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 HERE'S WHAT HAPPENEDMy husband and I were debt free when we got married. After a few years, we picked up consumer debt in the form of two vehicles. We had a decent income, so I didn't track it that closely. Then one day I heard about zero-based budgeting for the first time. Once I plugged our budget into the budgeting tool, my chest got really tight. I realized we were spending every single penny--literally to the last penny--of our income. There was no wiggle room. My mind was overwhelmed with thoughts about what we would do if we had an emergency. The money struggle is real for actors who are conditioned to believe that we must struggle financially to be free to live our very financially risky dream. Do you still believe the lie that you need to hit it big as an actor to be wealthy? Actors can build wealth and live comfortably even without a million dollar income. The trick is to get your budget under control by using zero-based budgeting, an essential budgeting tip for actors. In this post I'll share how to build an actor budget with the awesome free budgeting tool that I've personally used to hit my financial goals.  HOW TO BUILD AN ACTOR BUDGET TIP 1: BUDGETING APP CRITERIAI've tried a number of free budgeting apps. I deleted all of them within a matter of months until I found the one I currently use. Let's discuss a few crucial criteria for a worthy budgeting app.
 HOW TO BUILD AN ACTOR BUDGET TIP 2: BEST BUDGETING APPThe app I use meets the above criteria and then some. I highly recommend you start using the free version of Every Dollar. It's absolutely free so I'm NOT an affiliate. I'm just completely obsessed with how helpful it is. There is a paid version that automatically loads all of your bank transactions, but it's not required. There's a way to use the free version without logging every single transaction by hand. For anyone who upgrades, your payment just covers the cost the bank charges the company to link the account, so they're not even making a profit from it as far as I know. Again, the free version is still amazing and highly effective. It's also puts your bank account's security at risk when you do connect it to another account, including budgeting tools. Here are my results after using the free version for one year:
The less debt you have the more of your paycheck you get to keep, which means more fun acting investments! The founder of the app always states in his podcast that using Every Dollar will make you feel like you got a raise each month regardless of your income. He wasn't kidding. Since we've started zero-based budgeting with Every Dollar, we've found so much extra money in our budget each month. It's crazy how much money you'll force yourself to save when you start looking at the numbers each week. It also helps you decipher if you have an income problem, a spending problem, or both. Knowing what you actually need each month will help you feel more in control of your finances. It's better to say, "I'm short $500 this month, so where can I find $500 extra dollars?" instead of, "I don't know how much money I need, so I'll just keep blindly working my butt off and being broke!" No more of that, Actor Boss. HOW TO BUILD AN ACTOR BUDGET TIP 3: ZERO-BASED BUDGETINGZero-based budgeting is key to being a financially healthy actor. You can't ignore it. Zero-based budgeting means that every single dollar goes somewhere in your budget each month. Get it? Every dollar? That's how they came up with the name. It does not mean that you spend every single dollar. You should spend less than you make. Your total expenses should be less than your monthly income. Mandatory expenses may include:
Listen, we started paying apartment rent again while we look for a house, and it's INSANE! I feel your pain. Our grocery budget has also consistently increased $100 each month even though we eat a lot of the same foods, meal plan, and eat through all of our groceries each week (i.e. no food waste). However, because we'd already implemented this system, we're financially okay. You will eventually have residual income each month. So where's the rest of that money going? The remaining dollars leftover after your mandatory expenses go into your current baby step. I don't care if you only have $2 leftover at the end of the month. It doesn't go toward a pack of gum. It goes into your budget under debt payments or into your savings account until you get a fully funded emergency fund (3-6 months of living expenses). Once you get into the habit of following this formula with a smaller amount of money, you'll be able to do it with a lot. Eventually, $2 doubles into $4, which doubles into $8 until you have more money left over than you ever thought you would. Every Dollar will tell you at the top of the budgeting page if you've achieved a zero-based budget. You must see the checkmark at the top before you "close out" your budget each month.  HOW TO BUILD AN ACTOR BUDGET TIP 4: MONEY GOALS THAT WORKYour money needs goals so you know where to send those leftover dollars instead of wasting them. Thankfully, Every Dollar comes equipped with what's known as The Baby Steps so you know how to best manage your leftover dollars. These seven steps have a proven track record of helping everyday people like us build wealth. Click on the icon that looks like a box to see all seven steps. Every Dollar will track your progress automatically based on what's happening on your primary budgeting page.  HOW TO BUILD AN ACTOR BUDGET TIP 5: IRREGULAR INCOMESMost actors have irregular incomes. No worries! Every Dollar has an article on their blog about how to budget on an irregular income. After you create an account, they'll send you great articles from their blog with savings tips and budgeting reminders depending on the month. (You can unsubscribe if you like.) JUST START USING IT. You'll get more clarity the more you use the tool. HOW TO BUILD AN ACTOR BUDGET TIP 6: INCREASE YOUR INCOMEIt's very overwhelming when the cost of living increases and puts more stress on your budget. That stress decreases as your debt decreases and your savings increases. Most people make the mistake of assuming they'll never get a raise. How can you plan to be a person that gets promoted? Ask your management what you need to do. Please don't assume that taking on more responsibility at work with inhibit you from being an actor. You'll need to submit your availability for a lot of auditions, but you won't book a majority of those roles, statistically speaking. It's okay to tell casting you have open availability, then figure out your work schedule if you get booked. It really doesn't matter until you actually book, though, so no need to ask your boss every single time you have an audition. In the meantime, an increased income will help you hit the Every Dollar goals faster, making you a financially healthy actor! That financial health will translate to more freedom for acting over time. If you want to learn more about side hustles and passive income, click here to learn more about my online course Actor Boss Pro. You may need to work multiple jobs for a while. It's possible you are now. I've been there. You can't do it forever, but it's just a season! If your job asks you to work more hours without extra pay, that's not going to work. Tell them you'd love to, then ask how you'll be compensated for that time. If they say you won't be compensated, then let them know you'd love more information once they have a compensation plan in place. It's better for you to have a full-time job during the day, then work part-time somewhere at night for a while if the full-time job isn't going to give you a raise or pay you extra for additional work hours that your salary truly does not cover. To clarify, do not give your day job more of your time and energy unless they're going to compensate you for it. I believe that when you are working, you should work to the best of your ability. However, you must do what's best for your finances. If that means a hard stop at 5:00 pm before you go to another job that night, then you must protect your time until you become financially healthier. That extra job may mean no dating and no pets for a while, but I want you to focus on the freedom you will have for those things in a few years. I also want to clarify that avoiding debt altogether is the best way to avoid the stress of needing to work multiple jobs. I do love the idea of a side hustle for passive income, though.  TAKE ACTIONIt feels so unbelievably good to have a balanced budget at the end of each month. The day we became debt free, it felt like a huge weight was lifted off my chest that I didn't even realize was there. Budgeting keeps us debt free and stress free. I hope you try the Every Dollar budgeting tool for a few months because I truly believe it's the first step to helping you build wealth as an actor, even if you have an average or below average income. It may take you a few months to use zero-based budgeting correctly. It will start working if you keep plugging everything into the app truthfully and follow the baby steps in order. What's your biggest budgeting challenge? Comment below and share your thoughts. You Might Also Like:The acting industry has changed a lot in recent years, especially with the introduction of self-taped auditions. If you've ever been curious about being one of those actors you watch on TV, go here to see which Actor Boss goals path is right for you.  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HEY ACTOR BOSS,I'm a screen actor and certified goals coach focused on helping other screen actors that are not yet a household name achieve their most urgent goal. 
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I only promote being a goals coach specifically, not a life coach.
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