Profile

I am thirty three years old and the Performance Director at Big Apple Circus. I make $70,000 a year and live in a show provided RV. I also have health insurance through this job that’s deducted straight from my paycheck, so I don’t really count it in my bills since it’s never money I saw anyway (it’s roughly $180/month).

Saving & Spending

Surprise, December was an expensive month. I mean, of course it was going to be. To begin with, there was Christmas. Then there were tons of work purchases that haven’t been reimbursed yet.

And, of course, there was the lofty net worth goal I had my fingers crossed for – so it was clearly not going to be an easy month to achieve all the things.

It has been a while since I worked a job during Christmas, so I definitely got hit a little more than usual with last minute coworker gifts I wound up grabbing. There’s the trombone player who gives me free trombone lessons every week, so I felt like I should really give him a good bottle of Scotch. I mean, who else just gets to take a 30 minute trombone lesson with a Broadway pit musician every week? And he just sits there and plays scales with me. I’m a terrible trombone player.

There’s our Company Manager, who is really pretty much my assistant, and I’d probably lose my mind without him. I had to make sure he was properly caffeinated for the next month.

And then there were a few little things that just seemed like the perfect gift for certain people, so I picked them up too.

I spent $35 on a gift for our dog. I went a little overboard this year (it was an indestructible pig toy).

I also went to see Anastasia with my show-going buddy here at the circus, because both of us grew up desperately wanting to be little Russian princesses. It was pretty good.

I wound up spending a little to try to weather proof my RV for winter in NY, but my efforts were largely useless. I have been fairly cold and living without running water for about 5 days now, since my hoses keep freezing.

Anyway. This month’s spending:

• Food – $629.00
• Travel – $100.25
• Taxis – $21.77
• Gifts – $347.98
• Lifelock – $9.99
• Home Décor/RV Supplies – $86.68
• brokeGIRLrich – $2.99
• Haircut – $45.00
• Clothes – $169.43
• Toiletries – $108.43
• Entertainment – $211.50
• Work Related – $1471.49

Total Spending in November: $3,204.51

Hustling

My income this month was from performance directing at Big Apple, a Prudential dividends check, and brokeGIRLrich.

• Stage Managing – $4,632.04
• brokeGIRLrich – $1359.04
• Dividends – $24.00

Income This Month: $6,015.08 

Most Popular Post of the Month: 114 Side Hustles: Ways to Make More Money

My Favorite Post to Write This Month: A Day in the Life of a Circus Performance Director 

Goals

• Max out my IRA. – Done
• Buy $1,000 in stock. – More mutual funds.
• Contribute $2,000 to my New Car Fund – Done
• Contribute $5,000 to my Down Payment Fund –
• Contribute $200 to my cousin’s wedding fund. Done
• Develop 2 new resume skills – Managed to become a notary public this year. Failed on picking up a second skill.
• Do something really fun with my brother. –Done
• Write a journal or magazine article. Fail
• Hike something.
• Master making macaroons. …Fail