We’re back with our second edition catching up with past writers of Home Economics!
Last time we heard from a freelancer writer in Colorado whose income has dropped as a result of the rise of AI, a 20-something in L.A. who is pursuing work as a musician and photographer full time after a layoff, and a professor in Florida who shared that she made a financial change based on the comments to her edition of Home Economics.
Lindsey Stanberry
Want to share your Home Economics? You can fill out the form here. We aim to publish a wide range of entries, but we’d especially love to hear from a single mom by choice and someone who’s juggling raising kids while supporting an aging parent.
Now let’s catch up with our old friends!
Home Economics No. 5: Living in the New Jersey suburbs on a $800,000 joint income
Lindsey Stanberry
What has changed in your life (financial or other) since you published your Home Ec?
A BIG life and financial update is that I am in the process of getting divorced, so there are lots of financial changes since my ex-husband out-earned me by three to four times. And the divorce process has been insanely, insanely expensive. I am probably $45,000 in with lawyers and mediators, and we are only midway through the process.
How was the experience of publishing a Home Ec? What did you learn? Like/dislike?
The process was good! I was extremely nervous about the comments before publishing, and they were generally nice. (Maybe less so on Reddit, but that’s to be expected and I shouldn’t have looked.) I think I’d be less anxious about that today overall, just given everything I’ve gone through.
Home Economics No. 13: Single, 35, and living at home in Phoenix on $93,000 a year
Lindsey Stanberry
What has changed in your life (financial or other) since you published your Home Ec?
My mom passed away in May 2024. She drove halfway to the vacation house the night before and didn’t wake up in the morning. In some ways, it was wonderful that she didn’t suffer; on the other hand, I was soooo not prepared. She had planned her funeral ahead of time and purchased a “travel policy,” so that I just had to call the funeral home and they coordinated everything. I recommend that to everyone.
Mom had lost her dog, and we bought a puppy three weeks before she passed. Not only was I trying to clean out and rearrange the house, but I had a four-month-old puppy. He was unfortunately born with a brain lesion, and I lost him this past August. It’s hard to make a financial decision when you are trying to save the life of a sweet little puppy: I spent $18,000 on him last year. Fortunately, I had the cash, but I did feel the pinch. In hindsight, I have questions I would ask and limits I would have. The breeder was so sorry about it and gave me a new puppy who is great, and looking back I can see how much healthier he is.
All good? No, my aunt and I walked into the vacation house last winter to find an inch of water in the finished lower level thanks to a surprise 45-degree day that melted the snow and overwhelmed the sump pump. Then I found out that my insurance limit was $5,000, and the bill was $13,000. Subsequently, I found out that you can raise the limit, and did on both houses, so I recommend checking those limits.
I was fortunate that we caught it that day as the damage could have been much worse. A lot of fans, new baseboards, new carpet padding, and reinstalling the carpet, and we are back. I was at the vacation home in late February/beginning of March to finalize everything, and when I got home at 11 p.m. I found that the rain had caused the sump pump to fail at my main house a few days before.
The only thing that kept me from curling up in a ball and weeping was that I had raised our insurance limits. I had several photo albums that were damaged and some other momentos that I probably didn’t need to keep but didn’t enjoy being forced to part with because they were waterlogged. I lost a couple feet of drywall in the bathroom and laundry room, a vanity and cabinet in the laundry room, and the carpet in the family room. I’m still trying to get that resolved.
My best friend said to me that it wasn’t my year, or last year, or the year before—well, it wasn’t my decade. That’s incredibly generous as she was diagnosed with a treatable but incurable cancer, and I know my problems are much less than hers.
Financially, I’m still in a good place: I inherited a fully paid off house, three cars, and roughly $200,000 worth of cash and stock. It’s also made me realize that I can’t take tomorrow for granted. Yesterday, I was able to buy two tickets ($700) to the Olympics in 2028 because I’ve always wanted to go to the Olympics and this way I can visit a friend while I do it—and not to wait for retirement.
How was the experience of publishing a Home Ec? What did you learn? Like/dislike?
It was interesting to see the comments on the column which were generally kind. I know someone mentioned unpaid caregiving, which was true, however it went both ways. Mom made dinner every night, so getting in a habit for myself and taking daily care of the house has been a challenge.
Home Economics No. 28: Living in rural Georgia with nearly $1.5 million in savings
Lindsey Stanberry
What has changed in your life (financial or other) since you published your Home Ec?
We officially closed our second business, which has been such a relief. I also bought a new-to-me car in August of last year, and we paid cash. And we’ve planned some big trips for 2026 and doubled our travel budget.
We’re still on track for our early retirement goals, but health care is our biggest concern so we’ve been talking about my wife working longer on a part-time basis to maintain our insurance coverage. If we go that route, she could go part time sooner and we’d just stretch our timeline out.
Home Economics No. 39: Single and paying off $18,000 in credit card debt in L.A.
Lindsey Stanberry
What has changed in your life (financial or other) since you published your Home Ec?
I got a pretty significant raise, almost 20%, and my salary is now $140,000. I've made a big effort not to change my lifestyle so that I can use the extra money to pay off debt. I hope to pay it off this year or early next year! The only thing I purchase more of are books. :)
One thing I completely forgot to tell you about is that I have a small pension from working for the University of California system many years ago. I was grandfathered into an amazing pension plan that doesn’t exist now (the Boomer pension plan). If I take a monthly sum starting when I turn 60, I will receive around $1,200 per month for the rest of my life. It comes with a cost of living adjustment usually around 2%. If I take a lump sum at the same age, it would be about $160,000 to roll over into my retirement accounts.
How was the experience of publishing a Home Ec? What did you learn? Like/dislike?
I was a little nervous about doing Home Economics, even though it was anonymous, but the comments were supportive and kind. The only thing that bothered me was that I completely forgot to tell you about my pension! If you add it to my retirement numbers, it definitely makes me feel like I'm further along than I am when you only look at my retirement accounts.
Home Economics No. 42: Single mom living in Boise, Idaho, on $120k a year
Lindsey Stanberry
What has changed in your life (financial or other) since you published your Home Ec?
My financial life has changed so much since getting married and combining finances. My income nearly tripled, while my (our) fixed costs (mortgage, bills, etc.) have stayed nearly the same as when I was single. I don’t notice too much of a bump in grocery costs as I am still making the same meals, just not throwing away as many leftovers!
Now I have maxed out my 401(k) and HSA, and we still have $4,000 to $5,000 left in income a month after our typical expenses. We are slowly trying to figure out what we want to do with those funds; ideas include investing in separate brokerage accounts, hiring an interior decorator to revamp our house (something I would have done on my own over the course of years in the past), or saving for luxury travel. It will likely be a combo of all three, but for now we are stashing it into our high-yield savings and sitting with it until we have a clear picture of what we want.
It has been eye opening how much a dual income can truly impact your finances.
How was the experience of publishing a Home Ec? What did you learn? Like/dislike?
I really enjoyed publishing! I felt really proud of myself and felt your writing reflected my situation well.
