bills, bills, bills #19
A week in the life and wallet of a business manager at a LORT theatre
Bills, Bills, Bills is a monthly series of anonymous money diaries from theatre workers curated and edited by Jenna Clark Embrey. The full archive is available here.
editor’s note
I recently saw a job posting at a New York City theater that was searching for a highly technical role—the desired skillset spanned multiple areas of focus, some of which involve years of training and study. It was really more like three jobs in one, and yet the salary advertised hovered around $60k. The job was definitely not entry-level (heck, it was multiple middle management jobs in one!) and yet the salary was barely above the living wage in New York. This got me thinking, “What does it mean to be entry-level?”
Folks on Al Gore’s internet seem split on the definition: while “entry-level” theoretically connotes a job that does not necessitate any prior training or experience, it’s not uncommon for many entry-level jobs to be advertised as requiring 2-3 years of related experience (possibly because everyone is already so overworked that no one has time to actually train anyone?). This month’s columnist is receiving an entry-level salary for their role, but we can see from their diary that it’s not a sustainable wage; 50% of their income goes to rent alone. A question for which I do not have an answer: what does a framework look like in which organizations are actively supporting how workers (and their salaries) grow, and not just relying on replacing them when they burn out and leave the industry?
This month’s columnist opted to donate their honorarium.
Job/Position: I am the Assistant Business Manager at a LORT Theatre. In my role, I manage our daily business functions including Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable, support HR functions including weekly and semi-monthly payroll, and manage bank accounts and reconciliations, among a plethora of other financial projects. I am also currently enrolled in an Arts Management MFA program, which is remote and in the evenings.
Location: A large city in the Eastern United States
Age: 25
Yearly Income: My annual salary is $54,303.12 pre-taxes (approximately $1,796.24 per paycheck, paid on the 15th and final days of the month).
Debt:
Student Loans: $39,161.19 currently, with one more semester of graduate school loans left. Alongside a college fund of a few thousand from my parents (I believe it was around $5,000), I paid my way through undergrad and grad school. I’m expecting it to total around $50k when I graduate. Approximately $8k of the total is remaining from undergraduate and the rest is graduate. I’m not currently making payments while still in school.
Credit Card Debt: I am privileged to have parents willing to chip in when I face an unexpected situation. Most recently, my car needed some unexpected work. The bill was just under $3,000 and my mom offered to split the cost with me. As of the beginning of this week, I have about $1,000 on my credit card from those repairs. I primarily use my car to get to and from work, with very occasional trips out of the city to hike or drive the many hours home to see my family for holidays. Aside from the unexpected balance due to my car, I budget to be able to pay off my credit card bill each month.
Assets:
Savings:
Thrift Savings Plan: $3,540.63
Roth IRA: $2,699.78. I’m not currently investing through the 401k offered at work because the company does not match, but I do try to contribute $15 from each paycheck to my Roth IRA.
General Savings Accounts: $979.68
Total: $7,220.09
Checking: $970.50
Rent: $1,750.00 including water, electric, trash, heat. I live in a studio apartment—just myself and my cat. I pay about $40 during the warm months for additional electric for my window A/C unit.
Internet: $43.56
Laundry: approx. $25
NYTimes subscription: $6.36
Amazon Prime: $15.89
Apple iCloud storage: $3.17
Renter’s Insurance: $10.92
Pet General Needs: approx. $40
Car Insurance: $58 set aside each month (paid every 6 months)
Public Transportation: approx. $20
Gas: approx. $75
Spotify: $11.65
Haircut: $55
I am on my family’s Hulu and Netflix accounts, phone plan, and health insurance plans.
Total: $2,114.55
Annual Expenses:
Pet Insurance: $187.49
Note: I went grocery shopping just before the start of this diary and spent $84.30.
Sunday
Today I slept in before taking the $2 bus downtown for an 11am kickball game (I play in a queer league in the fall and spring). After the game I walked uptown for lunch with my team, followed by drinks at one of the sponsor bars. Lunch was $27.10 and the drink was $14.87. A teammate bought me a second drink. After socializing for a bit I walked uptown to go home and freshen up before a board game night with a few friends in my neighborhood. We stayed in and ordered dinner, which one of the friends insisted on paying for. I walked home, did a few chores to prepare for the work week ahead, and went to bed.
Total: $69.41
Monday
Mondays are work from home days. I woke up and started my laundry, which is $2.50 per cycle in the washer and dryer, which I pay for with Apple Pay on my phone. I spent $10 total to wash my clothes and bedding. I logged on to work at 9am and later had leftovers for lunch. I worked until 5pm, then made travel arrangements for an in-person final exam for grad school in early December. There was a virtual option for this exam, but it’s very interactive and I would have been the only person not going in person, so I decided to do it. The school does not reimburse for travel or provide lodging. Thankfully my classmates are willing to host me, which I also had to do in June during an 11-day residency, which was the only required in-person component of the program. Travel arrangements were $95 round trip. Later in the evening I had a meeting for a group project final exam with a few classmates, which ran from around 8:30pm-9:30pm. I did a little homework after the meeting, then went to bed.
Total: $105.00
Tuesday
I woke up late today and rushed to get ready for work. I left 15 minutes later than usual and drove the approximately nine miles to work. There is a free parking garage at the office (at home I park on the street, which is usually relatively painless unless I get home late). I arrived at work around 9:15am.
In our department, we are led by the Director of Finance & Administration, then we have an HR Manager and myself, as well as a Finance Associate. Prior to my hiring, the department was short-staffed for nearly a year after losing multiple longtime employees. Institutional knowledge was lost and left some cleanup for us to sort out, which we have been working on since I started. The job has been challenging thus far, but I’m optimistic it will improve once we are able to catch up.
I had leftovers for lunch again and left the office at 5pm and got home around 5:45pm to get ready for class. Finished up the last of my leftovers for dinner mid-class. Afterwards, a friend came over so we could watch the last episode of The Crown before the new season comes out next week. Then bed.
Total: $0
Wednesday
Another work from home day. I woke up and went for a walk with a friend who lives a few blocks away. On my way home, I stopped to buy more potting soil, as well as three new pots for plants I got last Saturday at the closing sale of a favorite plant shop of mine. The pots were $36 and the potting soil was $12.71. (The plants bought previously were $26 for the three, all 50% off). I signed on to work at 9am, and didn’t stop for lunch. At some point in the afternoon my $43.56 internet bill was charged to my account via autopay. I spent $25.72 on takeout for dinner between work and class. I usually try to get two meals out of each takeout order, but since I skipped lunch I finished all of it. Grad class was at 6:30pm as usual, followed by homework before bed.
Total: $117.99
Thursday
I went for a run before work this morning, showered, and jumped in the car to drive to the office. My $6.36 NYTimes membership hit my account, which is charged once a month. At lunch I bought a $14.39 salad with grilled chicken. When the “shop” opened in the theatre lobby, I bought a $4.51 magnet for the current production. I’m doing this for each show while I work here and we get a small discount as staff members.
Thursdays are routinely tough days at work. The to-do list is always longer than the day. Today I worked until 7:10pm from the office. I logged on when class began at 6:30pm, but was not present until I signed off work. My current role is admittedly more finance-based than I’d prefer, but I’m learning a lot that will be really beneficial in the future. I’m aiming for more of a General Manager/Managing Director track and this is the first stepping stone in that career arc, alongside my MFA studies.
After class I finished up one more work task and left the building at 9:30pm to drive home. Street parking took longer than usual since it was late, so I had to park a 10 minute walk from my apartment. I made pasta for dinner when I got home, relaxed on the couch for a bit, and went to bed.
Total: $25.26
Friday
Fridays in the office are nice. It’s quiet and always productive. I woke up and drove in by 9am. I treated myself to an iced chai latte and muffin for breakfast, totaling $10.89. For lunch our Development Department offered us some leftover sandwiches for an event they’d just wrapped up in the lobby with some donors. I usually sign off work at 5pm, but worked until 6pm today because I stayed to see the current production with a friend later in the evening. The two of us went to dinner in the area beforehand, which cost $25. The tickets were comps. (We get two comps per production, which must be used in the first two weeks of the run).
Total: $35.89
Saturday
To round out my week, today was the playoffs for my kickball league. A friend offered me a ride to the 10:30am game. We lost that first game, meaning we did not advance. The team walked uptown to go to brunch. I ordered from the happy hour menu for $13.80 and passed on alcohol for the day. After lunch others went to the bars, but I walked home to do homework. A friend from the game night last weekend reached out and invited me to a 10pm standup show that they had last-minute (free) tickets to. That ran pretty late and I walked home by 1am to go to bed.
Total: $13.80
Total Weekly Spending: $367.35
Finally, I want to note that at the end of the week, my bank accounts shifted a bit so I could pay off my credit card from the car debt. I decided rather than continue trying to chip away at it I’d rather pull some savings and wipe it out all at once. I pulled $500 from one of my savings accounts and put all of that onto my credit card bill, which allowed for me to pay it off. After paying that $1,481.42 off, my checking account is now at $89.18 until I get paid in a few days on the 15th. This is the lowest it’s been since I was in undergrad, but at least I paid that bill to start fresh again. I generally try hard not to dip into my savings.
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If I missed this sorry - I wonder could you/diarists provide a sense if their salary meets a living wage in their area without revealing the exact location?
I admire the financial maturity and restraint of the author. I was not saving at 25 even though I knew it was what I was supposed to do.