Your sun sign (also known as a star sign) can reveal more than your basic personality. It can also show how you work, what motivates you, and what kind of workplace helps you do your best. Every sign has a different relationship with pressure, creativity, routine, freedom, responsibility, and recognition. Knowing yours can help you understand why certain environments feel energising, and others feel like a slow drain. In traditional astrology, career is read through the whole birth chart, not just the sun sign. But the sun sign is still a useful starting point. It shows the style of work that feels most natural to you.

Aries

Aries is a Mars-ruled sign. It runs on action, initiative, and a degree of competition. Aries people tend to know what they want before the meeting is over. They make decisions fast and they prefer to own them. They are suited to roles where speed has value: entrepreneurship, emergency services, surgery, competitive sales, the military, fitness, trades, and leadership positions where someone needs to go first. The environments that bore them fastest are the ones with too many layers between a decision and its execution.

Their great strength is the willingness to start. Most organisations have plenty of people who can execute once the path is clear. Aries is the one who goes before the path is clear. What Aries cannot work without is real challenge. Clear targets, genuine autonomy, and enough pressure to stay sharp. Micromanagement does not slow them down so much as it turns them off entirely.

Taurus

Taurus is a Venus-ruled sign. It is built for patience, quality, and material understanding. Taurus people know what things are worth. They can assess value, build slowly, and produce work that lasts. Finance, property, food, beauty, design, craft, music, agriculture, luxury goods, and stable business roles all tend to suit Taurus. So does any field where the quality of the output matters more than the speed of production.

Their strongest quality is consistency. Taurus understands that good work is not done quickly, it is done properly, and that the difference between the two matters in ways that become obvious over time. The workplace that works for Taurus is stable, fair, and unhurried enough to allow good work. Rush them or underpay them long enough, and they become immovable.

Gemini

Gemini is Mercury-ruled. It is the sign of language, trade, and the movement of ideas. Gemini people are quick, curious, and genuinely interested in what other people know. They collect information the way some signs collect things. They are well suited to writing, journalism, media, marketing, sales, social media, teaching, translation, publishing, technology, and research. Anything that requires explaining a complicated thing simply, or selling an idea to someone who did not yet know they wanted it, tends to come naturally to Gemini.

Their strongest quality is adaptability. Gemini can shift registers, read a room, and communicate across almost any context without losing the thread. Give Gemini variety, conversation, and the freedom to move between tasks, and they will work well. Take all of that away and the role becomes something closer to a slow punishment.

Cancer

Cancer is Moon-ruled. It is connected to care, memory, emotional intelligence, and the protection of things that matter. Cancer people build loyalty slowly and keep it long. They work best when they feel personally connected to what they are doing. Healthcare, psychology, childcare, hospitality, food, education, social work, real estate, family business, and support-based roles all tend to suit Cancer. They are also often drawn to history and to any field where the human element is the central variable.

Their strongest quality is emotional perceptiveness. Cancer reads a room before it has said anything. In management, in care work, in any field where people are the variable, that quality is a significant advantage and a harder thing to teach than most technical skills. Cancer does best when the environment offers emotional safety, a team that actually functions as one, and work that feels like it is helping someone real. Performance metrics matter less to them than that last part.

Leo

Leo is a Sun-ruled sign. It is built for visibility, creativity, and the kind of leadership that works through inspiration rather than authority. Leo people need their contribution to be seen. They are also, genuinely, very good at making other people feel seen in return. Performance arts, entertainment, teaching, branding, fashion, creative direction, events, management, and public-facing roles all suit Leo. So does work connected to children, or to building something that carries their name.

Their strongest quality is presence. When Leo walks into a room, the room notices. In leadership, in entertainment, in any role that depends on moving people, that effect is worth more than most formal qualifications. A role that keeps Leo invisible is wasted on them. They need creative freedom, recognition proportionate to what they actually contribute, and a clear outlet for their energy.

Virgo

Virgo is Mercury-ruled, but where Gemini trades in ideas, Virgo trades in precision. This is the sign of analysis, systems, service, and correction. Virgo people notice what is wrong before anyone else does. They also tend to fix it quietly. Healthcare, editing, administration, research, data, nutrition, wellness, accounting, operations, project management, technical writing, and any role requiring sustained detail and consistent skill all tend to suit Virgo.

Their strongest quality is practical intelligence. Virgo finds what is broken, understands why it broke, and fixes it in a way that prevents it from breaking the same way again. Most organisations cannot function without someone who does that. Virgo needs clear expectations, useful work, and the sense that their effort is improving something real. They do not need praise as much as they need to see the results of what they have done.

Libra

Libra is Venus-ruled, like Taurus, but where Taurus understands material value, Libra understands relational value. It is the sign of diplomacy, aesthetics, and the art of making things feel right. Libra people are good at finding the position where everyone can agree, or at least live with the outcome. Law, mediation, design, beauty, fashion, public relations, HR, diplomacy, client-facing roles, events, branding, and partnership-based work all tend to suit Libra. So does anything requiring tact, presentation, and the ability to hold two opposing views without collapsing prematurely into one of them.

Their strongest quality is judgement. Libra can hold two opposing positions simultaneously and assess both without flinching toward either. In law, in negotiation, in any field where fairness matters, that capacity is genuinely useful. The conditions Libra needs to work well are not complicated: a reasonable atmosphere, collaborative relationships, and an environment where presentation and professionalism are taken seriously. What depletes them faster than anything is sustained hostility or work that goes consistently unacknowledged.

Scorpio

Scorpio is a Mars-ruled sign, like Aries, but where Aries moves outward and fast, Scorpio moves inward and deep. It is the sign of investigation, intensity, psychological acuity, and the willingness to engage with difficult material. Scorpio people are rarely afraid of what they find when they look closely. Psychology, research, medicine, surgery, strategy, crisis management, forensics, investigation, finance, therapy, and roles involving pressure or confidential information all suit Scorpio. They are often drawn to work others find uncomfortable.

Their strongest quality is sustained focus. Scorpio can stay with something past the point where most people stop, and the point where most people stop is usually well before the real answer appears. Scorpio needs trust, discretion, and real control over their own work. Surveillance is particularly corrosive for this sign. Responsibility, genuine and unqualified, is what draws out their best.

Sagittarius

Sagittarius is Jupiter-ruled. It is the sign of expansion, belief, learning, and big-picture thinking. Sagittarius people need work that gives them somewhere to go, literally or intellectually. They struggle in environments that feel closed off. Teaching, travel, publishing, law, coaching, academia, international business, outdoor work, philosophy, media, sport, and entrepreneurship all tend to suit Sagittarius. They are also often drawn to spiritual or philosophical fields where questions of meaning are central.

Their strongest quality is the ability to make possibility feel real. Sagittarius can describe where things could go in a way that moves people toward it, which is a different skill from optimism and a considerably more useful one. Freedom, purpose, and something ahead of them: those are the conditions Sagittarius needs to stay engaged. When the horizon closes, so does their motivation.

Capricorn

Capricorn is Saturn-ruled. It is the sign of structure, long-term strategy, and the kind of ambition that is willing to wait. Capricorn people understand that meaningful achievement takes time. They are comfortable with that in a way most signs are not. Management, finance, law, government, operations, engineering, architecture, property, executive roles, consulting, and business ownership all tend to suit Capricorn. They are drawn to fields with clear hierarchies and real standards.

Their strongest quality is endurance. Where other signs look for momentum, Capricorn looks for durability. The ability to sustain effort over years, without needing external reinforcement, is rarer than almost any specific technical skill. They do not need enthusiasm from their environment. They need competence, measurable progress, and the sense that their effort is being taken seriously. Give them that, and they will outwork almost anyone.

Aquarius

Aquarius is Saturn-ruled like Capricorn, but where Capricorn works within existing structures, Aquarius tends to question them. This is the sign of systems thinking, reform, independence, and original ideas. Aquarius people often see patterns in institutions that others accept as fixed. Technology, science, social change, innovation, research, digital platforms, engineering, humanitarian work, astrology, and future-facing industries all tend to suit Aquarius. They are often drawn to work that serves something larger than individual advancement.

Their strongest quality is objectivity. Aquarius can step outside convention because they are not particularly attached to it. In the right environment, that detachment produces insight that more invested thinkers consistently miss. Aquarius needs intellectual freedom and genuine autonomy, and those are not negotiable. An environment that tolerates unconventional thinking will get far more from them than one that demands conformity.

Pisces

Pisces is Jupiter-ruled, like Sagittarius, but where Sagittarius expands outward through travel and teaching, Pisces expands inward through imagination, empathy, and an unusual permeability to atmosphere and emotion. It is the sign most connected to the invisible, and to work that touches something beyond the routine. Art, music, film, photography, healing, therapy, charity work, writing, design, spiritual practice, animal care, and roles connected to imagination or emotional support all tend to suit Pisces.

Their strongest quality is attunement. Pisces can sense atmosphere, unspoken need, and emotional undercurrent before anyone has said a word. That permeability is an asset in the right field and a serious liability in the wrong one, which makes placement matter more for Pisces than for most signs. What Pisces needs is harder to name than most: meaning, flexibility, and enough quiet to stay connected to their inner world. The jobs that suit them best are the ones that ask not just for skill, but for presence.

A final note

Your sun sign is a starting point, not a complete picture. A fuller career reading would look at the whole birth chart, including vocation, motivation, and timing.

But even on its own, the sun sign shows something real. What energises you, how you approach work, and what kind of environment helps your strengths come through.

Neat Huizer is an Australian-based astrologer, artist and co-founder of DarkMuse Labs.

This article was originally published on Refinery29 Australia.

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Your June 2026 Horoscope Is Here

Your Horoscope This Week: May 31 To June 6

Gemini Season Is Here

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It feels like Phoebe Robinson has been providing me, personally, with catharsis, comedy, and hope for a decade. Whether through her OG stand-up series Two Dope Queens (which she started in 2016 with fellow actress and comedian Jessica Williams), books, publishing imprint, podcasts, onscreen projects or her current “another wig, another rant” social media series where she’s yelling our feelings in a way that’s so freeing, it feels like she’s ranting directly into our respective group chats (with titles ranging from “Jeff Bezos Is A Stupid Ass Bitch” to “Women Need To Burn Everything To The Ground“), Robinson has built a career out of saying the thing out loud you were only comfortable thinking — but funnier, sharper, and more coherent than most tirades at the absurdity of our timelines could ever be. 

Now, Robinson is stepping into a new role that still centers the thing she’s always been most interested in: creativity, humanity, and who gets to tell stories. As a judge for the AT&T Untold Stories program at the Tribeca Film Festival, she’s helping select the next filmmaker who will receive the largest film production prize in the world of its kind. The award goes far beyond funding. The $1.2 million prize includes comprehensive mentorship, industry support, and a guaranteed premiere at the following year’s Tribeca Festival, turning a single (live!) pitch into a fully realized feature film with a real, global platform behind it.

It’s the kind of opportunity that can quietly reshape a career overnight, and Robinson is excited to see what the process reveals about the people behind the pitches. AT&T’s Untold Stories is designed to elevate voices that might otherwise be overlooked, including emerging filmmakers with bold ideas, distinct perspectives, and the kind of storytelling instincts that don’t always fit neatly into traditional gatekeeping systems. For Robinson, that mission feels like a natural extension of the work she’s always done in comedy and media: creating space where there wasn’t much before, and insisting that humor and humanity are not separate from cultural impact.

In conversation, she moves easily between big-picture cultural critique and deeply personal creative advice, whether she’s talking about the pressures of modern productivity culture or the importance of protecting joy in the middle of building a career. In a post-girlboss, anti-AI era, Robinson wants us to make art and have a life. What a concept! 

Below, Robinson talks about how she chooses which political mess to rant about, protecting comedy from manosphere bros like Joe Rogen and Theo Von, creative responsibility, and why she’s less interested in perfect execution than in ideas that keep evolving long after a viral punchline.

Refinery29: I am obsessed with your ‘Another Wig, Another Rant’ series on socials. I love it so much. It’s so cathartic to watch. How cathartic has it been to do that series?

Phoebe Robinson: It’s been so fun. It was very accidental. Andrew Cuomo did some interview — being just so sexist and idiotic — so I just ranted about him, and people were like, “oh, I could watch you yell about people.” I was like, oh, I can do that! [laughs] It’’s been so fun and just such a pleasant surprise. I’ve taken a little bit of a hiatus the past couple of weeks because I’m behind on my book, but they’re so fun, and I really only want to do them if I’m really genuinely feeling passionate about something. I don’t want to just yell for the sake of yelling, because there’s enough of that going on, and so I always want to try to have a kernel of something of value in what I’m saying. I get to pop on my little wig, and I just go. I sit and think for like 10 minutes, and I’m like, okay, let’s go. I don’t write them. I just really want to be off the top of my head. In the beginning, I had to do a couple takes [but now] I usually just do one and done. 

This is why you’re you, because I feel like there’s no way that I could be that passionate, and then that funny and coherent at the same time. How do you decide what you’re going to rant about? Because I feel like on any given day on the internet, there are at least seven things that make me want to scream into the void.

PR: I usually decide based on whether it elicits a strong reaction in me. That’s the first step. Then sometimes there are things where people are talking about Kristi Noem and her husband, and I was thinking, what’s going on with them feels very nuanced in a way that I don’t think I could have tackled in a rant. I don’t want to be like, ‘Huh, he got busted for cross-dressing,’ or whatever you want to call it. That is neither here nor there. I don’t want to make jokes about that. Plenty of people do that, and that is how they express themselves, that’s how they make money on the side, blah blah blah. To me, that was not really the issue I had with them.

I don’t want to just yell for the sake of yelling, because there’s enough of that going on, and so I always want to try to have a kernel of something of value in what I’m saying. I get to pop on my little wig, and I just go.

phoebe robinson

So sometimes I’ll ask myself, ‘Do I have the right angle on it?’ Sometimes I’m just like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I know enough about this thing,’ so I won’t speak on it. I wish more people would do that gut check and ask themselves, ‘Am I knowledgeable about this?’ Usually, if I’m thinking about something or seeing something and a couple of funny punchlines come to mind right away, I’ll follow that and see if it leads to anything. Then I go from there. I try to have a mix of pop culture stuff and political stuff. I don’t know—people say, ‘Oh, I only get my news from you,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, you should get other sources as well, just to be clear. 

I can imagine that, with some of the topics that you tackle, especially politically, that your DMs must be full of some wild reactions.

PR: This was funny—I was talking to someone else about this. Strangely enough, of all the videos I’ve done, the one that got the most intense reaction in the comments and DMs was me making fun of Dave Matthews scatting. The way these white people were getting mad! I was like, ‘Honey, if he saw this video, he would think it’s funny.’ Also, he’s very rich—he doesn’t care. He also knows it was complete bullshit to be doing air guitar while he’s already on a motherfucking guitar. This is hilarious [laughs]. I love him. I’ve seen him live. But these white people were like, ‘How dare you?'” I was like oh my god, this is scarier than the Beyhive. Are you guys okay?

I did one on Dave Chappelle and one about the Kevin Hart roast, and I always will pause just a little bit if I’m doing something about stand-up comedy, because it is so male dominated. And I’m always like, ‘oh, am I going to get a lot of vitriol back? I surprisingly haven’t. People have been particularly measured, even if they don’t agree with me, like they’re not flying off the handle, which is nice. I feel like I’ve done a good job off cultivating a pretty solid audience around what I do, so you sort of get it or you don’t. But yeah, some white people also got mad when I said Harry Styles was a mediocre dancer. I was like, is this breaking news?

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A post shared by Phoebe Robinson (@dopequeenpheebs)

That’s just a fact. Again, I think Harry Styles would agree with you. So, this is such a cliche now but I want to ask you about using comedy in these divisive times to help us move through them. I just want to know how you feel like comedy is a necessary tool in times like this, when our timelines are so horrifying.

PR: The powers that be want chaos. They want the doom and gloom. They want the doomscroll. They want this level of unease, this level of uncertainty, this feeling that it’s never going to feel good and safe again, because then they can do what they want. So I really do think that comedy is important, which is why I feel very passionate and protective about comedy, especially stand-up comedy. With people like Theo Von, Andrew Schulz, and Joe Rogan, who helped usher in this era we’re living in and now want to backtrack so they can course-correct and make money—the grift is always changing, so they’re always pivoting.

Comedy is important, which is why I feel very passionate and protective about [it], especially stand-up comedy. With people like Theo Von, Andrew Schulz, and Joe Rogan, who helped usher in this era we’re living in.

phoebe robinson

For me, comedy does come with a responsibility. I know a lot of comedians want to shy away from that and say, ‘Oh, I’m just telling jokes. I’m not that smart,’ and so on. But stand-up comedy, at least the way a lot of people do it, is predicated on specific word choice to elicit a response. You actually do pay attention to every single word you’re choosing because you’re trying to get the most laughs you can in an hour. So I think we have to be honest about the fact that if you’re going to get rich, successful, and famous based on the words you say, then people also have a right to look at those words under a microscope and ask, ‘Hey, what exactly are you saying here? How is this beneficial? Or is this pushing forward hate speech or something else?’

I think comedy is vitally important right now. Not only comedy, but the arts in general. Art shifts culture. It reflects culture back to us. Comedy is important because we need to laugh. We need to feel hope. We need to feel that there’s going to be some way out of this. If we’re serious all the time, or if we’re just recklessly saying things, I think it’s only going to inflict more damage.

It’s such an interesting time. We’re also in the time of those men saying, “I can’t say anything, anymore” and then they proceed to say the wildest stuff and continue to be able to say it. It’s like, wait, you can say whatever you want, clearly.

PR: I know. All these dudes act like they can be canceled, but you’re never really canceled. Louis C.K. has never been out of work for one goddamn minute. He just went from being universally beloved to not being universally beloved.

A lot of these people can’t handle having their egos shattered in that way. But he’s fine. He’s winning awards, putting out Netflix specials, and selling out MSG. He is not hurting for anything.

Totally. I want to talk about your comedy special, I Don’t Wanna Work Anymore — neither do I [laughs] — and railing against ambition and girl boss culture. How do you feel about it now? Anti-ambition is kind of a millennial rite of passage now. 

PR: It’s tough because I think we’re in an age where technology has changed so much of everything. It also feels to me like we’re expected to work more and get less in return, so I’m always telling people, ‘Listen, pursue your passions. Pursue your dreams. Honor those things. The nine-year-old version of you would be so proud to see you going after what you’re going after at 35, 40, or 27.’ But also make sure you have room to have a life. Have passions. My friendships and family relationships mean so much to me. They have such a high importance in my life.

Whether it’s music, writing, interviews, or whatever you do, the process is the good part.

phoebe robinson on ai

Especially in this age of AI and other things that are encouraging people to remove their humanity and become pods for productivity, I think it’s important to counteract that with things that aren’t pushing that narrative. I find it so disheartening and such a bummer. I remember seeing an interview with an executive who had some AI music company. He said, ‘Nobody enjoys learning how to play an instrument. That’s not fun. You just want it done.’ And I thought, ‘But that’s the whole fun of it.’ Whether it’s music, writing, interviews, or whatever you do, the process is the good part. That’s where so much of the value comes from.

Pulling your hair out at four in the morning hunched over a laptop, that’s the whole thing!

PR: Yes, but when you’re dealing with a person like this guy, who doesn’t have talent, he can’t understand it because he’s not good at anything other than pillaging things and stripping away humanity. That’s what you’re left with.

So I really think that if you want to build your household and focus on your grind, go ahead and do that. But understand that the things that are going to make you the happiest are everything outside of that. Don’t lose sight of that.

Well, speaking of the arts, and fostering creativity, let’s talk about the AT&T Untold Stories pitch event at Tribeca. Why did you want to be a part of it?

PR: Well, I’ve always been a film nerd. I’ve always loved the Tribeca Festival. Even when I was growing up in Ohio, I was like, ‘One day I’m going to go to Tribeca.’ I was also thinking, ‘I’m going to meet Robert De Niro,’ and it’s like, girl, calm down. As someone who came up having to create their own opportunities—whether through a podcast, doing live shows, or snowballing that into other projects—I really connect with that spirit. Especially when Jessica [Williams] and I started Two Dope Queens back in 2016, one of the main reasons we did it was because we weren’t seeing a lot of women, people of color, or people from the queer community getting late-night sets on TV. We wanted to create a space for that.

So something like Untold Stories is incredibly exciting to me. These are people who might otherwise be overlooked or told that their work isn’t great or isn’t worth being made into a film. Being able to highlight those stories and help these filmmakers get to the next level of their careers is so exciting. Reading the scripts, I was just thinking, ‘I’m proud of all of you, and I don’t even know you yet.’ 

Even just reading the little synopses, I was like, ‘Yes! these need to be made.’ These filmmakers are going to be pitching live at Tribeca. What makes a good pitch? And you have so much live experience. What advice would you have?

PR: What I would say is that you’re operating from a place of expertise, because no one knows this story better than you. You’re the expert here. We’re all accomplished in our own ways, but when it comes to this story, you’re the number one authority. If you can figure out a way to tell it in an engaging way while showing off your personality and demonstrating that you can pull this off, that’s huge. At the end of this, someone is going to get $1.2 million. That’s serious money. We want to feel confident saying, ‘Okay, you’re the winner,’ and know that you’re going to go make the best indie film you can.

Being able to highlight those stories and help these filmmakers get to the next level of their careers is so exciting. Reading the scripts, I was just thinking, ‘I’m proud of all of you, and I don’t even know you yet.’ 

phoebe robinson

So know your story inside and out, but also have fun. It’s easy to get in your head and think, ‘I’ve got 10 minutes to sell this thing.’ Instead, go back to the excitement you felt when the idea first hit you—when you were scrambling to find a notepad and write everything down. That’s the energy you should bring into the room, because it gets us excited too. We already love the scripts. But if we fall in love with you and your vision as well, then it’s undeniable.

How could this change these filmmakers’ lives? You have gone through the pitch process in Hollywood so can you give some perspective as to what an opportunity like this really means? Because I think from the outside people might not get it.

PR: You have the obvious outcome, which is that if you win, you get to go make your movie and spend the year doing that. But you also never know who you’re going to meet along the way. There have been so many times when something didn’t pan out for me, and then later someone reached out and said, ‘Hey, I was thinking of you for this. Are you available?’ Opportunities can come from a pitch, a conversation, or even just having lunch with someone.

I always tell people to be the best and most positive version of themselves, because that opens so many doors. I know it’s hard as a creative—you feel the pressure of a huge opportunity—but you don’t want to tighten up in that moment. Remember, this is not going to be your only opportunity. There will be others. Prepare as much as you can, but take some of the pressure off so you can actually enjoy the experience. When you’re genuinely enjoying yourself, people pick up on it, even if they can’t quite explain why. That’s often what makes them remember you. 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Phoebe Robinson will be a judge at AT&T Untold Stories at the Tribeca Film Festival today, Thursday, June 4.

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Phoebe Robinson’s Tiny Reparations In Publishing

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Welcome to Money Diaries where we are tackling the ever-present taboo that is money. We’re asking real people how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we’re tracking every last dollar.

This week: A project manager working in housing who makes $90,395 per year and spends some of it on a first-ever purchase of a raw, whole chicken!

If you’d like to submit your own Money Diary, you can do so via our online form. We pay $150 for each published diary. Apologies but we’re not able to reply to every email. Please note: We are legally unable to publish any diaries that have been written with the use of AI.

This Money Diary was written at the start of 2026.

Occupation: Project manager
Industry: Housing
Age: 31
Location: New York, NY
Salary: $90,395
Joint Income/Financial Setup: I live with my partner, E., whose income is $87,000. Our expenses are mostly separate, but we have a joint account that we contribute to monthly for our rent and a few other shared expenses. We use Splitwise to track our spending and settle up with each other each month.
Assets:
401(k): $78,134 (including current job and all previous jobs)
Roth IRA: $11,973
NYC Employee Pension: $11,151 (more on this later)
High-Yield Savings Account: $394. (This was hovering around $30,000 for the past several years, and the majority of it recently went to my share of a down payment for the apartment my partner and I are working toward purchasing! We’re in contract and hoping to close on it any day now.)
Debt: $0
Paycheck Amount (every two weeks): $2,140 (This is after deductions for union dues, FSA plan, tax and retirement savings).
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses

Housing Costs: I contribute $1,925 to our shared account each month. This covers my share of our rent, utilities, internet, our shared subscription to a local news source, and a small ‘slush fund’ for other shared expenses.
Loan Payments: $0
Other monthly expenses:
Tidal music streaming: $10
iCloud storage: $2.99
Contribution to my local public radio station: $5
Contribution to my goal of donating 10% of my salary to charity each year: $75
Other reoccurring expenses:
Chewy order of food and litter for our cat: $114 (every seven weeks)
Annual Citibike membership: $240 (reimbursed by my healthcare!)

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, my parents both attended college and worked hard for my brother and me to attend it at no cost to us. I qualified for financial aid and held a work-study job throughout college. I can’t overstate my gratitude for graduating debt-free and hope to provide the same for my kids one day, though that seems to be getting much harder to achieve in today’s economy! I went back to school for a Master’s degree, which I paid for myself with savings, scholarships, part-time work during school, and a loan that I have now paid off. I feel proud of myself for accomplishing that on my own.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s) educate you about finances?
We didn’t talk much about money, and I wish we had done so more! However, I do remember learning from my parents how to write checks and balance checkbooks as a kid, how to save over time for bigger expenses, and how to establish a good credit score after I graduated college and got my first credit card.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
I worked at a snack shack at a local country club the summer after my senior year of high school. It paid minimum wage and helped me to build up some savings for things like books, laundry, and fun activities as I started college. I borrowed my mom’s car to get to and from the job.

Did you worry about money growing up?
No, and I recognize the enormous privilege that comes with that. My parents settled in the city where they both grew up, which has a very low cost of living. They’ve told me they struggled with money before I was born and when I was young, between IVF treatments, fixing up their old house, paying for our Catholic elementary school and activities, etc., but their earnings had increased substantially by the time I went to college. I had the privilege of attending an independent private school on a half-tuition scholarship for middle and high school.

Do you worry about money now?
Yes! New York City is SO expensive. I use my partner’s subscription to the software You Need A Budget (YNAB), which helps me keep track of everything. It will be a huge win and relief for us to — hopefully! — close on this apartment soon, which we are only able to afford because it is regulated by the City essentially as ‘affordable housing for the middle class.’ But it will be a substantial increase to our monthly housing costs, the apartment needs work, and I worry about how we will pay for things like a wedding and childcare in the future.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I started renting my own apartment (with my dad’s co-signature) at 22, and got my own healthcare plan at 26. My parents still pay for my cell phone plan, and I’m lucky to know they would support me if I absolutely needed it, but I prefer to be financially independent.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
No.

Day One: Thursday

9 a.m. — My partner, E., and I wake up groggily from our friend’s birthday-slash-NYE party last night, which was awesome and involved a long subway ride from Brooklyn back home to Manhattan in the wee hours. But we have to rally, because it’s time for our annual New Year’s Day hike in the Hudson Valley with our friends M. and C.

E. makes us coffee and puts it in our thermoses (we have our home coffee system down to a science, delicious and it saves us a fortune). I feed our beloved rescue cat, and we head to the subway (covered by my pre-tax transit benefit card that I contribute $66 to every two weeks).

10:30 a.m. — We make it to Grand Central on time, thanks to some very lucky train timing and a bit of running (how does this always happen to us?). We stop at our favorite bakery in the station, and E. grabs us each a croissant sandwich for breakfast. $9

11 a.m. — E. buys our tickets for the train to the Hudson Valley, and I’ll buy our tickets back home. We find our friends and grab seats. It’s super cold out, but always beautiful to ride along the river up to a cute town. When we get there and walk uphill through the town to the trailhead, E. buys us a couple of hiking snacks (I choose an apple and a Clif Bar). I assume those will make their way to Splitwise eventually.

3:30 p.m. — Yikes, that hike was rough! Usually, we climb a small mountain and get a great view from a fire tower at the summit. This year, the whole trail was covered in ice, and we were woefully unprepared. We make it about a quarter of the way up and half tiptoe, half slide on our butts back down. Morale is low during the hike, but we make our way to our traditional Thai place to defrost and start to find some humor in our misadventure. We share a couple of apps, and I get Massaman curry with chicken and a Thai beer. E. puts his card down and charges my $47.66 to Splitwise. $47.66

5 p.m. — Feeling much better, though still freezing, we make our way back to the train. I charge the $35.50 for our two tickets to my prepaid transit card, which has some leftover funds in it since we were out of town for Christmas. We take the subway back home from Grand Central (another charge to my transit card), do some cleaning, watch Gilmore Girls with popcorn, and pass out.

Daily Total: $56.66

Day Two: Friday

9:30 a.m. — It’s a work-from-home day for me, and it feels slow and weird after we had yesterday off. I enjoy lounging in bed for a while before logging on. E. makes coffee and heads to his office. I feed the cat and play with him, then settle in with my laptop, taking some breaks for much-needed vacuuming. I make a late breakfast with leftover chicken, kale, and garlic sauce from a dinner out earlier this week, and scramble an egg into it to make it feel breakfast-y. It’s also payday(!) so I assign a chunk of my earnings to our upcoming closing costs for the apartment and put the rest toward other line items in YNAB.

12:30 p.m. — I head out into the freezing cold for a short run and some errands on my lunch break. I signed up for my first half-marathon in nine years(!), and today’s plan is three miles at an easy pace. I turn on Strava and meander my way through Central Park, winding up at my fabulous local pharmacy to pick up my prescription. They are a small business run by sweet people who really know their stuff and care about me personally — what a concept compared with Duane Reade or CVS! I love them so much that, when they told me the copay on my SSRI prescription wasn’t enough to cover their costs, I bumped up my payment by a couple of dollars so that I could keep getting it from them. It’ll be reimbursed later by my FSA plan that I pay into annually through work. I joke with the staff about our epic icy fail of a hike yesterday and wish them a Happy New Year. $10

1 p.m. — I’m SO COLD, but I power through to Trader Joe’s since it’s right across the street. Since it was closed yesterday, it’s craaaazy crowded. I get an avocado, a bag of butter lettuce and radicchio, and flowers that I know are cat-safe. I grab cinnamon rolls for both of us to make for breakfast sometime soon, and get E. a couple of packs of frozen gnocchi with sauce and chicken tikka masala for quick lunches, and a couple of bottles of his probiotics. The total comes to $52.70, but most of that was E.’s stuff, so I charge him $40.69 in Splitwise. $12.01

2 p.m. — Back home and time to warm up! I get back into work mode and pause to make salmon patties for lunch while listening to a podcast. They’re made of canned salmon, onions, peppers, crushed-up crackers, an egg, mayo, and spices. They don’t stick together super well, but at least they taste great when I fry them up. I eat them on a bed of the butter lettuce and avocado I just bought and put sweet chili sauce on top, plus a big glass of water and some salty dark chocolate. Not shabby!

6:30 p.m. — I put on a sweater-dress and my usual look: fun earrings, watch, face lotion, mascara, Burt’s Bees tinted lip balm, and a touch of RMS Beauty coverup. I’m running a little late but catch some lucky subways (transit card again) and make it to our 7 p.m. reservation at a Dim Sum place in Chinatown. It’s our friend D.’s birthday! We try all sorts of dumplings, buns, noodles, meats, and greens, plus a bunch of interesting desserts and some BYOB wine. D. and his wife E. live in our neighborhood, and we’ve become great friends with them after meeting through mutual friends last year. It’s nice to get to know a bunch of their friends who we haven’t met before as we pass around all the different bites. E. and I. each Venmo them $45 for our share of the feast. $45

9:30 p.m. — We wander to the Lower East Side in search of a chill bar, and find one at last with enough room for us all. I get a great cocktail with gin and lemongrass, and we chat with everyone some more in the back corner. We head for the subway home (transit card once more) a little before 11 p.m. and head to bed when we get home. $18

Daily Total: $85.01

Day Three: Saturday

10 a.m. — It’s so nice to have no plans ’til this evening! We have a slow morning, hanging out in bed and then making the cinnamon rolls I got at Trader Joe’s yesterday. E. makes coffee, and we enjoy it with orange juice (and for me, some persimmon) while listening to podcasts and records on the couch. We spend the afternoon relaxing and catching up on chores, and E. does some work for one of his many volunteering gigs while I start research for a trip we’re hoping to take to Quebec this winter.

1:30 p.m. — My good friend, C. had a family member pass away unexpectedly this holiday season, and her family has generously offered to help her loved ones afford a trip to the Midwest to join her for the celebration of life later this month. I make arrangements to stay with my cousin, who lives in the area, then book my flight. C. reimburses me the $237 on Venmo. It’s not a trip I had expected and that feels a little overwhelming, but it means a lot to me to support my friend through this and it’s so generous of her family to make that financially possible.

3:30 p.m. — The breakfast of carbs and caffeine is catching up to me, so I warm up more of the salmon patties (in the oven, so as not to be evil and stink up the microwave!) and have them over more of the butter lettuce, avocado, and sweet chili sauce. I snack on Dot’s Pretzels and have more dark chocolate and water. Chocolate after lunch is the key to life, in my opinion.

4:30 p.m. — Our friends K. and I. are coming over for dinner and a movie tonight, and I head out to the nearby Whole Foods to grab what we need for the recipe we decided on. I buy canned tomatoes, a lemon, an onion, kale, sausage, and Parmesan cheese, plus some chicken from the hot bar and another frozen gnocchi for E. I split the $33.41 bill when I get home, and my share comes out to $9.96. $9.96

6:30 p.m. — K. and I. come over with wine, cheese (I warm up some frozen mini baguettes to pair with it), and tortellini and basil to finish off the recipe. I ask I. to brown the sausage while I prep everything else, and we sit down to a lovely creamy tomato tortellini soup. It’s hard to squeeze in a dinner party in our little apartment, but it always feels nice. We decide to run back out to grab some dessert and snacks for our movie — K. and I. buy some Sumo Citrus, and E. and I. split a tub of vanilla ice cream from Target to go with the brownie mix we have at home. The movie is an intense documentary, so the dessert and the antics of our cat bring some much-needed levity! Our friends head home around midnight, and we clean up and get ready for bed. $2.80

Daily Total: $12.76

Day Four: Sunday

11 a.m. — Winter hibernation is real! I roll out of bed and start to mentally prepare for today’s run: six and a half miles, the farthest I’ve gone in years. I feel a little nervous as I sip on the coffee E. made me before heading out, and have a slice of toast with peanut butter and some fancy jelly a friend brought to our holiday party a few weeks prior. I stretch a little, get dressed, and head out. It ends up feeling great, and it’s finally sunny out! I end up way uptown and take the subway back home (using my transit card).

2:45 p.m. — I ravenously eat the Clif Bar I didn’t need on our failed hike, a brownie, water, and the rest of my coffee before I take a nice hot shower. E. and I have offered to stop by the birthday party at friends D. and E.’s apartment in the neighborhood, to clip their cat’s nails before the birthday boy heads back to his current job out-of-state. We have become cat nail pros in our first six months of cat parenthood and are eager to spread the love. We arrive and get the task done (with some squirming and scratching), then hang out for a few hours, play with the cat, and enjoy D.’s birthday cake leftovers with tea and milk.

7:00 p.m. — I catch up with my childhood friend on FaceTime for a while, and then we have to decide what to do for dinner. Neither of us is feeling very motivated — I think with the holidays over, seasonal affective disorder is starting to hit. I rally for yet another quick grocery trip (perks of living two to three blocks away from several stores!) and get chicken, prosciutto, arborio rice, an onion, and tortellini to supplement the leftover broth from yesterday’s soup. It comes to $27.34, split evenly between me and E. I put on a podcast and make our favorite risotto recipe, which keeps really well for leftovers to bring for office lunches. We watch a show about the history of jazz for a while, then head off to sleep. $13.67

Daily Total: $13.67

Day Five: Monday

8:30 a.m. — It’s another work-from-home day for me, whereas Tuesday through Thursday I’ll be going into the office. E. makes coffee as usual before heading to his office, and I feed the cat and settle into work. I have some yogurt and granola, one of my favorite breakfasts, though this time the granola was made by E.’s mom and brought home from our Christmas visit instead of being made by me. I catch up on emails and take a couple of meetings in my cozy sweater and fleece pants.

1:30 p.m. — At lunchtime, I grab four tickets for myself, E., and our friends A. and me to go ice skating on Sunday! I’m obsessed with ice skating, like the born-and-raised Upstate New Yorker that I am. I pay the $50 for four passes and one pair of rental skates (E. is the only one who doesn’t have his own), and everyone pays me back. I’m so glad we’re going to the brand new rink that has opened in the northern part of Central Park. $10

2:oo p.m. — I’m getting bored with my salmon patties and decide to reinvent them a bit for today’s lunch. I fry up a package of Trader Joe’s Thai Wheat Noodles — a major pantry staple for me — using soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, chili crisp, garlic, ginger, and a touch of maple syrup. Then I toss in the salmon patty mixture. Much more interesting than the same thing for a third time!

7:00 p.m. — E. gets home, and we get ready to meet our friend, A. for dinner in the neighborhood. She’s from Germany and now that she’s back from a long visit home for the holidays, we are belatedly taking her out as a thank-you for watching our cat while we went on a short trip this past fall. We meet up at a French place where I reserved us a table, but we learn that they’re closing early tonight and decide to walk over to a Mexican restaurant instead. It’s great catching each other up on the past few months of life over chips and salsa, tacos, and enchiladas, and E. and I each get a margarita with Tajin. A. tries to contribute when it’s time to pay, but we insist that we’re glad to treat her and part ways on the corner. Then E. and I bring physical books/magazines to bed for a change — I would love to do more of this and less scrolling, we’ll see how we do — and we fall asleep early. $68.40

Daily Total: $78.40

Day Six: Tuesday

8:00 a.m. — Our alarm goes off, in tandem with a light gradually turning on and the local public radio station playing classical music (this elaborate setup was E.’s doing, and I’d say I’m a fan). I get up a bit groggily, since the cat decided to choose chaos and be whiny last night. I do my usual routine of washing my face, cleaning my retainers, and taking my SSRI before getting dressed for the office. E. makes coffee in a thermos for me and I pack it up with some granola with milk and a leftover Sumo Citrus that our friends bought at Whole Foods for breakfast, and more of my salmon noodle concoction for lunch.

10:00 a.m. — I walk to the express subway and swipe in (using my transit card). I head to my office and get to work.

2:00 p.m. — I eat my packed lunch at the office, then head out for my usual lunch break walk. Then back to work I go.

8:00 p.m. — I stay at work til about 6 p.m., then hop on the subway home (transit card). It felt nice to get back to the office, but I’m glad to have some introvert time at home now while E. is grabbing dinner out with a friend. I put Yoga with Adriene on the TV and move along with her while trying to dissuade the cat from his mischief. Then I simmer the tortellini into the leftover soup broth and enjoy it with some boxed red wine and an old John Oliver episode.

Daily Total: $0

Day Seven: Wednesday

7:30 a.m. — I actually get up with my alarm for once, rather than lounging for a while, because I’m on a mission to run before work! I get ready and eat a bit of peanut butter, then head out to Central Park. Today, I’m tackling some hills, which is rough but good preparation for the hilly half-marathon course that awaits me next month. I make my way up and down for 25 minutes or so, then head back home to shower and get ready for work.

9:30 a.m. — I remember I froze a banana a while back, and make a smoothie with it in my immersion blender along with milk, peanut butter, and cocoa powder. I pack that along with the rest of my tortellini, an apple, and E.’s coffee. I swipe my transit card and head downtown.

1:00 p.m. — I heat up my tortellini — still great! — and eat it at my desk. Later, I head out for my beloved lunchtime walk again. The unusual warmth today is doing my soul good, for sure.

6:00 p.m. — My original plan was to go to the diner near my office with my work bestie for grilled cheese, but she’s out sick today. I pivot to yet more grocery shopping and swipe my transit card to head to Wegmans. Having grown up in Upstate NY, Wegmans is life! I stock up on a whole bunch of things: oat milk, shredded cheese, yogurt, ice cream, chili crisp, miso, Better than Bouillon, French fried onions (E. is obsessed with these), cooking wine, a chicken, ground beef, floss for E., apples, onions, potatoes, and a couple of the cookies we always buy when we shop here. It comes to $101.49, and my share is $44.24. $44.24

7:30 p.m. — Argh, the item we needed most desperately (soap) was out of stock at Wegmans! I have a rough transit journey home, involving a local train, an express train, a bus across town, and a walk. I’m eager to put my bags down, but I have to head back out to Target. Thankfully, it’s two blocks away and has the soap we need, so I buy a bunch and head right back home. $16.97

9:00 p.m. — While I cook a French onion skillet meal from the wonderful Jenn Eats Goood site, I call my cousin, whom I often talk to while we’re both cooking (how sweet is that?). I’m really happy with how the recipe comes out and enjoy it while watching more John Oliver reruns. After cleaning up, E. comes home while I’m talking to my friend K. about our hopeful apartment purchase! We both tell her all about it — the stress of being in contract but not sure yet if it’ll all work out, the upcoming co-op board interview, and all the rules and regulations involved. She and her partner own a home in the Pacific Northwest, and she is very confused by all these New York-specific rules! We watch another episode of Gilmore Girls and head to sleep.

Daily Total: $61.21

The Breakdown

Conclusion:
I’m happy with all the cooking I did this week, though we still had plenty of fun seeing friends and going out now and then. I’ve been joking that we need to be “in our scrimping era” while we attempt to purchase this apartment, and we’re doing what we can to live up to that.

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