Last week I took a quiz from O Magazine and Suze Orman about my financial personality. I’ve been working on a book idea that combines yoga and personal finance so my brain is currently equally divided between the two disciplines, seeing so many connections and symmetries. The research for the book led me to this financial personality quiz. The result? 3 b’s and 3 e’s which makes me a I’m a penny-pincher on the right track – a person with miser tendencies who has hopes of financial liberation. The quiz is a few years old but the system holds true. I couldn’t have described by financial personality more succinctly.
On being a penny-pincher:
“You’re a penny-pincher. Being a penny-pincher doesn’t mean you’re poor; on the contrary, you probably have more than enough to live on. But you won’t spend your money; you hoard it because you are afraid to let it go—which means, in my opinion, that you are afraid of never having enough. This fear often comes from a very realistic place. Usually, people who are penny-pinchers grew up in families where either money or love was scarce; as a result, the kids grew up with fear and shame—two big obstacles to wealth. When you block the flow of money out, you also block the flow of money in. You need to open your clenched fist to receive—even if it’s one finger at a time.”
On being on the right track:
“You’re on the right track. Congratulations! You are creating a life where people come first, then money, then things. [For those who don’t know, this is Suze’s simple mantra on how to live life as well as how to make and spend money.] Either you grew up in a family that had a very healthy relationship with money or one that was so disrespectful of money that you refused to repeat its serious mistakes. Either way, you’ve learned to value who you are over what you have. You’re on the right road.”
On writing my book about yoga and personal finance:
In writing this book, I deal with my own hang-ups, memories, and fears about money. And there are many. Though I’m learning that they are all manageable and I’ve come so far in making peace with finance, and seeing as energy and a tool rather than a burden and chore to manage. Writing the book is helping in that process. And when it’s fully written, edited, and published, I hope it will help many others, too.
That’s the most wonderful thing about being a writer – we write to liberate ourselves, to throw off the chain of our own making and by the very act of putting our writing out into the world, we help others do the same. Writing is and always will be the most selfish and selfless act; a gift we give to ourselves as much as we give to others.
Take the quiz and let me know where you landed on the scale!
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This blog is part of the 2011 WordPress Post Every Day Challenge.
Published by Christa Avampato
IN BRIEF
Author, journalist, digital product manager, and licensed New York City tour guide. Creator and host of NYC's Secrets and Lies. Alumna of the University of Pennsylvania (BA), the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA), Arizona State University (Biomimicry), and the University of Cambridge (MSt in Sustainability Leadership).
I build digital media platforms, report on urban climate resilience and biodiversity, and produce live narrative experiences that connect communities to history, nature, and place.
THE DEEP DIVE
My work centers on a single thread: building systems and stories that foster deep connection to our shared world. Across digital streaming, environmental reporting, and live civic storytelling, I design experiences that help people understand complex ideas and the environments around them.
DIGITAL PRODUCT STRATEGY & MEDIA LEADERSHIP
At Carnegie Hall, I serve as Digital Product Manager, leading product strategy, operations, and technical delivery for the video streaming platform Carnegie Hall+. I translate artistic mission into scalable, high-performance streaming architecture that reaches audiences globally. Previously, I led agile product and delivery teams across operations and compliance at American Express, managed Broadway theatrical productions and national tours, and guided strategic initiatives across cultural institutions.
ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM & AUTHORSHIP
As a freelance journalist, I investigate how living systems, urban infrastructure, and human culture intersect. My reported features on urban decarbonization, biodiversity, coastal resilience, and biomimicry appear in publications including Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, Mongabay, Natural History Magazine, and Foreign Policy Magazine. In fiction, I write the Emerson Page young adult novel series, alongside upcoming historical fiction and nonfiction works on New York history, mythology, and human resilience. I also write Togetherhood, a LinkedIn newsletter focused on urban ecology and community restoration, and co-host the podcast Frameworks in the Wild.
LIVE EXPERIENCE & CIVIC STORYTELLING
As a licensed New York City tour guide and live event producer, I transform urban landscapes into shared narrative encounters. I created, produce, and host NYC's Secrets and Lies, an interactive live storytelling series staged across cultural landmarks including the New York Transit Museum, the South Street Seaport Museum, and the historic tall ship Wavertree. I also design and lead site-specific walking tours exploring coastal ecology, food history, and neighborhood evolution, often with partners at Climate Week NYC and the Natural Areas Conservancy.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING MEDIA
Through my independent production studio, Double or Nothing Media, I develop ventures across media, ecology, and public history:
Digital Products & Strategy: Architecting scalable digital platforms, streaming experiences, and operational models for mission-driven institutions.
Environmental Reporting & Publications: Delivering long-form reporting, books, and newsletters grounded in climate resilience and regenerative design.
Site-Specific Live Storytelling: Producing immersive live shows and educational walking tours that engage public audiences in community history.
CONNECT
Website & Production Hub: doubleornothingmedia.com and christaavampato.com
Newsletter: Togetherhood on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/newsletters/togetherhood-7273771832221089792/
Instagram & Threads: @christarosenyc
Emerson Page Novels: emersonpagebook.wordpress.com/
View all posts by Christa Avampato
Last week I took a quiz from O Magazine and Suze Orman about my financial personality. I’ve been working on a book idea that combines yoga and personal finance so my brain is currently equally divided between the two disciplines, seeing so many connections and symmetries. The research for the book led me to this financial personality quiz. The result? 3 b’s and 3 e’s which makes me a I’m a penny-pincher on the right track – a person with miser tendencies who has hopes of financial liberation. The quiz is a few years old but the system holds true. I couldn’t have described by financial personality more succinctly.
good quiz c, thanks 4 sharing. i came out as an “on the right track” with som daredevil tendencies, which i think it fairly accurate.
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Very cool, Col! So good to know we’re going in the right direction 🙂
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Hi there,,,,I would love you to write a introduction to my business and perhaps proof reed a few pages on my site/ I adore your stile in writing and although I have an excellent command of the English Language, I am no writer and I need one,
Leslie Bubik
www,ifix.hu
I also love you penny pinching pig. but I anm trying to find the right graphic to illustrate that because I have a small business called total Mizers ltd. in Toronto CaNADA hahaheheheheeh
Les
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Hi Les – I would love to! I will send you an email at ocdia@rogers.com.
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