Profile

I am thirty six years old and I’m a freelance digital event producer. I make $50/hour at the main company I work with. I also work part time for a theatre company doing a digital murder mystery/escape room for £15 a show a few evenings a week.

Spending & Saving

So my month largely away from blogging was kind of nice, but this blog has been such a constant over the last 8 years that it felt very strange.

I still don’t think 3X a week in sustainable right now, but for the next month I do plan to post once a week on Wednesdays, and if I get a sponsored post offer, I definitely won’t stop the blog from making money.

Quarterly taxes were a pretty big hit, but of course I was expecting that. I transfer 30% of each paycheck from freelance work into a savings account for that, so it was just a matter of moving that account balance from my bank to the IRS.

Speaking of the blog, besides quarterly taxes, my largest expense was settling a copyright lawsuit because I accidentally used a copyright picture on a post from 2016, but negligence isn’t a real defense and the dude wasn’t wrong, so I paid him. Let it be a reminder to any of you bloggers out there to be really sure where your pictures are coming for and also, if you’ve been blogging a long time and gotten better about it over the years, make sure you go back through the old ones and make sure you know where those pictures came from too. Sigh.

I also had three visits to the dentist this month that really do make me wish we had a slightly more socialist country. However, I had been getting really bad headaches from clenching my jaw and grinding my teeth in my sleep and the dentist fixed all that and I’m finally headache free after months of a constant low grade headache and jaw pain.

Probably the most exciting event this month was getting vaccinated! I got my second shot at the end of April and will be fully bionic by mid-May. Yet more proof that socialist medicine is ok because I just walked in and got vaccinated and didn’t pay a penny and I felt like I was in England or something and it was brilliant.

In happier news, I am planning a vacation to a cabin in the woods in July with three of my best friends.

I am thinking about spending most of August in Utah, though I’m not fully committed to that plan yet.

Mostly I’m just frustrated these days in general though. My life still feels very in shambles. There’s not enough theatre work yet for me to feel comfortable signing a lease somewhere and knowing that being stuck to that place for a year won’t be a problem.

I’m still holding out the tiniest bit of hope that the circus I worked for might do the same run over Christmas and that my old boss would actually rehire me to work it. The gap for that time is on the schedule at that venue, despite shows being booked right before and after. It is a massive if though and there are a number of reasons the show could be over there but I might not get the contract.

I think that show is the main thing keeping me in a holding pattern because if I knew for sure it was just a no, I’d apply to grad school over the summer to start in the fall. If I even got in. But if I didn’t get in, that would be a clear answer and I could just make a new plan.

Sigh. I don’t do well when I don’t have a plan. It is really the most mentally draining thing.

I’d say maybe this will have a better update next month but really, I know it probably won’t be till September or October that I have any real life updates.

On the plus side, the digital event producing has been going well. I’m certified on four platforms now and have gotten a good amount of work the last few months. On the flip side, the murder mystery I stage manage majorly cut back shows this month, so that was less than stellar, but they’re doing a partnership with some company on a new digital event that I’ll be working on a lot more next month.

A friend of mine also got me involved with a movie production this past month. She needed a PA but I wasn’t available for the full filming period, so I was able to pass that gig on to a friend. They also needed a driver back and forth from NYC to Saratoga Springs a few times, so I wound up doing that little side hustle.

Things could absolutely be worse. I just hate feeling unsettled and trapped. Overall though, I know I’m incredibly fortunate.

Also, to harp on this point again for any younger folks reading this – my expenses were higher than my income this month. My checking account felt stretched and sad all month. It felt like I was getting nowhere financially because I didn’t make any progress on my goals.

But, because of the last 8 years of slow and steady and incredibly boring progress socking away money in retirement and brokerage accounts (and clearly a good stock market month), my net worth went up almost $9,000.

Sorry, this never stops boggling my mind. And I know that progress isn’t always attainable for everyone, but for anyone who can attain it and just isn’t, I like to present that reminder.

My expenses this month:

• Quarterly Taxes – $4734.27
• brokeGIRLrich – $2534.95
• Dentist – $808.50
• Charity – $550.00
• Food – $436.15
• AirBnB – $347.02
• Health Insurance – $150.66
• Gas – $144.35
• Gifts – $73.71
• Car Registration – $47.93
• Clothes – $47.91
• Toiletries – $23.75
• Stage Management – $22.39
• Fees – $18.60
• School – $14.95
• Shipping – $8.45

Total Spending in April: $9,963.59 (or $5,229.32 without accounting for taxes)

Hustling

It was a decent month of digital producing and since my invoices are delayed 30 days for murder room SMing, it was an ok payout from March there too. I also received a refund from my 2020 taxes, which was nice. Additionally I made some money working as a driver for a film, from this blog and UserTesting. My cousin also paid back a small loan she owed me related to some AirBnB expenses.

• Digital Event Producing – $4775.00
• 2020 Tax Refund – $1919.59
• Stage Managing – $774.73
• Loan – $314.36
• brokeGIRLrich – $257.22
• UserTesting – $90.00
• Stagehand Work – $72.32

Income This Month: $8,203.22

Goals

• Max out my Roth IRA. $1,500 to go – stalled here for a bit. I’m not expecting much progress in May either.
• Max out my HSA. This is on track. I’ve learned to just go a month at a time here, since sometimes my insurance changes over the course of the year due to different jobs.
• Invest $2,000. Halfway there.
• Save up $3,000 for post-pandemic traveling. $1250 saved so far, about $205 of it spent.
• Add $1,000 to the emergency savings account.
• Add $2,000 to the new car savings account.
• Break $300,000 net worth. Updated to break $325,000.
• Do two things to build up my stage management skills. COVID compliance officer certificate and immersive theatre design class.