bills, bills, bills #27
A week in the life and wallet of a marketing staffer who just quit
Bills, Bills, Bills is a monthly series of anonymous money diaries from theatre workers curated and edited by Jenna Clark Embrey.
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Editor’s Note
This month’s column was kept in the fall of 2022, one week after our diarist quit their regional theater admin job. If you were an arts admin worker in the early pandemic years, consider this your official trigger warning.
Since Lauren resurrected That’s Not a Living Wage in the newsletter last month, I’ve been thinking a lot about the process of *setting* equitable salaries in theater. TCG has a field-wide compensation survey, and while it’s useful and fascinating, it’s also slightly moot considering the low wages across the field. (If anyone has ever been told “Your compensation is in line with the TCG survey” when being turned down for a raise, you know what I mean.)
Salary benchmarking — the process of matching job descriptions and pay ranges to those from similar jobs in other organizations — is only productive when the industry benchmarks aren’t already looney tunes. How then can an organization set equitable pay? A long-term strategy involves scaling the work of the organization to the salary capacity, not the other way around. If you can’t afford to pay someone a living wage, then you need to scale down operations.
We could have an entire week-long symposium on this, but let’s start with a basic tenet for setting salaries. The lowest living wage for a given geographical area should be considered the minimum salary for an entry-level role — and an entry-level role does not require prior work experience or managing other staffers or interns. (Companies that espouse the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but who don’t follow this basic economic tenet? Booooooo *throws tomato*.) The cost of employee turnover is hard to estimate and varies among roles and industries, but studies have estimated it to be a loss of 50% to 200% (!!!) of a worker’s annual salary to replace them. The nationwide cost of employee turnover is in the trillions. I math, you math, we math.
This money diary was completed in the Fall of 2022.
Job/Position: I was most recently a digital marketing staffer at a regional theater. I’m currently a part-time waitress at two different restaurants (three shifts at a hotel restaurant, two shifts at a local bar).
Regarding the position I just left: I started as an apprentice right after I graduated college. After completing two previous marketing internships at other theaters, this only felt natural. When I started my apprenticeship, I was working on a team of seven: five full-time staff members and one other apprentice. Within four months, I was trying to find a new job immediately, as I despised the apprenticeship. Then the pandemic happened. Within two weeks, my marketing director quit on the spot. Since I have a background in video editing and a detailed understanding of Prospect2, the theater hired me as a full-time staff member with a starting salary of $38,000 (Editor’s Note: This salary is a few thousand dollars under the living wage for the area). I took the job, since it felt really stupid to not take the job as a recent college grad in the middle of a pandemic. I hated the job. The theater did not hire a new marketing director for eleven months. As soon as our marketing director was hired, the communications manager and the associate director of marketing quit, and the director of communications and strategic partnerships left our department. We did not rehire any new apprentices for our department. We went from a team of seven to a team of three. We did hire a part-time project manager, but her contract ended after about six months. So I guess we were a team of three and a half? A few months ago, my new marketing director had decided to leave. The art director decided to follow her out. That would have only left me. I refused to go through another big marketing leadership transition. All three of us left on the same day.
Age: 25
Location: A Mid-Atlantic city with lousy public transportation
Yearly Income: I made $40,000 before taxes at my theater admin job. I contributed 7.5% ($58.85) of my weekly pay into a 403(b) account. After taxes and retirement, my paychecks were about $519.58 on a weekly basis.
Now, I am a part-time server at two different restaurants and my income varies week to week. I work at a local bar and I will start at a hotel restaurant this week. At the bar, I have made as much as $500 a shift and I have also made as little as $19. At the hotel restaurant, we operate with a tip pool. I will not be in the tip pool until I finish two weeks of training. I do not know what the tips usually look like, but I do know that they vary depending on the shift.
Debt: I have $17,500 in federal student loan debt.
Savings:
Savings Account: $38,178.14
403(b): $3,893.97
Checking: $1,006.67
Monthly Bills:
Rent: $900 for a rent-controlled one-bedroom apartment (includes water and trash)
Utilities: This bill varies month to month. My utilities include electric and central air/heat. I usually budget $150 per month for utilities. My most expensive bill was $195.78 in February. My cheapest bill was $69.18 in May. This month (September), my bill is $114.99.
Internet: $84.83
Student Loans: My minimum payment is $300. While the pandemic paused interest and payments on my loans every month, I increased my payment to $500.
Cell Phone: $0. I am on a family plan with my parents and two sisters. I have offered to pay my parents for my share, but they don’t let me pay. Honestly, it would be more expensive for both them and me if I left the family plan.
Spotify/Hulu: $10.59. When I was in college, I paid $5 per month for the Spotify student plan, which included Hulu. While my account has increased from $5 per month to $10.59 per month since graduating, Spotify hasn’t canceled my Hulu account for some reason? No point in telling them now.
Netflix/HBOMax/Disney+: $0. My parents pay for Netflix, my aunt pays for Disney+, and my cousin pays for HBOMax.
Peacock: $0. I get this service for free through Comcast.
Aerial Hoop Classes: $25 a class, but paid for per 6-week or 8-week session. I take aerial hoop classes instead of going to the gym. While classes do equal out to $25 a class, I am required to pay for the 6 or 8-week session at once. I am currently in an 8-week session, so I paid $200 last month.
Renaissance Faire Pass: $130 for a 9-day pass. I go to the Renaissance Festival every week. This equals to about $14.44 a trip, which is about half of what a single day pass costs. This expense is only for August-October.
Therapy: $80 a session. I have a virtual session every other week. This averages to $160 a month in therapy.
Meds: $6 a month for an antiviral I take daily; $133.35 every three months for birth control. I’m on my parents’ insurance, which is through the Catholic Church as my mom works for a Catholic school. (It will not surprise you that the Catholic Church does not cover birth control.)
Some Additional Context:
My parents helped me pay for college and paid for my senior year housing. I’m originally from the Midwest and I went to school on the East Coast. I went home every summer before I graduated, which meant I had housing, food, and access to my parents’ car every summer. This allowed me to work as a server and to save up $12,288 by the time I graduated college. As a college graduation gift, my parents gifted me $5,000. During the pandemic, I was fully employed by the theater company I just left and I rarely spent money on nonessentials. This let me save up a year’s salary, which is why I felt financially comfortable quitting my theater admin job without having other full-time employment lined up.
Monday
Weeks begin on Monday — or at least they do in my head, so we are starting on a Monday. I spend all morning on the laundry I did the night before. After folding and putting it all away, I eat some meal-prepped lunch and go through my very cluttered email. The first payment of today is my electric bill ($114.99). I continue planning my week in my bullet journal and eventually I take a nap for an hour. Later, I take the bus ($1.90 a ride that I paid for last month) to my aerial hoop class ($25 a class, pre-paid). After class, I quickly change and head over to the closest mini-mart. I grab two Clif bars, a Gatorade, a pack of watermelon Sour Patch Kids, and a water bottle for a friend ($11.31). My friend picks me up from class and the two of us go to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate the fact that I quit my job. He pays for parking and takes me out for cheesecake. We also got nachos and I Venmo him $8.50 to help pay for them. After that, we go to his place to hang out and he eventually drives me home.
Total Spent: $161.70
Total Spent (excluding pre-paid bus and class): $134.80
Tuesday
Once again I wake up later than I want to. Gross. I spend my morning putting together my grocery order. I don’t own a car, so I order groceries once a month. The order is pending at $215.54, including delivery tip. Unless something doesn’t get delivered, this is the amount I will pay. After I finish up some other life admin, I get ready for my first day of my new server job. I pay for an Uber to get to work ($17.99 including tip). My shift starts at 3pm. Today is a training day, so I make training pay. While I’m uncertain what I will be making hourly, I know that I am not included in the tip pool until I am done with training. However, I do get a free “family meal,” which is a large batch of food made for the staff to eat during their shift. This will save me money on groceries moving forward. The shift consists of expediting food and learning the menu. I clock out around 9:40pm and I pay for an Uber home ($12.95 including tip).
Total Spent: $246.48
Total Spent (excluding pending groceries): $30.94
Wednesday
Wednesdays are my new days off! I have a Zoom interview today at 1pm, so I spend my late morning/early afternoon eating more of my meal-prepped pasta, working on some last minute details, and making myself look appropriate. The interview felt good. Afterwards, I do more laundry (mostly sheets and towels) and I deep clean my kitchen. My groceries arrive tomorrow so I want to have a clean kitchen. I take another short nap, get ready for dance rehearsal, and take the bus to rehearsal ($1.90 a ride that I paid for last month). While rehearsal isn’t until 7:30pm, the public transit system in this city sucks, so I end up leaving about an hour before rehearsal. Other than one last serving of meal-prepped pasta, I have no food in the house. Since I’m early to rehearsal, I stop by a convenience store for a Gatorade, Clif bar, and a pumpkin-shaped Reese’s cup ($7.76). This is my pre-rehearsal dinner. After rehearsal, my duet partner drives me home. Thank God for friends who own cars!
Total Spent: $9.96
Total Spent (excluding pre-paid bus): $7.76
Thursday
My groceries arrive today! The store forgot my ground beef, so the total charge to my credit card is $209.06 instead of $215.54. After I put away my groceries, I notice two changes to my bank account. The first one is that the rent check I dropped off last week has been processed and the money is officially out of my account ($900). So I guess I paid rent today? I also noticed that my last paycheck from my theater job hit my bank account. The check was $1,095.50, as the company had to pay me out for 10 vacation days I didn’t use. (I was going to use them, I promise. But then I quit.) I spend the rest of my morning and early afternoon cleaning my bathroom and getting ready for my second training day at my new job. I take another Uber to work ($18.90 with tip). I enjoy my family meal and this training shift is similar to my first one. Tonight I clock out around 11:15pm and I take another Uber home ($15.91 including tip).
Total Spent: $1,143.87
Total Earned: $1,095.50
Friday
I wake up early to work out with a friend of mine, but she unfortunately can’t make it. My friend usually brings me to her gym, as she has a membership that lets her bring a guest for free. Since she can’t go, I can’t go. Oh well. I spend my morning preparing for another interview that I have today at 2pm. Afterwards, I get ready for work at my bar. My shift starts at 5pm. Unfortunately, it’s a slow shift, especially for a Friday night. When I clock out at 10:30pm, my checkout says that the bar owes me $8. The cash I have on my person is $91, so that is the amount I walk home with. I will receive the remaining $8 from my boss tomorrow. Considering the fact that I normally make between $150-200 a shift at this bar, I am a little disappointed. A friend walks me home. Even though I live close to the bar, I never walk home from work alone at night, especially when I have cash on me. When a friend walks me home, that means I don’t have to pay for an Uber ride home.
Total Spent: $0
Total Earned: $91
Saturday
I wake up early because I can’t remember if I have to be at my new restaurant by 9AM or 10AM. I call my Uber to get to my new job ($13.95 including tip). I get to work at 8:50AM, but I don’t start until 10AM. I go to a coffee shop around the corner to eat breakfast and plan my upcoming week ($7.36 including tip). I clock in to the new restaurant at 10AM for another training day, this time to learn the brunch menu. I clock out at 3:45PM, and grab a family meal breakfast sandwich to eat. I take another Uber up to my bar, as I work the night shift tonight ($26.37 including tip). Yay for doubles. I clock in at 5PM, and it is another annoyingly slow night. I receive my $8 from the previous night. After I clock out around 11PM, my checkout says that I owe the bar money tonight. I walk home with $94 in cash and the $8 from last night. I’m annoyed because I had two slow shifts back to back. My friend drives me home tonight. Again, thank god for friends with cars.
Total Spent: $47.68
Total Earned: $104
Sunday
Sundays are my Saturdays, so today I am at the Renaissance Festival all day long. Because I don’t own a car, my friend drives me, and we meet up with more of our friends. Because I dress up and have been building my Faire attire for a while, I know that I spend a lot of money at the Faire. Prior to this week, my bar cash contributed to my allowance at the Faire. While at the Faire, I spent $7 on food, $15 on drinks, $63.72 on costume pieces, $9 on loose leaf tea, and $23.32 on homemade soap (it was a 4 bars for $25 deal on soap). This was a bit more expensive than normal. I’m aware I spend a lot on the Renaissance Festival, but it is something that I have made my peace with. My friend drives me home after our lovely day at the Faire. When I get home, I put everything in the wash, shower, eat, and crash.
Total Spent: $118.04
Total Spent Weekly: $1,483.09
Total Earned Weekly: $1,290.50
Update: Summer 2024
I was a part-time server at the bar and the hotel restaurant until last May and then left for a summer acting apprenticeship in another city. (I was supposed to do this apprenticeship in the summer of 2020.) The hotel restaurant re-hired me as a full-time bartender at the end of last summer. I still make tips from a tip pool with a paycheck every two weeks, where all my taxes, a 401k contribution with a company match, and health insurance are deducted. I get PTO and my job is tolerable.
According to my paycheck breakdown spreadsheet, I have made a net income of $18,919.46 and a gross income of $29,432.34 since January 1, 2024. I'm anticipating a gross income of just under $60,000 for 2024. As a performer, I recently acted in a production of The Wolves. It was an unpaid gig, but it’s a dream show and role so it was worth it. I've also joined the cast at the Renaissance Faire in my area. We just started rehearsals and I am getting paid a total stipend of $2,775 for the rehearsal process and the nine weekends of the Faire.
I still have student loan debt, but I now have $4,204.55 left.
Here are my accounts as they currently stand:
Local Bank Checking: $1,805.50
Local Bank Savings: $3,000
Paycheck auto-deposited into this account.
PNC Wallet Checking 1: $500.00
I just keep $500 in here to avoid fees since my paycheck is not auto-deposited into my account.
PNC Wallet Checking 2: $392.16
PNC Wallet Savings: $717.19
Ally Bank High-Yield Savings: $8,466.10
This is my emergency fund. Goal is to get it to $10,000 by the end of the year.
IRA (previously a 403b): $15,626.29
I try to contribute $200 a month into this account.
401k: $4,767.47
6% of my paycheck is taken out every pay period, and my company matches 50%.
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