Hello! We have a lot of new subscribers today because last week’s essay on the $140k poverty line was featured in the Substack Post. Welcome! Today’s newsletter is a new edition of our signature series Home Economics, where women from across the country share an inside peek at their finances.
Not gonna lie: It was a little overwhelming to see last week’s essay go Substack viral. (FWIW, Substack viral is very different from the virality we used to enjoy at Refinery29. When a post went viral at R29, a million people would read it. When a post goes viral on Substack, 25,000 people read it.) Still, a lot of people who are not typical Purse readers weighed in on last week’s essay, and a few times I felt like I did here, in the photo below, when I attended my high school reunion and was subject to some pretty annoying mansplaining.
But a few people called out one issue with this essay that I wholeheartedly agreed with. The editions of Home Economics I shared weren’t necessarily the best examples to illustrate my point. Michael Green’s argument is that the $140k poverty line should apply to families of four, and the two Home Ecs I wrote about are both families of three. Others pointed out that I should have shared a Home Ec from families earning less $100k a year, and the truth is, we haven’t published any like that yet.
I regularly write that we need more editions of Home Ec, but I find that I often get the best responses when I make specific requests. So here I am, once again asking you to submit your stories! You can fill out the form here.
Alicia recently did a deep dive into past editions, and we still need entries from 27 states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
We also realized that all our New York City editions are based in Brooklyn! We’d love to publish some from the other four boroughs! (Never intended to be a Brooklyn snob!)
If you have any questions about the process, feel free to reach out by simply replying to this email.
I’m excited for today’s edition, which is our first entry from Idaho! It’s a good one! I’ll let the writer take it from here.
Age: 34
Location: Boise, Idaho
Relationship status: I’m engaged, but we don’t share finances or live together (though that’s changing soon)
Age of partner: 38
About me: I am a recently engaged solo mom of one! I went to college in Boise, and after moving around some in my 20s for work, I decided to settle here. I am proud of where I am at financially, solely supporting myself and my daughter. I am also excited to have found the love of my life (post child!), who is equally if not more financially savvy.
All expenses are monthly unless otherwise noted!
Income:
- Your job title/salary: Procurement manager; $120,000 + ~20% bonus dependent on company performance
- Your monthly take-home pay (paycheck amount after taxes and other deductions): $4,356.71
- Total monthly income: $4,356.71
