3 Vital Actor Budgeting Goals to Hit Each Month

9/6/2018

Wouldn't it be nice to stop holding yourself back from awesome acting opportunities due to finances?

There's a proven way to have financial freedom so you can start focusing on your acting goals.

In this blog post, I'll show you how to work towards being financially free while saving up for acting expenses.

It's time to start making those paychecks pay off!

1. MANDATORY EXPENSES

First, take care of yourself.

You need food, water, and shelter at a minimum.

Having a detailed monthly budget is crucial to gaining financial freedom. It's much easier to take control of your money when you know your actual numbers, so stop guessing.

Log your income each time you make a deposit. Now work down your mandatory expenses until you either run out of money or pay them off in full.

If you aren't meeting those mandatory expenses, or there's not additional income coming once you meet them, you have an income problem.

You must find a way to increase your income if you're in this position, even if that means not having a life for a year. It's not forever. It's just a season. It will make a difference!

If you still have money leftover after paying your mandatory expenses, it's time for the next step.

2. EMERGENCY FUND

There are a handful of financial milestones you should follow that are proven to build wealth.

The very first milestone you need to hit after mandatory expenses is a $1,000 emergency fund because this will cover your butt in most emergencies.

You'll increase this fund later, but this is what you need for now.

Please hear me on this: your emergency fund should never be used for acting expenses. Ever.

Can you imagine being in the emergency room after a car wreck unable to pay your bill because you purchased headshots? I promise they won't seem that important if your life is on the line. That's an extreme scenario, but it paints the picture.

Once you reach the $1,000 goal, you'll replace this step with new milestones.

After you've addressed these first two steps each month, then and only then can you consider saving for acting expenses.

3. ACTING PURCHASES

Actors have a few different savings goals to focus on that most people don't.

If you really want financial freedom, pay off your debt before saving for acting expenses unless you meet the upcoming criteria.

If you have an agent, you already know that you're consistently receiving self-taped audition requests.

At some point it makes more sense to fund your own self-taping studio than to pay $40+ on a taping session each time you have an audition.

That fee doesn't even include gas. Since most actors are living in larger cities, gas isn't as cheap and the mileage adds up fast.

There are a few other essential business expenses you should consistently save for such as headshots, resume printing, and at least one casting site membership so that you can book work.

Drop your debt payments to their minimums if you need to in order to save for essential acting expenses, but I only advise this for actors who actually have an agent and have booked paid jobs.

The latter criteria are good signs that these investments will actually produce more income for you in the future, so they're worth saving for. Just make sure you cash flow them and avoid debt spending.

TAKE ACTION

Nothing will change if you don't take action on these tips.

Getting control of your finances will make you less desperate in auditions because you won't need the money.

Create your monthly budget today so you don't waste a single dollar. The sooner you start, the longer you'll have to start building wealth. Time is your friend.

Each month is a fresh opportunity to take control of your money.

I used the steps in Actor Boss Budget for only one year, and here is where my personal finances currently stand: