Inside Mohuya Khan's Nine-Stream NYC Income

Mohuya Khan, 27, of Astoria, Queens, says she now balances nine different income streams while living in a one-bedroom apartment she rents for $3,000 a month and splits with her husband. In 2025, her combined work as a business owner and content creator brought in about $130,000 before taxes and expenses. After those costs, she kept roughly $70,000.

Her path began with after-school counseling while she studied at Hunter College, where she later pursued graduate work in childhood education. During the pandemic, she started posting her artwork on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, then launched the clothing brand Labyrinthave, which draws on Indo-Western and Bangladeshi influences. She describes the transition as fueled by a 'delusion mindset' and a need to prove she could succeed without asking for help.

Khan says she is now debt-free and financially independent, and she uses part of her income to help pay her parents' mortgage. Her monthly costs include utilities that range from about $50 to $210, groceries of up to $400 for herself and her husband, about $300 for car insurance, and more than $400 toward a shared family phone plan. She leaves her car with her mother and mostly uses the subway.

Khan told Business Insider that the early years left her burned out, but she has found a better balance. She still spends about $300 to $500 a month on restaurant meals, a ClassPass membership, massages and other lifestyle items, and says she cannot picture leaving New York.

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The $130,000-to-$70,000 Gap and the Burnout Behind It

The gap between $130,000 and $70,000

Khan's self-reported figures show why gross income can flatter a New York freelancer's budget. Taxes and business expenses consumed about 46% of her $130,000 revenue before take-home pay. On a monthly basis, her $3,000 rent is split with her husband, but utilities, groceries, car insurance, the family phone contribution and discretionary spending still form a large fixed base. That is the mechanism behind the 'double-edged sword' she describes: high New York earnings are offset by housing and household costs before they become usable cash.

This is her account, not an audited income statement. The nine income streams are not itemized, so the totals are best read as an illustration of how multiple small revenue sources behave rather than a replicable formula.

Burnout and family expectations

Khan connects her pace to watching her father work seven days a week as a taxi driver and to her mother's message that she would have to work harder than her peers. The result was early responsibility — working at 15, moving out at 22 — and, by her own description, a 'toxic' period with no boundaries between work and life. The story's real insight is not the income total but the trade-off she names: financial independence and debt-free status came after a period of overexertion she says she would not necessarily repeat.

Budget Lessons From Khan's New York Hustle

  • Compare revenue against take-home pay, not the headline number. Khan's $130,000 in 2025 revenue became about $70,000 after taxes and expenses, a 46% reduction. For a New York household evaluating a side business, the usable figure is what matters for rent and bills.
  • Weigh fixed monthly costs before adding more income streams. Khan's $3,000 Astoria apartment is split with her husband, but housing plus groceries up to $400, utilities of $50 to $210, $300 car insurance and a $400-plus shared phone bill still create a substantial base. Mapping those costs to net income is a more reliable check than relying on gross earnings.
  • Do not exit a primary job without savings or a stable base. Khan explicitly warns against quitting work solely to pursue a passion. Her nine streams were built over several years after starting with after-school counseling and pandemic-era content creation, not in a single leap.