Saturday, May 29, 2010

Getting All Booked

So after not having work booked, I'm getting a fair bit busy. I have one show in rehearsal right now, another show starting rehearsal tomorrow. Then in July I start rehearsals for the next one, and I'm also booked for November and February.
This is pretty great for me. Some of these gigs pay well, some of them less so. I'm excited to have work in my calendar. Right now I'm consistently working until September 4th. I'll really need to keep on top of day gigs and extra work to get my bills paid though.

One thing that I haven't had much success in recently that drives me nuts is getting my savings back in shape. As a general rule, you should have three months of expenses in saved up. I don't. I've got about two weeks right now. It's one of those frustrating things because I find it so hard to get ahead.

When I'm working this much, I eat out a lot. If I just have an hour to go and grab food, I do. I don't buy expensive food, but it really does add up. So, it's going to be back to using my trusty bread maker to make fresh bread and back to buying things to make sandwiches with.

I've got to keep on top of this, get my savings built back up, and get travel money saved up. My big brother gets married in July and trans-atlantic plane tickets sure aren't cheap these days!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Sacrificing Wealth for Art

June and July are going to be financially rough for me. I know this already. I'm prepared for it.
I'm working on two plays that, in a nutshell, pay diddly squat. But gosh it's going to be satisfying. I get to work on new contemporary work, play with some of my best friends, meet new awesome people, and add some very nifty credits to my resume. I'm glad I'm doing that, but this is one of those things where there isn't money in it.

When I left my corporate job last year, I knew there might be times like this. I was prepared for it and I've never really been into having money but hating my job. This is the first time, though, where I've really put myself in a financial pickle. I really think it'll be worth it, but I doubt very much that I'll be clearing my overdraft either month.

As well, the price you pay for loving what you do and working in the non-profit industry. I'll be doing as much side work as I can, but I still doubt it'll quite be enough.

By the way, you can now find some of my writing on the Gaucho blog

Also, hi Mimi :-)