Profile

I am thirty four 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 $150/month).

Saving & Spending

July 2018 has been my favorite month in a very long time. It has flown by and I’m definitely a little sad summer “break” is more than half over. I’m realizing more and more that I totally don’t mind doing tons of work if it’s just crammed in the hours I want it to be crammed in. I’m still working between 35-40 hours a week, just most of it is when I want to do the work. If I want to take a 4 hour lunch with a friend, I can. If I want to pile on 3 – 12 hour days and go to Boston for three days, I can. It’s been pretty nice.

I’ve caught up with a lot of friends, spent a week at the beach with my family and, when this publishes, I’ll be in Iceland on vacation with my best friends. It’s not a terrible way to turn 34.

That being said, there hasn’t been much saving going on this month.

I did finally hunt down the info on where my 401(k) from a previous employer went. I thought there was less money in there than there was, but it was still only around $2,200.

You may recall that when I went to Hawaii two years ago, I did some real sketchy credit card churning by opening a Kiva account and filling it with some of my savings. Well, I pulled out a large repayment from there and put most of it back towards the down payment savings account it first came from, but used a little to finish maxing out my Health Savings Account for the year.

That was really the only good money choice I made this month. There have definitely been way more entertainment expenses than usual. I went to Harry Potter wine & design paint night with my BFF and we also hit up Liberty Science Center After Dark, which is like a science geek alcoholic rave party – with dinosaurs. I’ve gone out on a few dates with a guy who lives by me and I forgot how expensive dating is – on the plus side, we split the costs, but it still is way more than I usually spend on things like going to pub trivia and escape rooms and mini golfing, etc. Turns out it’s fun though.

I went on a circus road trip to Boston to visit some friends at Circus Smirkus and caught Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia too. I also saw Cirque Italia when it came through by my hometown. I mean, all these are legit work expenses too considering my job, but also fun.

I caught up with three different friends from college that I don’t often get to see and I bought maybe a few too many things for Iceland justifying it with I can also use a lot of them at work.

Here’s the damage, without whatever I’m spending in Iceland right now to eat and play (so sans 3 days of food there):

• Food – $333.01
• Car Expenses – $295.56
• Lifelock – $9.99
• Toiletries – $108.04
• brokeGIRLrich – $199.99
• Clothes – $706.03
• Entertainment – $549.52
• Work Related – $149
• Iceland – $636.96
• Shipping – $29.37
• Doctor – $98.50

Total Spending in April: $3,115.97

Hustling

My income this month was from performance directing at Big Apple, selling a few things on eBay, and brokeGIRLrich.

• Stage Managing – $2,955.98
• brokeGIRLrich – $676.61
• eBay – $47.13

Income This Month: $3,679.72

 

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

 

My Favorite Post to Write This Month: D’oh Money Moments

 

Elsewhere on the Web: Conquering the Challenges: A Year of Touring with the Big Apple Circus

 

Goals 

• Max out my IRA. – Done
• Max out my 401k. – On track to max out by end of year.
• Buy $5,000 in stock. – Done
• Contribute $3,000 to my New Car Fund – Done
• Contribute $5,000 to my Down Payment Fund. – $1,500 contributed. $3,500 to go.
• Go on a family vacation. – Brigantine Beach 2018.
• Go on a best friend vacation. – I’m there right now! Iceland July 2018.
• Develop 2 new resume skills. – One in progress: OSHA 30 Training
• Max out my Health Savings Account for the year.