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 see anyway (it’s roughly $180/month).

Saving & Spending

This month I worked and then I worked some more and then there was even more work. From January 7^th till January 29^th the circus loaded out of NYC and into Alpharetta, Georgia. I was one of the really lucky campers that actually had one day off during that mess.

On the plus side, when you’re working like crazy, you spend a little less.

It’s also not totally freezing in Georgia, so at least this should be the last month I spend a stupid amount of money to avoid freezing to death in my tin box home. Also, I guess I’m actually prepared for winter now.

On my day off, I got to see Pitch Perfect 3 with my best friend, which was pretty good. All sort of fluffy fun and I highly recommend if you liked the other two.

I’d say my stupidest expense this month was $79.99 on an uncomfortable pair of shoes. Our RVs left Lincoln Center in waves and I was actually driving a performer’s RV with a camper down and the rental company took my RV. My RV left the lot at 8 AM. The performer RV I was driving didn’t get hooked up until 2 PM and in between 8 AM – 2 PM I was homeless and wearing Uggs and I wandered through a big, slushy snow bank and soaked my feet. So I was freezing and wet and realized I was going to have soaked feet for 2 to 3 days now, so during my homeless time, I went to Century 21 to find a new pair of shoes. I picked waterproof boots and thought I was making a great investment and about 30 minutes into wearing them they started to hurt so bad I wanted to cut off my toes. But I wore them for the next 3 days anyway until I had access to my home and my other shoes again and now I will pretty much never wear them again since one of my toes has a giant infected blister making me want to die.

And that is the story of why you should pack two pairs of shoes if you’re going to be homeless on a circus lot for several hours.

On the flip side, for next winter I’m buying a warm pair of work overalls and a proper pair of waterproof, warm, black boots. And I will live in these things during load out at Lincoln Center.

Hopefully by planning ahead next year, even if they’re expensive, at least they’ll function and not make me want to cut off my toes.

On that happy note, this month’s spending:

• Food – $444.97
• NJ Transit – $37.00
• Taxis – $21.77
• Gifts – $15.97
• Lifelock – $9.99
• Home Décor/RV Supplies – $603.88
• brokeGIRLrich – $21.18
• Clothes – $96.98
• Toiletries – $13.76
• Entertainment – $32.98
• Work Related – $1046.11

Total Spending in January: $2,344.59

Hustling

My income this month was from performance directing at Big Apple, and brokeGIRLrich. I made some extra money from Big Apple doing cherry pie driving back and forth between NYC and Alpharetta. Cherry pie is a circus term for extra jobs on top of your job – like an inside side hustle.

• Stage Managing – $3,091.72
• brokeGIRLrich – $1,575.12

Income This Month: $4,666.84

If you’re on the fence about opening an IRA or buying stocks, check out this net worth update. I contributed about $3,000 to my investments this month by net worth grew by close to $7,000. Stuff like that makes every struggle I went through a few years ago when it was a crazy challenge to max out my IRA or buy any stocks feel very, very worth it.

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

My Favorite Post to Write This Month: How Much Money Would You Lend Your Job? 

Goals 

I feel like I say this every year, but resetting my goals in January always feels a little like a hamster on a wheel. Didn’t I just finally cross all these things off?? And now we’re back at square one. Sigh. Well. Hopefully here’s to another successful year of scratching most of these goals off the list.

• Max out my IRA. – $1,500 to go.
• Max out my 401k. – On track to max out by end of year.
• Buy $5,000 in stock.
• Contribute $3,000 to my New Car Fund
• Contribute $5,000 to my Down Payment Fund.
• Go on a family vacation.
• Go on a best friend vacation.
• Develop 2 new resume skills.