Profile
I am thirty one years old and I am a stage manager for an Off-Broadway show called Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic (if you live in the tri-state area, buy a ticket and support us some Saturday this summer!). I have no rent and no real bills. I actually got a $25 raise per show this month… and then our number of shows per week was cut in half for the rest of the summer, so… yay, stage management. I now make $175 a week. At least I’m past half way through the summer and less than two months away from full time work.
Saving & Spending
The $500 spending budget didn’t happen this month either, haha, oh boy did it not happen.
I suppose I should try to stick to the $500 budget next month consider my epic-ly low income this month and the fact that I don’t expect August to be much better. It’s definitely one of those times I’m ecstatic I decided to live at home.
On the flip side, I’ve actually got several plans to visit friends in August, so… we’ll see how that goes.
My biggest purchase this month was a ticket to Book of Mormon next month. My best friend and I have been talking about going for years and I keep dragging my feet waiting for prices to drop. Also, I’m a crazy procrastinator this summer and waited too long to buy them. Seriously, it better be $180 of awesome.
I’m pretty sure we should’ve jumped out of the airplane BEFORE his finals, but still a pretty good way to celebrate surviving college.
Because that’s also roughly what I paid to jump out of an airplane this month (and then double that amount to pay for my brother too). On the plus side, that was mostly funded by the savings account I started to pay for my brother’s graduation gift. I only wound up having to use $70 from my regular account.
My second biggest purchase was joining the local gym. I’ve been training for that 5k I mentioned last month and it turns out I pretty much 110% hate running, so when I finish, I come home, collapse in front of the TV and eat so much ice cream I undo all the good I’ve done. There was this ride at the beach that you had to get weighed to do and let’s just say the number that came up horrified me.
So I started swimming again. I was pretty excited that the gym lets you freeze your membership for $0/month with 5 days notice, so that was a big seller for me. Thanks to my inability to fend off good marketing, I also own a new bathing suit.
Anyway, you can expect roughly 800 posts on how learning to run is like personal finance next month.
My spending breakdown this month:
- Food: $225.35
- Car: $113.15
- Commuting: $108
- Clothes: $119.97
- Entertainment: $250.80
- Skydiving: $370
- Stage Management: $27.95
- Shipping: $6.44
- Fitness: $217.43
- Miscellaneous: $17.32
Total Spending in July: $1486.41
So quite possibly my least impressive month ever for staying on top of things. Factoring in the skydiving savings account, I still came in at about $100 more than I managed to make this month.
Whomp whomp.
Good thing I was about $500 under last month.
Hustling
I brought in some income through 3 other methods besides stage managing this month too:
- eBay: $28.08
- brokeGIRLrich: $429.06
- digit Referrals: $55
(Seriously though, have you signed up for digit yet? I love, love, love how it ciphers out my money without me even noticing – every time it hits $100, I transfer it to one of my savings goals.)
Additional Income: $512.14
That brings my total income this month up to: $1037.14
For the first time ever, I almost made more with brokeGIRLrich than my day job… which isn’t say much for how my summer is going.
*~**~*~**~*
Net Worth: July 2015
Most Popular Post of the Month: 114 Side Hustles: Ways to Make More Money
My Favorite Post to Write This Month: How to Get a Job on a Cruise Ship
Elsewhere on the Web: 5 Top Websites for Frugal Shoppers at U.S. News & World Report
3 Steps for Your Annual Financial Checkup at U.S. News & World Report
And I’m such a dork! I completely forgot to mention last month that I was interviewed for the first time for a podcast! So if you’ve wondered what my voice sounds like, check out Managing an Unconventional Career Path on Shannon’s Martinis and Your Money.
(Almost) Entirely Unrelated to Personal Finance
I was nominated for a Sunshine Blogger Award (fun fact: my mother calls me Sunshine and I call her Momshine) by Tre from House of Tre – thanks so much, Tre!!
She also nominated some ladies I hold in pretty high esteem, so be sure to check out Alexis at Financials, Abigail at I Pick Up Pennies, Jessica at Settle Your Finances, and Melissa at Sunburnt Saver too!
These Are The Rules You Must Follow:
- Thank the person that nominated you
- Answer the questions from the person that nominated you
- Nominate some other bloggers for this award
- Write the same amount of questions for the bloggers you have nominated
- Notify the bloggers you have nominated
Questions from Tre:
Could you live in a tiny house?
Yes. I’ve lived in this:
Cruise Ship Life
And this:
Train Life
And in a tiny apartment in New York City.
I would actually love to live in a tiny house – ideally, a tree house.
What was the last book you read?
Finders Keepers by Stephen King
What do you think Victoria’s Secret is?
How much money is in her bank account? I have no idea. Those bras are so expensive and sometimes they’re awesome, but sometimes they kind of suck. Maybe her marketing technique is the real secret.
What is the last picture you took with your phone?
A really bad selfie with my cousin’s dog.
Sadie!! (I’m so freaked out when she tries to lick my face and you can totally see the fear in my eyes here.)
What is your favorite commercial?
So- the gentlemen may not find this funny, but the Hello Flo ads are HILARIOUS. Especially the First Moon party.
My nominees: Femme at Femme Frugality, Hayley at Disease Called Debt, Kate at Cashville Skyline and Che at SmashOddyssey.
Questions for them:
- What do you think will be your hardest life goal to achieve?
- What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
- What was you favorite cartoon as a child?
- Which book has had the biggest impact on you?
- What’s your favorite quote?
Goals
1.) Max out my IRA… still at $800 to go. I’m feeling moderately confident about succeeding here though. Finishing that up is a priority with my first two paychecks when I get back to work full time.
2.) Contribute $1,000 to my emergency savings – so since January I’ve actually contributed $1,525. I have no idea why I thought I was behind on this, probably since I thought I’d be paying my car insurance from it. Awesome. Done for 2015.
3.) Buy $1,000 of stock – perhaps by November.
4.) Save $100 a month for a new computer. July – check.
5.) Save $100 a month for a new car (I’m hoping the current one will make it to roughly 2021). July – check, just one month behind now.
6.) Save $2,000 for a house down payment. Still at $1,500 to go. It might be doable.
7.) Figure out some employment plans for July and August and the first half of September to supplement my tiny stage managing income.
8.) Side hustle and credit card reward my way to FinCon15 – I’m letting go of this goal. FinCon is the weekend before I start Clifford rehearsals, so I think I’m just going to stay on at the Frolic instead of leaving two weeks early. Also, I’m not exactly flush to shell out about $1,000 for the trip at this point, especially since I missed all the early bird pass options.
Great goals, and congrats on exceeding the emergency fund goal! That’s awesome.
I understand the frustration of being between jobs — I’m about a month and a half from getting paid again, and I cannot wait. It’s tough to be super frugal at all times.
Alexandra @ Real Simple Finances recently posted…You Need Some “Me Time”: Here’s Why
It’s not the most fun – and clearly I haven’t actually been that frugal :oP
I have been wanting to see Book of Mormon forever!!! Seriously let me know if it’s worth it because I don’t think it will ever go on sale so if it’s worth it, I will make a savings goal specifically for seeing this.
Shannon @ Financially Blonde recently posted…Music Mondays – Vacation
I agree – that suck is never going on sale. I think the best financial option is to catch a tour of it when it’s not in NYC.
Summers are a great time, but always a budget killer, too much nice weather and things to do. 🙂 Seems like you are hanging tough.
Brian recently posted…Net Worth Update: July 2015
Yeah, it’s weird that there are so many inexpensive things to take advantage of – and I feel like I do – but somehow the budget just gets busted in a way that it does not in the middle of the winter. Probably because hibernating and binge watching Netflix is pretty inexpensive 😉
On the one hand, your financials were not so good. On the other hand, think of how many hashtags you could implement from this month! And as we all know, hashtags are the currency of the Millenials #YOLO
Haha, I think I’m going to steal that for a post title! #YOLO is super dangerous.
Book of Mormon is amazing! The price of the ticket will be well worth it!
Ali @ Anything You Want recently posted…FY 2016 Goal Update: July Progress
That’s good to hear!
that commercial is hilarious!
Tre recently posted…Monthly Goals Update – July 2015
You’re doing great, Mel. Especially with such limited income this summer. I’m sad to hear you won’t be going to FinCon, but totally understand why.
Kate @ Cashville Skyline recently posted…The July Monthly Budget Review
Thanks, I know I’m going to be incredibly jealous of everyone there that weekend. The seminars and all were great, but the real benefit was meeting all the awesome bloggers I’d been reading for years and the networking.
And thanks so much for the nomination! Not sure how I missed that the first time 🙂
Kate @ Cashville Skyline recently posted…The July Monthly Budget Review
You skydived? I would be so scared of doing that. I have a really awful fear of flying so jumping out of an airplane would probably finish me off! Well done on all your goals and thanks so much for the sunshine blogger nomination! I’ll look forward to answering your questions on my blog shortly. Love your tiny living accommodation pics! 🙂
Hayley @ Disease Called Debt recently posted…10 Quick Gigs You Can Do on Fiverr (for Non-Techies)
It was actually my second time! But as I was climbing out of the plane I thought “how on earth did I wind up here AGAIN?”
Thanks for the nod, fellow nominee!
To ease your worries, my mom saw Book of Mormon and is STILL talking about it six months later. She got criminally lucky and won the lottery. Granted, she had entered many, many times. But still…
Abigail @ipickuppennies recently posted…A weekend of savings
That’s the way to do it! I really want to see Hand to God this summer and I think I need to suck it up and go real early with a book for rush tickets or just keep trying the lottery.
Book of Mormon is the best ever! And this from a former Mormon. Was totally different than what I was expecting, too….an uplifting message, really. I initially saw this post with the husband, and HE had seen that commercial while I hadn’t. “It’s not that funny,” he says.
And then I watch it. And it is. Literally LOLed.
Those stretches between jobs are always fun and stressful. On the one hand, you’ve got all this time to do all this fun stuff, but then you get to the end of it and realize the lack of money kind of sucks. Been there. Hopefully something gets worked out soon, but I’m glad you’re able to have some fun after having to travel with work for so long! I know there were breaks, but the psychology behind that has to be something out of this world.
Thanks so much for the nomination! I answered the questions here: http://femmefrugality.com/2015/07/its-getting-sunshiny-up-in-here.html
(Also—treehouse living sounds a-mazing.)
femmefrugality recently posted…The Ultimate Frugal Pittsburgh Tourist Guide Part 2
I’m glad to hear that Book of Mormon is probably worth it!
And glad I hit the nail on the head with the men being all “meh” about that commercial and women finding it hysterical. Grandpa bobbing for ovaries. OMG.
Oh, man, I would have died if she were my mom. Then again, I wasn’t over anxious to get mine either. :p
femmefrugality recently posted…Reader’s Dream #Giveaway: $225 Amazon Gift Card and 7 Books
You went skydiving, that sounds amazing. Plus the gym contract that allows your to freeze its sounds great (though i still can bring myself to get a gym contract as I can go swimming for a £1 it works out cheeper than a membership).
I love that you share all of this on your blog i think accountability is such a powerful tool and it has inspired me to start sharing mine (the august post is in my drafts ready to be filled out with the months numbers)
Rebecca Elizabeth
Rebecca recently posted…BIG Summer giveaway !!
I’m glad it inspired you! It has definitely been an awesome tool for me. And £1 is pretty fantastic, if we had anywhere around here like that, I wouldn’t join a gym either.
Congratulations on your nomination and for the exceeding your emergency fund saving. This has of course justified all your expenses for this month.
Esther @ MoneyNuggets recently posted…8 Ways to Save Money on Your Travel Overseas
Haha, I can live with that mentality ;o)
I think all the money we spend on vacations are worth it because summer is just so short. Book of Mormon sounds very interesting. I’m glad you decided to go. Have a great day!
Vickie@Vickie’s Kitchen and Garden recently posted…Book Review: Undercover Bride by Margaret Brownley
Hi Mel!
Can’t believe tickets to Book of Mormon cost $180!!!! Hope you get a programme thrown in for that cost! Sure it will be epic though!
Great going with your savings goals – you smashed those! and amazing income from your blog! I’d love to start finding ways to make income form mine but I think the first step to that is getting off free wordpress hosting! Slowly but surely 🙂
Natalya x
Natalya @ Cottage Retreatist recently posted…New Theme: Blask
I’m not sure it really matters whether or not you’re on free wordpress hosting, I think my Alexa ranking, monthly site view stats and social media followers influence companies more.
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Great results with the blog!
RAnn recently posted…Why Are You Saving Money Anyway?
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