You know we’re all about frugal ways over here at brokeGIRLrich, but there are a few things that provide so much value, they’re worth saving up for and splurging on.

If you’re a student or early career stage manager with Broadway aspirations, the Broadway Stage Management Symposium is a really amazing weekend crammed with educational lectures, opportunities to try out some new technology, network with some of the best stage managers in the business, see a Broadway show and drink a lot of coffee.

Even if you don’t have Broadway aspirations (which is totally fine and you can absolutely still make a living a professional stage manager), a lot of these lectures are really phenomenal.

Two years ago I was lucky enough to have a table setup where I could share financial tips and my passion for financial literacy among those who work in the arts. It was really awesome, but on a totally selfish level, I really loved the chance to chat with a lot of incredible stage managers. I also sat in on a few of the lectures and learned something new in each one.

Every year there are new lectures and a panel that focuses on a topic that effects stage managers but isn’t directly stage managing.

This year that panel is called Fiscal Health for Stage Managers and guess who you can hear ramble on it? I’m joined by Matthew Stern, the brains behind the Broadway Stage Management Symposium, Barbara Davis from The Actors Fund, and a representative from the Actors Federal Credit Union.

Personally, I plan to harp on having a solid plan to pay off any debt (and some ideas on places you can work that let you do that and help improve your resume), save for a big city move, setting up budgets and planning for retirement.

If any of my stage manager readers have any other suggestions of topics you think I should be ready to discuss, let me know!

Besides the panel on finances, some lectures that I’m hoping to catch include Fight & Flight: What SMs Need to Know and Social Media for Stage Managers. I’m also excited to learn about some new technology I’ve never heard of like Cast98 and The Cue List. The Cue List is particularly intriguing to me since I’ve never found any software that makes me want to move away from paper and pencil for notating cues – will this be the one? Who knows, but I’m excited to check it out either way.

Other lecture topics include Stage Management for Good: The Benefits, Relationship & Opportunities of Working w/ BCEFA & The Actor’s Fund, Calling The Lion King, Technology for Stage Managers, When the Show Must NOT Go On! – How & Why to Stop, Stage Management from the Actors Perspective, Maintaining Morale: Creative a Family at Work, and Keynote: The Jersey Boy.

So I’m sure you’re counting down the minutes to the Symposium now (which, by the way, is June 1^stand 2^ndin New York City), but this would be a pretty lousy personal finance site without tackling some of the numbers:

• To attend in person is: $347
• To go to the Broadway show with Q&A is an additional: $80
• To watch via webinar from anywhere: $299

So, yes, I totally get that may be a lot. So what can you do to manage that cost? 

#1: The Symposium actually has two payment plan structures that might make it more doable for you. They have a 4 payment plan and a 12 payment plan.

#2: You might be able to hack some of the cost of going if you have good credit and always pay on time. There are several rewards card that have $150 bonuses for $500 spends. If you go to the Symposium, see the show and stay at a hotel on Friday and Saturday night, you’re probably going to have no trouble hitting $500.

This will knock $150 total off your trip.

To do this though, you absolutely must pay off your card in the same month you charge the trip. The interest rates on rewards cards are no joke and it will totally not be worth the $150 savings if you can’t pay off the trip immediately. 

What will this do to your credit score? Well, it will likely actually go up due to the fact that you will have more credit available to you and lower overall usage of your credit. Whenever I do some travel hacking, I find I get dinged by two to four points when I cancel a card a few months later, not upon opening one.

Since these cards don’t have annual fees, you may want to hold onto them rather than closing them.

The Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card fits the bill here.

If you’re planning a trip to NYC for the Symposium that’s going to get you over $1,000, the Bank of America Travel Rewards card will give you a $250 credit toward travel purchases after spending that much in 90 days.

Does travel hacking seem crazy? It did to me too at first, but I travel hacked my way to a conference in 2014, Hawaii, Vegas, and most recently opened a new card to save some money on Europe travel plans and so far, so good. No issues and several hundred dollars saved.

#3: Make some frugal choices.

The price of admission may still seem a little up there, but you may be able to get your other expenses down with some creative thinking.

Double check for the cheapest way to get there – you never know where you might find a deal among planes, trains, busses and automobiles.

If you have to fly, you can check sites like Raise.com for discounted gift certificates to the airline you’re going to fly on (or hotel you plan to stay in – I’ve totally done this for AirBnB) and buy the discounted gift card first and then buy the flight with the discounted gift card.

Also make sure you use eBates whenever you make a purchase online to get some super easy cash back on your purchases.  You can shop through their website or install the browser extension to make saving even more second nature.

You can also pick cheaper housing like staying at a hotel or the YMCA. If you really want to stay in a hotel, maybe you can find a roommate among the other Symposium attendees to help keep costs down.

At any rate, if you’re looking for a really amazing resource to help you learn more about stage management and network with other stage managers, the Broadway Stage Management Symposium is really your best bet.

I hope to see you there!