bills, bills, bills #31
A week in the life and wallet of a managing director pre-crisis
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’s column was written last year, before a seismic theater-related event in the contributor’s city affected hundreds of arts workers’ jobs—including their own. What was previously a position that dealt with keeping operations chugging along now involves daily crisis management. While this column is a look into their life before the shift, it also serves as a reminder of the industry’s volatility and how events beyond our institutions can massively impact our day-to-day lives. (A genuine question: What industries are not volatile? Are there any fields with good job opportunities and calm outlooks?)
Job/Position: Managing Director of a mid-sized theater company in a mid-sized city
Age: Early 30s
Annual Salary: $71,500 (+$500 of discretionary spending that work will reimburse)
Additional Income:
I teach some classes and workshops on the side. Income from this work varies, but last year I made $2,600.
I occasionally perform in modestly compensated shows. Income from this work varies, but last year I made $510.
I do some visual arts and graphic design-based stuff as a side hustle, some as work-work and some as art-work, income from this hovers around $800.
Debt: I have the immense privilege of being completely debt free! Some context for this: I grew up in a place with a low cost of living and then accepted a full-ride scholarship to an in-state university instead of taking on student debt to attend one of my “dream” schools. Between that decision, a few additional scholarships, and some part-time work, I was able to start saving in undergrad. I continued saving for two years after graduation by keeping my expenses low, working a pretty lucrative service-industry job, and earning extra money through tutoring gigs while acting and teaching at local theaters. My parents, who had originally planned to contribute to undergrad expenses, instead helped by paying for my first car in full (about $25,000) and then contributing another $25,000 to my graduate school expenses (about half of the total tuition) when I moved to a larger city to study arts management. In graduate school, I again avoided student loans, paying for the remainder of my Master’s degree with a combination of my savings, part-time work, and a paid fellowship that also came with some tuition remission. I was able to begin my first full-time arts admin job within months of graduating and have only stopped working once since then for a two-month period while transitioning to a new city and position.
I currently rent and I have no credit card debt. I pay for everything with a credit card when I can, prioritizing the card that earns airline miles, and I pay my credit card balance in full each month. Any outstanding balance across my three cards at the time I collected the numbers below was subtracted from the reported checking amount.
Savings:
$51,938 saved in multiple CDs of varying maturity dates (a CD ladder)
$6,374 in two different savings accounts
$2,316 in stocks
$13,656 in a 403b retirement fund
In addition to the two large injections of money from my parents mentioned above (car & graduate school), my father helped me open a credit card, a savings account, and a brokerage account when I turned 18. He also taught me how to use those financial tools and gave me $5,000 to begin investing. I used to dabble in short-term trading, making an extra $2,000-5,000 per year at my most active, but I don’t have the time for it anymore. Stocks aside, I’ve always kept the majority of my money moving and growing between a mixture of high-yield savings accounts and CDs. I’ve only had to tap into those savings a few times in my life (a major injury, the sudden illness of a pet, a car accident that totaled my vehicle), but my parents often helped with those unexpected expenses as well (in decreasing increments as I got older).
It’s also worth noting that I’m a first-generation immigrant. My parents moved from working class to middle class within my lifetime; they invested in stocks and real estate, but also worked multiple jobs (from hospitality to postal service to realty) through my entire childhood and adolescence. This is all to say, I’m very conscious—sometimes too conscious—about the management of money and accumulation of wealth. It doesn’t escape my notice that my total savings, which I’ve been told is impressive/unusual for my age and industry, is more or less equal to the total amount of financial support my parents have provided at key points in my life. It’s not a 1:1, of course, but I absolutely owe my financial health to the fact that I was able to make money during those times when most young people in this country are being forced to take on debt. I’ve accrued these savings over a lifetime using the habits I’ve mentioned, but the financial aid, both earned and gifted, that I received early on made that lifetime effectively start much sooner.
I’m currently biding my time and avoiding more strategic/aggressive saving and investment because money is hard—and because my partner and I are in the process of figuring out how to purchase a house within the next few years. I am prepared to use a good amount of my own savings for the down payment, but my parents will most likely also contribute to this expense.
Checking: $1,882
Monthly Expenses:
Rent (after splitting with my partner): $1,135
Utilities and Internet (after splitting with my partner): about $100
Pet Insurance for two animals (after splitting with my partner): $70
Phone (after splitting with my parents): $45
Dental Insurance (through work): $37
Prescription Medication: $45
Community Supported Agriculture Box (after splitting with my partner): $69. We pay to receive a weekly share of seasonal produce from a local farm. It’s a nice way to support sustainable farming and cut down on grocery trips, but I have gotten disproportionately sick of beets during the winter months. The summer farm share hasn’t started yet, but it will cost more.
Adobe (Creative Cloud and Stock): $96
Spotify/Hulu: $12
Moviepass: $10
Kindle Unlimited: $12
DoorDash DashPass: $10
Patreon (supporting a few digital artists I like): $13
Various streaming services are shared between friends, family, my partner, etc. but I personally don’t pay for any others except the annual ones below
Annual Expenses:
Car Insurance: $1,262 this past year
Car Inspection and Registration: $180
Dog Bar Membership (after splitting with my partner): $130. This is exactly what it sounds like: a bar and restaurant you bring dogs to so they can play off-leash. The dogs have to be registered and require a cover charge or membership; the humans do not.
Dropout (1-year subscription): $48
AMC+/Shudder (1-year subscription): $84
New York Times (1-year subscription): $129
Charitable Donations: about $500/year to various nonprofits
Additional Context: I live with my long-term partner, who also works for a nonprofit (not in the arts) and makes more than I do, though not significantly more. We don’t plan to have children but do have a small-for-her-breed dog and a large-for-her-breed cat who are like children to me, in that they are not allowed to ever die.
My partner and I split rent, utilities, internet, and pet expenses completely 50/50. Groceries and other household expenses are on a looser “I’ll get this one if you get the next” or “I’ll get the cleaning supplies if you do the cleaning because I have ADHD and hate maintenance tasks” sort of basis. We share one car, but I am the primary driver 90% of the time, so I pay for my own car expenses and they help occasionally with gas. My health insurance is completely covered by my partner’s employer (really appreciate a plan that covers domestic partners and not just spouses!) but my employer would cover my health insurance if I needed it.
Saturday
I wake up later than usual but am still feeling tired from a mixture of professional (I had a packed week) and personal (our cat woke us up at 4am) busy-ness. My partner has agreed to do both the morning and evening dog walks today, so I scroll around on my phone while still in bed and get sucked into a targeted-ad rabbit hole that eventually leads me to spend $50.29 on a birthday gift for a friend. Then I get ready, eat a small breakfast, and prep some veggies and tofu for meals throughout the week before heading downtown for a three-hour improv show rehearsal. I take the bus and pay the $2.50 fare. While on the bus, I send a friend $18 via Venmo to cover my drinks from the previous night when we met up at the dog bar. My dog had done a pretty good job meeting the new people in our group, but still largely shied away from everyone else there.
After rehearsal, my partner drives in to meet me and a castmate for dinner at a dim sum restaurant. Including tax and tip, my third of the bill is $40, which I pay via Venmo. We take our leftovers and drive to a theater to watch the first public showing of a solo piece a colleague of mine has been developing. The show tickets had already been purchased and reimbursed through work, though I do pay $3.40 for street parking once we arrive. My partner buys me a drink from the bar afterwards while we talk to some friends and artists from the community. I make a batch of cupcakes when we get home but call it a night when I realize I don’t have the ingredients for frosting.
Total: $114.19
Sunday
After walking the dog in the morning, I head to Whole Foods to pick up the missing frosting ingredients, plus a few other items for meals this week. I would normally go to a less expensive store, but most of the things I need are vegan, dairy-alternative items so...if the Birkenstock fits. I spend a total of $36.79. (To contextualize the many meals to come this week: my partner is vegan and I am not, but we do keep vegan at home because I enjoy eating plant-based meals, do most of the cooking, and don’t usually bother making multiple versions of the same thing.)
It’s a holiday weekend, so we visit my partner’s parents, about 40 minutes away by car, for dinner. We bring the now-finished cupcakes, sautéed broccoli rabe, and a case of beer. Our dog throws up in the car, but we’re able to wash her blanket at their house and she settles just fine once we’re there. It’s a pretty lowkey day overall: we watch a baseball game on TV, play with my partner’s niece and nephews, and eat a nice meal before walking the dog and driving back home with more leftovers than strictly necessary. (Thankfully, the dog does not get carsick again.) Some Sunday Scaries shuffling around occurs before we go to bed to face the new week.
Total: $36.79
Monday
My typical weekday morning looks like this: I wake up between 6:30-7am after snoozing my alarm 1-3 times, take my medication, listen to an audiobook while walking the dog for an hour (my partner typically walks her in the evening every day, also for an hour, because she is a very spoiled dog), snack on leftovers in lieu of breakfast, get dressed and ready, and then drive about 15 minutes to work. I aim for a regular 9-5 workday outside of performances and events, but that schedule often shifts into more of a 10-6 if I’m having a slow morning with more interminable puttering than usual. I also often take morning meetings remotely and drive in afterwards, and sometimes work from home the entire day if I have an appointment/don’t have the car that day/just sort of need it. I let people know where I’ll be if something changes, but so far this scheduling self-accommodation has made it a lot easier to get things done.
The great news that buoys our office today is that our fundraising party last week led to more major gifts than anticipated to support our next production (which means that we will actually be able to have a next production!). I spend the morning answering emails, checking in with my general manager on the budget for next fiscal year, and meeting about various marketing and development projects. There isn’t a great spot in my schedule for lunch today, so I eat my weekend leftovers during an afternoon meeting to make a plan for potential new grants we should apply for. Before heading home, I tackle a few more emails and meet with the strategic planning consultant we’ve hired.
I reserved a Too Good To Go (TGTG) bag from a nearby coffee shop to pick up on my way home. For a total of $4.31, I end up getting a loaf of sourdough bread and four assorted pastries (I keep the loaf, eat a croissant, and will bring the rest into work later to share with the office). This will probably not be the only TGTG bad I get this week, as I love both a deal and a side quest. I get home and go into a bit of a cooking fugue state while my partner walks the dog and takes an evening meeting for work. In addition to a Caesar salad to accompany a pasta with red sauce that my partner made, I prepare a Greek-style chickpea, radish and cucumber salad; a chimichurri white bean, (vegan) steak, and kohlrabi salad; a peanut sauce; and a pot of saag paneer (well…saag tofu).
Total: $4.31
Tuesday
My day begins normally, though it is rainy and gross, so walking the dog becomes much less enjoyable than usual. On Tuesday mornings, I have an early weekly check-in with the executive leadership team, which I take remotely. I also have a production team check-in and then a one-on-one with our marketing coordinator after that, so suddenly it is midday and I’ve only done Zoom meetings. It is still rainy and gross, so I decide to eat a late lunch (dim sum leftovers) and forgo driving into the office, since most of my tasks for today can be done independently. I review a press release, do some admin work, and then check in with my general manager to see how the budget would look with a few new changes that leadership decided on that morning. A deficit is unavoidable, but I know we’re not alone in that given the current state of nonprofit theater.
I wrap up work a little early to pick up another TGTG I found that day. This time, it’s four slices of vegan pizza from a restaurant we love for $6.59 after tax. Then I eat a quick dinner (the saag I prepped yesterday) before driving to substitute teach a friend’s theater class. It’s all material I’ve covered before, so I was happy to step in. I get home around 9:30pm and have a pretty typical weekday evening: prepping my lunch for tomorrow, watching something from an ever-growing list of streaming options with my partner, and then reading or doom-scrolling in bed until I fall asleep.
Total: $6.59
Wednesday
It is somehow still raining, and I am very grumpy about it. My partner volunteers to do both (shorter due to weather) dog walks today so that I can sleep in a bit and take a longer shower than usual (I use the extra time to deep condition my hair). I take a 9am meeting with our education team from home before driving into the office. It’s another meeting-heavy morning, with our weekly all-staff followed by a meeting between Education and Production to sort out the upcoming year’s calendar and potential pain points when things will get very busy. I eat the lunch I brought (a baked salmon filet and the Greek-style salad) and then do a smattering of Managing Director Things for the rest of the workday: approve payroll, edit a budget for a grant application, coordinate a scholarship selection committee, and prepare materials for tomorrow’s strategic planning meeting. At some point during the day I make plans with some other local Managing Directors to see a performance next week at one of their theaters. I spend $17 on an industry ticket.
I get $20 worth of gas after work (about 3/4 of a tank for my small hybrid) and also stop by Aldi for a few things I need (e.g. cilantro) and a few things I admittedly do not (e.g. running tights I was vaguely influenced by TikTok into trying). I spend a total of $26.35 and drive home. I make a batch of spring rolls for my partner (with marinated tofu) and myself (with langostino tails) to eat for dinner with that peanut sauce from Monday. We watch a sports game on TV that elicits a lot of emotions (but I can't say much more about it without both dating and locating myself) before going to bed.
Total: $63.35
Thursday
It is finally not raining when I walk my dog! While walking, I receive an email notification that a monthly book subscription box I’ve been waitlisted for has new spots open. I’m on the fence about signing up because they still only ship out of the UK, but this month’s book is one I’m almost certain I’ll enjoy, and the skip policy is very generous. After some consultation with the group chat, I decide to pay $46.86 (after tax and international shipping) to start my subscription, with a plan to skip every month unless another great option comes up in the future.
On a whim, I post a quick TikTok video (I do so very rarely when I feel moved to shout something into the digital void; a colleague has described my content as “alternative comedy”) before driving into work. It ends up going semi-viral (about 45,000 views), so I am low-grade distracted throughout the next few days by constant app notifications and the unbearable weight of being perceived.
At work, I have my weekly one-on-one with our development coordinator, review several scholarship applications, send edits on the latest draft of a donor appeal, and eat lunch (leftover spring rolls and peanut sauce) before secluding myself in a private office for a telehealth appointment with my psychiatrist. After insurance, I only pay a $10 co-pay per appointment. I do a bit more work afterwards (mostly a check-in with one of the artistic directors about some feedback that came out of our recent slate of job assessments) until our strategic planning consultant arrives. We set up a studio for the meeting, and then the members of our Strategic Planning Committee arrive for a two-hour discussion on the latest rough draft of the plan.
We provide a meal for everyone at the meeting (samosas, naan, and various curries from a local Indian restaurant) since it runs over dinner time, which means I don’t have to worry about feeding myself tonight. Our general manager and I split the leftovers after cleaning up. My partner picked up our farm share box today, so the first thing I do when I get home is sort through and store the produce we got this week: spring mix, spinach, rainbow chard, carrots, scallions, sunchokes, turnips, and radishes. It’s a pretty typical evening before bed otherwise.
Total: $56.86
Friday
I finish my current audiobook during my walk (the ending is poorly paced, which is a shame for an otherwise enjoyable story) and start a new one. I’m running a bit late this morning (the dog spends a lot of time murderously staring into a groundhog hole), so I’m relieved when someone from the artistic team cancels our 9am check-in.
The first thing on my schedule once I get to the office is to head right back out again with our general manager to meet someone from our company’s new bank (our previous one shut down their local branches and the lack of in-person support had become an issue). The neighborhood branch employees are friendly and it feels a touch less like a corporate labyrinth than our previous bank, so that’s promising. We set a meeting for next week to talk to a different employee about savings and investment options for our board-designated reserve funds.
After I get back and eat some leftover Indian food for lunch, it’s time to head out again for a site visit to a possible venue for a future fundraiser. It’s kind of perfect, so now I’m dreading the probably-too-high price quote they’ll send next week. When we get back to the office, I have a meeting with a partner organization to confirm some details for our next production. Then I answer a few more emails and send a budget update to a funder before leaving a little early to catch a 5pm meeting from home. Over Zoom, I facilitate a meeting of the scholarship selection committee (the cat decides she also needs to be onscreen for this) and then summarize our recommendations in an email to the program head.
Then I grab a quick snack and my partner and I rush out to see an Opening Night performance. I had received an industry invite so the tickets were free, but I did pay $18.56 to reserve a parking space downtown near the theater. I pay $28.51 after tip for drinks from the theater’s bar, which we get in plastic cups so we can take them to our seats. It’s a beautiful show, but it’s pretty late after curtain call and I’m ravenous, so we skip the post-show reception for a late-night ramen dinner. After tip, I pay $70 for our meals and drinks. I cover the entire bill because we have to do a grocery trip tomorrow and my partner offers to pay for that to even us out. We drive home, and it’s so late by the time I get to sleep that I’m tired the entire next day. But that’s not pertinent information, because this marks the end of my diary week!
Total: $117.07
Weekly Spending Total: $399.16
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