career that supports it. Pregnancy has forced me to slow down, and this week showed me that while the luxury items are nice, the real value of our income is the ability to say "yes" to the things that make our hectic lives feel a little more manageable.