Profile

I am thirty six years old and I’m unemployed. I’ve picked up a day here and there doing some theater maintenance work this month, while still trying to get an unemployment claim straightened out. I have largely spent this month in a most fantastic funk. Yay pandemic. Yay arts career. Yay life.

Spending & Saving

So, a friend of mine who has been living this life since March and now is sorted for a while because he decided to go back to school for the next year and work in a grocery store part time told me that I was fairly on schedule with hitting the depths of the COVID-ate-my-career depression this month.

On the plus side, perhaps things will improve from here?

There was less work at the university this month and it was all front loaded in the first week and a half.

I am still trying to get information from the state of NJ about my unemployment claim from July, which is cool. I look forward to writing that vent-fest once it’s sorted out.

I am still very lucky to be staying with my dad because my finances are actually holding up fine at the moment.

I also got my little Dracula stipend, my apartment security deposit, and my tuition refund this month though, so money is actually kind of ok at the moment.

The highlight of my month was disappearing into the woods in upstate NY with one of my cousins for most of a week. It was also the most expensive thing I did this month, but so worth it. We hiked a bunch of places and ate some trout. We made s’mores and played board games in an AirBnB in the middle of nowhere. The entire trip came out to around $820, but almost half of that was the AirBnB (people with cabins in the middle of nowhere are making a killing these days) and I paid for that last month.

Other entertainment-wise, I bought some nail polish and a book, and I went to a sunflower field one day.

I did do some birthday and Christmas gift shopping this month. I was also so ridiculously thrilled with some stickers I bought from the Management Experience, that I sent a previous stage manager I worked with a small care package of them for less than $3, because I knew she would also appreciate the ridiculous attention to detail in the packaging.

For education, I had to pay for some transcripts to send over to the new community college so I could finish this accounting degree without having to pay for classes. I also signed up to do a 120-hour ESL certification class so that hopefully when I finish it, I can start working for iTutor.

I have had several interviews with digital event companies this month, so we’ll see if any of them wind up panning out.

My expenses this month:

• Lake Placid Trip – $451.96
• Food – $283.05
• Healthcare – $171.52
• Gas – $118.33
• Gifts – $81.48
• Entertainment – $56.59
• Education – $34.50
• Clothes – $28.96
• Stage Management – $1.70
• House Hunting – $1.00

Total Spending in September: $1,229.09

Hustling

My income this month was from stagehand work, brokeGIRLrich, refunds, and stage managing Dracula.

• Tuition Refund – $1,449.00
• Apartment Security Deposit Return – $890.19
• Stagehand – $740.35
• brokeGIRLrich – $326.48
• Stage Managing – $67.00
• Dividends – $35.20

Income This Month: $3,508.22

And as you can see from the net worth update, that soaring stock market seems to have returned to normal because despite considerable “income” this month, my net worth plummeted five grand.

Most Popular Post of the Month: Doin’It By the Decade: The Wealthy Barber Review

My Favorite Post to Write This Month: I Might Have Found Why People Advise You Against Risky Life Choices 

Goals

• Do two things to build up my stage management skills. 
• Max out my Roth IRA. 
• Max out my HSA. I can’t max it out due to switching health care providers. My university healthcare wasn’t eligible and my current private insurance isn’t eligible either.
• Set aside $1,000 for my new car account.
• Invest $2,000.
• Read more – not counting textbooks I have to read. I’m still rereading the Harry Potter books.
• Learn to make macaroons.