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Hi all! I’m keeping this short and sweet because I’m writing this instead of studying for my insurance final. It’s sort of funny that I chose a couple who run an independent insurance adjustment business for today’s entry—complete coincidence!
Today’s entry is unlike any that I’ve featured so far, and I think it’s a fun read. As I ask with each send, please comment with kindness. We don’t all have the same values or goals when it comes to money, but every woman who shares her story in Home Economics does so with a lot of vulnerability. I admire their candor so much!
As I said in In Her Purse this week, I hate when people make others feel bad about their financial choices; we’re all doing our best to get by. And this community is stronger when we’re able to read about a variety of different experiences.
Speaking of which, I’m always looking for new stories to tell. You can submit your Home Economic entry here.
And thank you all so much for making The Purse feel like a judgment-free zone! It means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to women who share their stories here.
Now on to today’s special paid subscriber edition of Home Economics!
Age: 33
Location: Central Texas
Relationship status: Married
Age of partner: 38
About me: I’m a Texas transplant who grew up in Tennessee. My husband and I run a catastrophe insurance adjusting business, and I also work part-time as a remote triage nurse. We live full time in our RV, which we previously only used on a seasonal basis for storm deployments for our insurance work. We have a four-year-old son, and I have a teenage stepdaughter (my bonus daughter). My son travels with us, and we see my bonus daughter when we’re not on the road for work.
All expenses are monthly unless otherwise noted.
Income:
Your job title/salary: Part-time, 100% remote, triage nurse, $20,000–$32,000 a year
Partner’s job title/salary: Independent insurance adjuster, $120,000–$160,000 gross annual income. We make the majority of our income during hurricane season, four to six months out of the year. The number of major weather events determines how much we travel working storm deployments. It can be very difficult to budget because our income varies with the weather. For example, our last biweekly paycheck was $29,200.75 because we are currently deployed working Hurricane Beryl. We like to say we don’t live from paycheck to paycheck—we live from storm to storm.
Before 2018, my husband and I had never seen that amount of money in our checking accounts. So you can imagine the poor spending choices that were made thinking the money would never run out. It was a slow storm year in 2019, and we didn’t get a paycheck for seven months. This year, 2024, has been our busiest year yet. We might even have to turn down work toward the end of the year if it means it bumps us up a tax bracket. So we will have to monitor to make sure we stay under $191,000. How crazy is it that we have to monitor to make sure we don’t accidentally go into the next tax bracket?!1 Regardless, 2024 is our comeback year for a lot of reasons, but especially financially!
Your monthly take-home pay (paycheck amount after taxes and other deductions): $1,600–$2,3000, depending on how many hours I work. (I work closer to 12 hours during hurricane season and go back up to 20 hours during off season.)
Partner’s monthly take-home pay (paycheck amount after taxes and other deductions): In the four to six months of storm season, we try to earn enough that my husband can pay himself a minimum of $7,500 a month after business expenses.
Total monthly income: ~$9,100
