Profile

I am thirty four years old and the Stage Manager of Things That Go Ding! at Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I make $600 a week and live in company provided housing. I also received a $350 travel stipend.

Saving & Spending

I might sound like a little bit of a humble brag jerk here but I sort of don’t understand money at all.

I YOLO-ed the heck out of this month. I did not give a damn. I did what I wanted. I’m also working at a job that I know did not keep up with my spending this month.

And still, because of the magic of investing, my freaking net worth went up $5,000.

$5,000.

That was like twice what I even made this month.

So, invest ya’ll. It really does start to add up.

Or maybe I don’t understand YOLO-ing. But I literally did whatever I wanted. So, spirit of YOLO achieved.

One of my favorite movies from my teenage years was Empire Records (I still love it). As a teenager, I thought Lucas was insane.

I have spent most of this month feeling like Lucas. What is with today today?

If I start gluing quarters to a floor, someone please intervene.

Anyway, I spent a lot of this month alone and kind of dreading it but it was also pretty peaceful and I have felt hugely unsettled in my life the last few years and maybe some time quietly contemplating my decisions and what I really want is not the worst thing.

That being said, I did do a lot of things this month, even if I did them alone.

I saw four plays. I loved them all. I can’t even tell you the last time I wanted to go watch more theater after coming out of work on a regular basis, but I really loved everything I saw and felt somewhat theatrically inspired by something at every performance. Amazing what a schedule that doesn’t leave you completely burnt out does. Milwaukee’s got a surprisingly hopping theater scene.

It’s also not far from Chicago, so on a day off I went to go see Hamilton on tour and it was freaking brilliant. It’s possibly the only thing I’ve ever seen that lived up to all the hype.

I went on a brewery tour and it had a beer cave and I wasn’t sad about it. I went to an ice castle and the National Bobblehead Museum. I ate way too much Purple Door Ice Cream. I tried yoga for the first time.

My expenses this month:

• Food – $560.89
• Car (Gas, Parking) – $118.67
• Healthcare – $140.63
• brokeGIRLrich – $2.99
• Jewelry – $24.10
• Toiletries– $32.55
• Mom Expenses – $311.27
• Travel to Milwaukee – $137.99
• Fun – $320.97
• Gifts – $137.99
• New Orleans Trip – $260.00
• Prague, Vienna, Budapest Trip – $732.02
• Miscellaneous – $9.45
• Dues – $24.49
• Credit Card Reward – $-350.00

Total Spending in February: $2,464.01

Hustling

My income this month was from stage managing at Skylight, two days a stage hand last month, and brokeGIRLrich.

• Stage Managing – $1,432.05
• Stage Hand – $277.85
• brokeGIRLrich – $827.45

Income This Month: $2,537.35

Oh, hey, and just a reminder that if you came out a little ahead this month too, That Frugal Pharmacist could still use a few bucks as they figure out life with their sick kid. You can read the whole story and donate via this link. Or if you’re doing some Amazon shopping, you can do it via their link at the bottom of their website and at no cost to you, they’ll get some kickback from Amazon.

Most Popular Post of the Month: 40+ Stores That Sell ModCloth for Less

My Favorite Post to Write This Month: The Important But Not Urgent Things In Life 

Goals

• Start eating better. I still wonder if this is this quantitative? And it still doesn’t matter this month. I failed anyway. 
• Work out more. See above. Though I did go to yoga. Once.
• Better stress management. I am doing well with this. I find that starting my day with prayer and some Bible reading and not working 80 hours a week is actually doing wonders.
• Keep taking accounting classes. Nailing it. 
• Do two things to build up my stage management skills. I went to an APA sponsored pyrotechnics course, so one skill project done.
• Take music lessons while I’m home for a few months. Technically I wasn’t home this month, but I still didn’t do anything about this.
• Spend more time with family and friends. This definitely didn’t happen this month.
• Be more supportive of family and friends when I can’t be there in person. Yes, maybe?
• Go out on a date. Sort of fail. I went out on something that accidentally turned into one and it was a wild fail.
• Make an effort to not withhold kind words and encouragement. Check.
• Max out my Roth IRA. On track. 
• Max out my HSA. On track. 
• Set aside $5,000 for my house downpayment account. No progress here. 
• Set aside $2,000 for my new car account. No progress here. 
• Invest $2,000. No progress here. 
• Read more. I finished Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office and started Grit.
• Learn to make macaroons. No further progress.
• Visit two roadside attractions. Wild Bill’s Prop Shop in Connecticut, the Mars Cheese Castle, the National Bobblehead Museum, the Lake Geneva Ice Castle.