bills, bills, bills #25
A week in the life and wallet of an artistic staffer without a car
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. We accept diarist submissions on a rolling basis.
Editor’s Note
This month marks the two-year anniversary of Bills, Bills, Bills! We’ve come a long way, baby. Thank you to all our contributors and readers!
This month’s column has been in the hopper for a while, so we reached back out to the contributor for updates. (You’ll see those at the end.) This money diary got me thinking about the long-term implications of underpaid work. To quote the Center for Law and Social Policy’s 2019 paper on Low Quality Jobs (emphasis added):
“People get trapped in low-wage jobs and have few means or pathways out. They either move to other low-wage jobs, or they become unemployed. This cycle holds back our economy during periods of growth since low-wage workers have lost so much ground and have few or no options to reach their potential or achieve greater stability. This rise in income inequality, in turn, creates broader economic instability and can hasten the next recession.”
Low wages affect us all, no matter our salary. While editing this column, I was also reading a slew of Tony Award press features. (Like the Academy Awards, Tony nominees hire PR teams in the hopes that ample coverage translates into votes.) I was reminded of the post-pandemic rise of co-directions and collaborative designs — not just on Broadway but nationwide. Collaboration and community are never a bad thing, but we should acknowledge the financial reality: employers are getting more brains for the same amount of money. There are benefits for the artists, of course (pooling time and resources, the ability to take on more work, etc.) But the trend may lessen the impetus to fix the egregiously low wages across the industry.
To make quick back-of-the-napkin math for you, a single scenic designer would need to do 9 Off-Broadway shows a year at the highest pay tier in order to make the minimum living wage in New York City, a feat which defies the time-space continuum. That pay tier represents years of bargaining between the unions and the theaters, in which low wages for the majority has been prioritized over higher wages for a few — even though we could assemble a team of economists to explain why extreme pay disparities are, you know, not a great idea in the long run.
Anyway: Happy anniversary, Bills, Bills, Bills!
This money diary was kept in the fall of 2022. Our contributor provided an update at the end of the column.
Job/Position: An associate-level artistic position at a regional theater. My job includes producing, some general management tasks, literary work and dramaturgy, and other responsibilities such as proofreading, talkbacks, etc.
Age: 33
Location: East of the Mississippi and North of the Potomac
Yearly Income: $41,100. My partner is currently searching for work after we relocated so that’s our whole income at the moment. (Editor’s Note: This salary is just a smidge under the living wage threshold for the area.)
Savings:
Savings Account (Individual): $4,803.15. I’ve had this account for 15 years and try to put as much money into it as I can from Christmas, birthdays, etc., and not touch it except for emergencies.
Savings Account (Joint with husband): $13,800. This was set up with money received from wedding for future life goals and/or significant emergencies; I contribute $100/month.
401k: (from previous position that I left early this year) $9,428.97
Checking: $4,111.40
Debt: $0. I was incredibly fortunate to have my education paid for from a family inheritance. We paid off my husband’s student loans from community college last year when I received a bonus from my old job and the stimulus.
Monthly Bills:
Rent: $1,241.25 for 2 bedroom/1 bath. (Rent includes internet service, water, trash/sewer, plus the monthly pet fee for our feline.)
Electric: $150 (on a “budget” plan, so I assume eventually I will get a bill for the overage from when we ran lots of AC over the summer)
Spotify: $15.99/month
Streaming: We are thankful to have friends and family who share (i.e. I’m a mooch)
Cell Phone: I’m on a family plan with my mother, which she generously pays for, and I paid my husband’s phone bill for the year ($190)
Feline (Food & Litter, typically ordered every 5 weeks): ~$100
Sunday
Saturday was opening night for the first show of the season, for which I was the dramaturg, so Sunday is my first fully restful day off in weeks! I wake up late and it’s so exciting. My husband and I decide to spend the entire day on the couch. We finally catch up on season one of Only Murders in the Building and eat like teenagers throughout the day. I am vaguely aware that if I eat all of the snacks today that means there will be no snacks for later in the week (or that I’ll have to have husband buy more), but I decide I do not care because I’m in PJs on the couch and my cat has decided to forgive me for not being home enough. It is a truly good day.
Daily Total: $0
Monday
Second day off in a row! What an unbelievable gift! I shower and do some chores around the house, although I admit that my husband does more of them because he’s currently unemployed. He takes on the lion-share of housework because my energy levels have been horrible recently from working long hours while navigating my chronic pain. I’m unbelievably grateful, even if I’m not always the best at expressing it.
One of the tasks I set for myself is to clean out and reorganize the fridge. After getting rid of what’s gone bad (thankfully not as much as I feared, because I hate when we have food waste), and seeing what we’re low on, I realize we need groceries stat. We don’t have a car because we recently moved from a large city that had reliable public transit, and it’s not a buyer’s market for cars right now, so I have to rely on Instacart and I hate myself for it. We order groceries, which includes some “faster” meals because I will be working late night several nights this week for a festival, lots of ham and cheese for my work-lunches, in addition to our standard veggie fare ($149.04).
A weekly task I have is “doing my pills,” because I’ve been an old woman for a long time and I have a pill box. I take various supplements to help with managing my auto-immune disorder and chronic pain. As I’m popping pills into my multi-colored box, it becomes apparent that I need to order more as I’ll be out of several important ones by next week. I ask my husband if he’s low on any of the few supplements he takes and he gives me two nearly empty bottles. Damn it, I really thought I wouldn’t have to spend more money today. I go back and forth between Vitacost and Amazon to see who has better deals and Vitacost wins the day. I order what feels like an absurd amount of supplements, but thankfully most of them are 60 and 90-day supplies for $224.93.
Husband makes me yogurt for the week, lunch for the next day, and also makes a tasty veggie dinner. We continue binging Only Murders in the Building and finish the first season before bed.
Daily Total: $373.97
Tuesday
I slept well, which is great because this week is going to be a lot and I wanted to start it off as fresh as possible. I get up at 7:30am, a bit earlier than usual to take care of some household stuff before work. One of those things is finally depositing some money I received for my birthday ($150); the other task is laundry, which is nowhere near as exciting. I drink all my morning drinks (water, my tea that I batch-make every few months, and a generous amount of coffee) and eat my yogurt. I get a ride into work, for which I’m abundantly thankful.
Husband texts me during the day to ask me if we need anything else from the health food store. Even though we just got groceries yesterday, there are some bulk items (e.g. dried fruit and nuts) that we prefer from them rather than the Big Box in town. I know I’m running low on granola and raisins, and I tell him to get snacks (I knew I shouldn’t have eaten them on all on Sunday, but I’m a human being with needs only potato chips can satisfy). I’ve been leaving my credit card at home for him so he can grab things during the week. He takes his bike and gets what I tell him and a few other things he needs for $87.40. We also need some other “medicinals” that he gets elsewhere for $162.32.
Work isn’t too bad and my neighbor/co-worker is leaving work around the same time, so I hitch a ride with her. I come home pretty tired at around 10pm and eat like a child (mac & cheese, baby) before collapsing into bed.
Daily Total: $249.72
Wednesday
Today is going to be a much easier day, because I’m not working late tonight as several of us are splitting festival duties. I take the morning slow and get up at 8am, drink my tea, eat my yogurt, call my mom. There are no chores this morning that I can see as I’m looking around and that’s really nice. Before work, I check my email and see that The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle has a deal for an e-book so I order that because I’ve always meant to read it ($2.99). When will I read it? No idea, but I like knowing that whenever I want to, it’ll be there.
It feels like the first day in a while that I’ve truly been back at my desk, so I put my nose to the grindstone, make a to-do list, and feel like I’m in a relatively good place considering how busy I’ve been. Even though I have to be in the theatre for a bit in the afternoon, I’m able eat my packed lunch at my “usual” time, which feels exciting after the past month. I leave at my normal time, too, talk on the phone as I walk, and come home to my husband cooking a nice dinner. After that’s cleaned up, we start the second season of Only Murders in the Building and watch that until bed.
Daily Total: $2.99 (YESSS!!!)
Thursday
Another “normal” work day ahead, which means that my morning routine goes on as usual. Again, no major chores to be completed around the house, so I pop over to check my online banking. It’s pay day and I clocked overtime last week, so there’s a nice little bump, which makes me feel good. I also see that I have $69.54 from credit card rewards, and I do love “free” money. While looking, however, I realize I need to pay off my credit card from all that we’ve purchased this week and several before ($1,200.42 however the big purchases from this Monday/Tuesday have already posted, making it really $576.73 for the purpose of this log). We had a guest a few weeks before and covered several Ubers; they send $100 to reimburse us and I’m thankful.
Even though today is easier at work, my energy starts to flag in the afternoon after I eat the lunch I packed and I decide to get caffeine. I ask a co-worker if she wants anything, so I grab a coffee for me and a tea for her at the place near the theatre ($6.50). I keep forgetting to bring my reusable coffee mug and I’m mad at how much plastic waste I’m contributing to the planet, but I tell myself it’s okay because I’m an individual and not a corporation. (This is a mantra for me because I feel bad about this all the time.)
The rest of the work day is nice and steady, and I get a ride home. Husband makes dinner, we watch TV, and chill for the evening.
Daily Total: $583.23 (well, at least I had a win yesterday)
Friday
Shit, husband’s birthday is coming up and I haven’t ordered his gift yet. As I get ready for work in the morning, I order his gift ($73.42). It’s not my most romantic one, but it’s something he needs and considering I’m the only one working right now, I decide it’s okay. I get a ride in for a morning meeting at the coffee shop where the folx we meet with buy us coffee. (So generous!)
I’m working late tonight and had planned on going back home after the meeting, but I sit down with my manager and get some larger to-do list items. I eat my packed lunch, pop outside and realize it’s an icky day and I’d rather not walk home and walk back in quick succession, so I go back to the office and get to work. I’ll clock a bit of overtime, but that’s been anticipated for this week.
Work is busy, busy, busy when the festival starts up again and I realize mid-way through that I only had a lunch packed but no dinner; I tell myself to fix that for next week, since I’ll also be working some late nights. I mean to grab food from the theatre café but there’s been an issue with their ordering, so instead of eating, I push through on adrenaline. During a lull between shows, I go up to the bar and try to buy coffee; the bartender is the sweetest and gives one to me at no charge. I’m desperately thankful.
It's a late night and I don’t feel comfortable walking home at this hour (it’s a dead zone and I’m always more scared of quiet streets than busy ones, and this area isn’t the safest anyway), so I call an Uber ($12.91) and am somewhat annoyed that my overtime pay is going to that instead of in my pocket. When I get home, I’m spent but eat plain potato chips and crash in bed.
Daily Total: $86.33
Saturday
I wake up groggy around 8:30am, but at least I don’t have to jump out of bed because I have a later start today. (Okay, it’s only an hour and a half difference but still!) I go through my morning routine and leave a bit earlier to get to the theatre because I know I’m gonna walk slower than usual. I packed an extra RX bar from my grocery order at the beginning of the week, in addition to my lunch, and I hope that gets me through.
Even though the day is going to be long, everyone’s in a relatively chipper mood. Working the festival is tiring, especially coming right after an intense production process, but it gives me the opportunity to get to know folx at the theatre with whom I don’t always work as closely, and that’s really fun for me since I’m still feeling like “the new girl.” When I hit a wall in the evening, the bartender does me the same kindness as yesterday and gives me a cup of coffee.
It’s another late night at the theatre, so I take an Uber again ($13.93). I still have to work tomorrow, but only a few hours, so I justify staying up a bit late to hang out with my husband.
Daily Total: $13.93
Weekly Total: $1,312.17 (it’s lucky rent wasn’t due this week, damn)
2024 Update
Since this diary was compiled, there have been a lot of shifts. I received a raise ($50,000/year gross) and title bump, which has allowed me more time to focus on the more artistic responsibilities of my position. My husband found a job that suits his skill sets ($40,000/year gross), which also came with commuter assistance that has helped us end our reliance on Instacart. We’re still in the same apartment, but the rent has gone up dramatically to $1,700; we are currently exploring moving, but that is always tricky when you’re working in theater and you have to plan the logistics of that around the season’s responsibilities.
What strikes me most when reviewing this diary is the impact of inflation. Our grocery bill felt high here, but it has risen dramatically to the point where we are looking to find ways to continue to eat healthy but also afford rent. A recent review of our grocery bill, that consisted of what we consider staples such as vegetables and healthy snacks, blew our minds when we realized it wasn’t the ~$500/month we thought but was closer to $800. Our beloved feline’s monthly food order is now closer to $170 on average. The electric bill has been averaging closer to $200+ — it was even higher over the winter months ($300+) since we have electric heat. I worry that when we move I will get a nasty surprise from our “budget billing” system, which happened to a friend when she moved to the tune of ~$500.
I also opted in the last open enrollment to bump to the next tier of insurance ($322 taken out of each of my paychecks for coverage for both myself and my husband). For the next enrollment, I will be opting to revert to the lower plan as the higher tier actually has not helped us in any way with our medical needs given the coverage. America.
I am thankful that I received a raise last year, although it is unlikely I will see another one soon. (Still working in theater, folx!) I am thankful that my husband has found gainful employment, although his position does not come with any benefits, like PTO. On the surface, we are both doing better financially but we still feel that we are living hand-to-mouth. We had hoped that once my husband found a job, he’d be able to chip away at his credit card debt ($3,000), a significant amount of which was incurred during our relocation and his time without employment. We had also hoped to be able to start really saving for our future (kids, retirement, or even maybe a vacation). Right now, we feel further away from our financial and personal goals due to the economic stresses and our upcoming moving expenses. It feels like we’re both working all the time and have little to show for it.
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