I feel incredibly lucky that so many women submit their stories to Home Economics. It’s never hard to find two I want to publish each month. But every once in a while, one of the entries will really knock me over, and that’s the case with today’s edition.
This Home Economics is notable for so many reasons. The family is caring for a child with multiple disabilities. The wife, who spent much of her career working for the federal government, took one of the Trump buyouts earlier this year. And the couple, both lawyers, were able to take advantage of the student loan forgiveness program and saw their debt forgiven during the Biden years. This had a profound impact on their finances. Also, there’s a piece of money advice in this one that’s maybe my favorite tip I’ve ever heard. As an editor who’s always looking for a good money story, I can say this Home Economics provides in spades.
I also feel incredibly protective of the women who share their stories. It’s brave to lay your finances out there for the world to see. I asked today’s writer what inspired her to share her story with The Purse—a question I should start asking more often—and after our call, she wrote back to expand on our conversation.
“I thought about your question about what made me want to share. I had so many questions about money after grad school when I was making enough money ($65,000) to have extra to manage (as compared to my first job out of college making $24,000 [when] I had to track every single dollar I spent in order to cover my basic needs and important wants and also save $150–$200 each month). I would ask friends and colleagues whether and how they combined finances with their partners, how much was an appropriate amount of money to spend on clothes, how they decided how much to donate to charity and which charities to donate to. I wondered whether they were really saving three to six months of living expenses for emergencies, or how they made decisions about what to spend money on.
“Of course, I quickly found out that people were rarely thinking about these issues in an in-depth way; most people preferred to avoid money conversations, and most people considered it taboo to share too much. In retrospect, I didn’t care that much about the dollar amounts as much as I wanted to engage in conversations about the why behind their spending choices. I’m sharing now because I think spaces like your Substack would have been really helpful for me 15 years ago.”
That’s exactly what I hope to do at The Purse: encourage people to think about the why behind their spending choices.
Today’s Home Ec is behind a paywall frankly because the one paid edition I send out each month is how I convert the most subscribers from free to paying. I’m still not making a lot from paid subscriptions (though I am very grateful for those of you who do support The Purse). It’s a constant dilemma I face, as I want/need to earn money from The Purse (especially now that I have Alicia on the team), but I also want the work we do to be available to everyone. I’m continuing to explore other ways to monetize The Purse, including partnerships with brands like Steward. (More on these monetization efforts in Wednesday’s newsletter.)
This is all to say that if you’d like to read what’s beyond the paywall but a paid subscription to The Purse doesn’t fit within your budget, please do reach out.
All right, enough about my financial story and on to today’s Home Economics! I hope you enjoy!
Want to share your Home Economics? Fill out the form here.
Age: 40
Location: Maryland suburb of D.C.
Relationship status: Married
Age of partner: 40
About me: I’m the mom of a child with multiple disabilities who will never live independently. My husband and I have spent our entire careers working in public service. Until this past winter, I was a federal employee, but I took one of the Trump buyouts that was made available to my agency at the same time that I got a new job offer. I grew up with not a lot of money, and it’s had a big impact on how I manage our family’s finances. Having a child with disabilities also plays a huge role in how we think about our goals and saving for the future.
All expenses are monthly unless otherwise stated.
Income:
- Your job title/salary: Director, $126,000
- Partner’s job title/salary: Attorney, $129,000
- Your monthly take-home pay (paycheck amount after taxes and other deductions): $4,639
- Partner’s monthly take-home pay (paycheck amount after taxes and other deductions): $6,040. His paycheck is much higher than mine because he hasn’t been having enough taxes taken out.
- Additional income: $8,694 a month. I got my new job at the same time that the Trump administration was offering a deferred resignation option where I could continue to receive my federal salary until October 1. I’ve had the extra paycheck since February. In my case, the amount I’m getting each month is the same that I would have been paid in severance if I was fired. With the double income, this will be my highest earning year ever—around $215,000 or so. We’ve mostly been saving this money, using it to pay down our HELOC, or using it to take unpaid leave (for already-planned vacation and caring for my daughter during the summer) since I don’t have any leave at my new job yet.
- Total monthly income: $19,373 ($10,679 starting in October)
