Issue #130: A Transparent Look at My Budget and 5-Year Financial Goals
Every dollar I spent this week.
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🎥 ‘The Taste of Things’ in Theaters: The plot barely moves in the first half-hour of this film, as a cook (Juliette Binoche) and her boss and sometimes-lover (and real-life ex, Benoît Magimel) cook a lavish feast for a club of French gastronomers. Still, I was completely mesmerized watching them churn out sophisticated dishes, set in an idyllic kitchen in 1885 France. They dance around each other to prep and serve a vol-au-vent pastry, overflowing with a seafood stew, a rack of lamb, and a baked Alaska. While the story was a bit flat (the only drama is long-foreshadowed and straightforward) the kitchen scenes add enough beauty and interest that I left the theater craving a rewatch of ‘Babette’s Feast’ as well as some French food.
📚 Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story by Leslie Jamison: Of agreeing to marry her husband, C, Jamison writes, “I listened to the part of myself that was falling in love, and ignored everything else. That false certainty is what I’ll have to keep answering for—for years and years, maybe always. To my daughter, most of all.” In her intimate memoir, which came out today, though this excerpt was circulated widely, Jamison examines the promises her marriage held and the ways in which the birth of their daughter revealed their brokenness. It definitely hit a little to close to home for me, but in a good way.
📺 ‘The New Look’ on AppleTV+: Two Juliette Binoche recommendations in one issue?? Quelle bonne chance! This dramatization of the feud between Coco Chanel and Christian Dior (to be honest, I had no idea there was one) brings us into the heart of the fashion industry in the midst of Nazi-occupied Paris. While the series glosses over the war’s atrocities, it provides an entertaining-enough look at the who’s who of 1940s couture, bringing to life such characters like Balenciaga and Pierre Balmain. I enjoyed it, but can imagine how much more captivating it would be for someone more interested in fashion than I am.
P.S. A reminder that our live (!) February Book Club chat, to discuss Wellness by Nathan Hill is this Thursday, February 22nd at 5 P.M., PT. I’ve included a link at the end of this email to register (it’s free for subscribers). Looking forward to discussing the book, but also its larger themes of marriage and how we form our belief systems.
A lot has changed since I wrote my first post on budgeting a year ago: I secured a book deal, bought a house, and effectively hired myself (more on that below…). The initial learning curve was steep and included many sleepless nights and coffees with friends who generously helped me navigate house costs, health insurance, and the mind-numbing bureaucracy that are federal tax forms. I still occasionally daydream about a society that runs on the barter system (in it, I trade my neighbor a scroll of short stories for a basket of her heirloom tomatoes…), but amid the chaos and overwhelm, it’s felt incredibly empowering to take charge of my finances and use them to create a life aligned with my interests and goals.
As in my first budget post (one of your favorites from last year), I’ve chosen to include exact numbers because I believe there’s value to seeing what I make and choose to spend on—so long as you keep in mind that every person’s financial situation is specific to their income, needs, and goals. To draw it back to last week’s post: Salary is a common, but unstable, untrustworthy, and ultimately problematic determinant of self-worth. I always welcome feedback, but my hope in sharing mine is not to invite judgement or comparison, but to offer financial transparency that helps us all make more informed decisions around money (I tried to incorporate your questions from my last budget post!). Read on for my current salary, budget, and tips:
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