Before I dive into the monthly recap, two quick things. 1) Alicia and I are working on a fun project with Poshmark on buying clothes on the app. Do you have any questions on the topic? You can reply to this newsletter or send us an email at questions@thepurse.co.
2) We’re taking Friday off for the holiday, so no weekly roundup this week! We hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July! (Remember, the Trump administration doesn’t own this holiday!) And if you’re on the East Coast, stay cool! To quote Ken paraphasing Rob Thomas, it’s going to be a hot one!
I’m very dedicated to my early-morning routine. Nearly every day, I wake up early (5:00 a.m. on weekdays) and have a cup of coffee and a cookie while watching a TV show for 20 or 30 minutes. Then I like to do a little bit of work before my household wakes up. I started writing this newsletter yesterday morning, after watching most of the final episode of Mad Men.
I was already feeling weepy over the fate of poor Betty Draper, but it was a scene between Joan and Peggy that pushed me over the edge. The two of them are having lunch, and Joan proposes they go into business together. “Harris Olsen. We need two names to make it sound real,” Joan says as she pitches Peggy on the idea of going into business together. “We won’t answer to anyone. It’ll be ours, with our names on it.”
The look on Peggy’s face as she sips the Bloody Mary and considers the proposal. Corny as it may sound, it really makes my heart swell!*
It’s been almost a year since Alicia started working with me on The Purse. She’s always a delight to work with, but this past month, she’s been a life saver. Alicia is the brilliant brains behind so much of the amazing work we produce. She’s single-handedly written every story in our Inheritance Month series, an amazing package of articles that’s both useful and fascinating. And as I’m spending three-plus hours a day studying for the CFP exam, she’s been keeping the trains running, and she hasn’t gotten too grumpy every time I say, “That’s a project for after the test.”
I won’t front like my experience at Fortune was anything like what Peggy and Joan experienced at McCann Erickson in Mad Men. But I can still relate when Joan says to Peggy, “We won’t have to answer to anyone.” Three years into The Purse, it’s still really exciting that I get to make up the rules. And the fact that I get to do it with Alicia makes it all the more fun. I feel really damn lucky.
Before I dive into June’s recap, I also want to give a quick shoutout to the incredibly kind reader who stopped to say hello to me in front of the Natural History Museum last Saturday. Sorry if I seemed a little stunned—it’s the first time a reader has recognized me on the street! My brother, who was visiting from out of town, was impressed, LOL. (And he asked me how much I paid you to say something, haha. Because isn’t that a typical sibling response?)
*Watchers of Mad Men know that Joan and Peggy don’t end up going into business together—at least at the end of the series. If we imagine a future for these two women, I can’t help but believe their professional paths would definitely cross again.
June might have only been 30 days, but Alicia and I packed a lot in, including celebrating the third anniversary of The Purse! Here are the highlights!
June 2026 on The Purse
Most underrated:
Alicia and I didn’t think this month’s edition of Meal Plan got the love it deserved. This was the first written by a single woman who preps for one, but it still includes so much inspiration even if you cook for a crowd. There are so many good cookbook recommendations, too!
Alicia Adamczyk
We were also surprised more of you didn’t weigh in on the cost of weddings. Is it a quieter wedding season this year?
Alicia Adamczyk
Most inspiring:
We had two really wonderful guest essays this month. Rachel Lipson interviewed her 92-year-old grandmother, who was one of the first women in the U.S. to get a credit card in the ’70s.
Rachel Lipson
And Jamie Feldman, creator of the Debt Heads podcast, shared her experience of going viral on TikTok when she started making videos about paying off her $20,000 debt.
Jamie Alyson Feldman
Most popular:
Our most popular newsletter this month is a bit surprising! Alicia’s essay on the state of Social Security was the most read, and it brought in the most new subscribers. Many came from a mysterious source that appears as “sfmc_” in our analytics dashboard. If you came to The Purse via that link, let us know how you found us! We’re so curious!
Alicia Adamczyk
Despite the “Great Spam Snafu of June 2026,” our first Inheritance Diary, featuring a 41-year-old woman who’s already given away $700,000 in inheritance, was our second-most-popular story.
Alicia Adamczyk
Most helpful:
Everything Alicia published for Inheritance Month has been extremely helpful, but I was especially moved by the second Inheritance Diary, where the writer shared her firsthand experience of trying to piece together her dad’s financial life after he died.
Alicia Adamczyk
Best comment section:
There was a healthy debate about the power of voting and what to do about the Boomers in the comment section of my essay about The Great Wealth Transfer.
Lindsey Stanberry
ICYMI: Inheritance Month
Beyond the two Inheritance Diaries, there are so many useful articles including: a single person’s guide to determining who gets their shit after they die; expert advice on how to handle estate planning when you have kids but aren’t married; and tips on how to be a good estate executor. Plus, join in on our conversation about receiving an inheritance.
What big topic should we dive into next? Reply to this email and let us know!
Paid subscribers enjoyed:
A really wonderful edition of Home Economics featuring a former tech worker who’s adjusting to stay-at-home motherhood (and living on one income) in Portland, Oregon. The aforementioned Meal Plan by another Portland-based writer. And Alicia took a paid reader’s question about how to ensure your wealth goes to your kids, not an ex-spouse, to a few financial experts for advice. Remember, paid subscribers can send us questions about anything money-related, and we’ll try to find the answer! You can send Alicia an email at questions@thepurse.co.
And don’t forget paid subscribers get access to our entire archive, which includes three years of some pretty fun articles, like the edition of Home Economics featuring a family of three living in the $3 million dollar Brooklyn brownstone, or the piece I wrote nearly two years ago on Botox and the cost of aging.
Beyond the newsletter
I studied a lot, but I managed to do a lot of fun things, too!
I joined the team at Babylist for a press breakfast to discuss the launch of our new podcast, Family Money, and the work we are doing on their newest initiative, Babylist Money. They have a new product launching next week that’s really exciting! I can’t wait to share more! (And if you haven’t yet, check out the podcast!)
Acorns Early hosted a really delightful event at Kellogg's Diner to announce its new kids advisory board. It was so fun to see Kennedy Reynolds, Acorns chief education officer, interview the kids on the board—they were so smart and funny and relatable. (OMG, when 12-year-old Naima started talking about the kids and squishies!! IYKYK!!) Plus, I got to hang out with some of my favorite financial journalists, and the food was incredible.
Chime invited me to a fun evening with a ’90s theme and Lindsay Lohan as their emcee. It included an interesting panel with financial experts Nicole Lapin, Brittany Castro, and Bola Sokubi. I’ve been a big fan of Bola’s for years, and it was a treat to finally meet her in person and discover we both have a deep love of the sitcom Girlfriends. Also, the videos Chime made with Lindsay Lohan are super cute!
Thanks so much to Charlotte Cowles for quoting me in her New York article on one of my favorite money topics: parents giving their adult children money. And in Slate, I told Kate Lindsay how sad I was that my kid missed out on pre-K graduation because of Covid.
Offline, I had the best time at the Prospect Park Soiree—truly it was the most gorgeous night with the most fun friends. Freddy killed it at his semiannual piano recital. My brother came to visit, and we spent a fun afternoon at the Museum of the City of New York. I got a mammogram. I filled out 10,000 camp forms. I spent a lot of weekends at my coworking space studying. Time passes too fast, and yet, I’m very ready to be on the other side of this exam. Hopefully, when I write the July Receipts, I’ll have good news to share. (But if I don’t pass, can I blame Mercury in retrograde???)
Coming up in July
A very fun edition of Division of Labor from one of your favorite authors! Our first Home Economics from a writer based overseas! And I’m sure there will be so many more good stories! Stay tuned!
Behind-the-scenes
Alicia and I have been talking about the way writers are increasingly dropping the juiciest bits of their lives behind paywalls.
And I’m going to share my thoughts on that…behind the paywall, haha.
