This morning I have to take the midterm for the investing class I’ve enrolled in this winter. All of the CFP classes I’ve taken have been challenging for one reason or another, but I find investing to be particularly tough. The concepts are complicated (and sometimes boring), and there’s a lot of math, which frankly isn’t my strong suit. I feel like winter 2025 is all about the things I have to do and not the things I want to do, and some days even putting together this newsletter feels like a slog.
But winter and my investing class will not last forever, and with this midterm, thankfully, I’m more than halfway done. In a month, we’ll be winging our way to Turks and Caicos for my son’s spring break, and I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to a vacation more. And just a few weeks after that, my mom and I are heading to London for a long-postponed mother-daughter trip. (We were supposed to go in 2020!) It’s good to have something on your calendar to look forward to when you’re in a work-heavy period, don’t you think?
If you don’t have spring break plans, maybe it’s time to think about summer vacation? I recently discovered the Substack Brooklyn Family Travelers, created by fellow Brooklyn mom Rachel Lipson, who writes (and teaches classes) about how to maximize your credit card points for family vacations. I’ve always been a little grumpy about sites like Points Guy, which feel a little bro-y. I appreciate that Rachel takes a topic that has been so male-centric in the past and makes it accessible for busy working moms. And you know I want to know how to afford a $10,000 vacation without actually spending that much.
Rachel has been kind enough to share discounts with Purse readers. You can get 10% off her newsletter using this link and 10% off her class “How to Book a $10K+ Trip with Credit Card Points” using the code Thepurse2025. (Both offers expire on March 31, 2025.)
Now on to today’s Home Economics, which features a family of five who also love to travel (it was one of the biggest line items in their otherwise fairly modest budget). I know this couple has a big income, but I really loved their story and wanted to share it. I also know some of you feel some anxiety (and, let’s be real, jealousy—which is a totally okay and normal feeling, and I’m not giving you a hard time about it!) when I feature high-earning couples with big retirement accounts. I want you to know I hear you, and I’m keeping that in mind as I put together April’s editions.
It’s worth noting that many of the entries I receive are from people whose financial lives look great on paper. If your experience is a little, shall we say, messier, please don’t shy away from sharing your story. Frequent readers know that the Purse readership is by and large a supportive community (for which I am so grateful!), so even if you don’t feel like your finances are where you want them to be, I would still encourage you to submit. I really do believe that every financial story is worth telling!
And now on to today’s Home Economics!
Age: 37
Location: Suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina
Relationship status: Married
Age of partner: 37
About me: My husband and I are high school sweethearts, and that simple fact tells you much about our life together—mainly, that it’s marked by loyalty and longevity. We’ve each worked for one company our entire careers, persisting through some pretty gnarly years (bad bosses, answering phones in a customer service call center) to get where we are today, doing what we love with freedom and flexibility (and, honestly, more compensation than we could have imagined in high school). We have three young kids, and we care a lot about our faith, generosity, and living a life that’s simple, slow, and fun.
All expenses are monthly unless otherwise noted.
Income:
- Your job title/salary: I work part-time (20 hrs/week) as a writer and earned about $82,000 last year.
- Partner’s job title/salary: Vice president, financial consultant. Last year, he earned $385,000, which includes a base salary of $83,000 as well as variable pay (when he hits performance goals) and bonuses.
- Your monthly take-home pay (paycheck amount after taxes and other deductions): Usually about $3,700. I’m paid hourly, so it fluctuates a bit.
- Partner’s monthly take-home pay (paycheck amount after taxes and other deductions): This varies widely depending on bonuses, etc. Last year, it ranged from $6,000 a month to $75,000.
- Additional monthly income: I write a Substack newsletter, and I earned about $12,000 last year from paid subscriptions
- Total monthly income: It’s hard to give a number here because my husband’s paycheck varies so much. We sit down at the start of every year to plan our spending in an elaborate Google sheet we’ve been using since 2010. We track every dollar that comes in and out, which means we don’t have to worry too much about my husband’s paychecks being so different from month to month.
