bills, bills, bills #7

A look into the life and wallet of a marketing & PR director living east of the Mississippi

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 diary features another arts administrator — and a quick glance at Bills, Bills, Bills #5 shows that low wages and high credit card debt are a recurring theme. There are two elements of  this week’s column that also merit attention. The first is the obvious financial benefit of sharing expenses with a partner; this advantage is multiplied by virtue of said partner not working in theatre. The second is the major discrepancy between salary and job title: a full-time director of a department is a position worthy of a salary well above a living wage. This can be a stepping stone to higher salaries in the future, as a swanky job title can open many doors (especially in development and marketing). But a high-ranking role with a low-paying salary can also be used to justify long hours and a perpetually expanding scope of responsibilities, leading to burnout (I’m looking at you, all the “Associate Producer” positions that have been posted in the last few months paying $60K in NYC!)

In honor of this contributor’s community production of Mamma Mia!, I leave you with the immortal words of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus:

I work all night, I work all day to pay the bills I have to pay
Ain't it sad?
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me
That's too bad

In my dreams I have a plan
If I got me a wealthy man
I wouldn't have to work at all, I'd fool around and have a ball

Money, money, money
Must be funny
In the rich man's world

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Job/Position: Director of Marketing & PR for a regional theatre company with an operating budget of around $1 million. I also do freelance social media consulting on the side.

Age: 30

Location: A midsized city in the Eastern United States

Yearly Income: My annual salary is $34,000. My partner is an attorney whose salary is $75,432. In 2021, I made $2,454 from freelance work. So far this year, I have made $4,995 from freelance work.

Debt: 

• Car Loan: I have two payments remaining of a five year loan term ($766)

• Student Loans: I went to a private 4-year university and graduated in 3.5 years to save money.

  • Federal Student Loans: mine have been on pause throughout COVID, based on my last income-based recertification, when repayment resumes I will owe $180/month.
    Starting balance: $23,250
    Paid: $5,575
    Current balance: $24,538

  • Private Student Loans:
    Starting balance: $30,300
    Paid: $27,105
    Current balance: $18,383

  • My partner currently owes more than $100K in student loans, but he is currently two years away from eligibility for forgiveness due to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.

• Mortgage: We bought our house before it went on the market in June 2021 for $215,000. Before this, we lived with my parents for 14 months to save on rent, plus my partner won $50,000 on a game show to help us furnish it.

• I personally have $12,165 in credit card debt and have been using my freelance money to pay it off; I have zero interest through April 2023. Some of this is from a coaching program I did to try and get less shitty at running my business ($3500), some is stacked up from paying for my physical therapy and a trip to a well-known medical center in 2020 that was not covered by health insurance (about $4000). The rest is personal shopping, car repairs ($2000), an upcoming trip, and gifts for people since I took a major pay cut (50%) when I switched jobs in March 2021.

• We are in a Consumer Credit Consolidation Program through a local nonprofit that consolidated much of our credit card debt at low interest rates after we got married. The final payment for that is in January and we have been paying that for five years upon its completion.

Savings:

• I have two 401K accounts: one through my current job, one through a former job. One totals $10,250.91, the other $479.15. I currently contribute 3% of my paycheck pre-tax and my employer does not match.

• My savings account has $76 in it.

• My partner has a more robust savings account (roughly $8,000) that sits at that amount for emergencies. For the most part, our money is kept separately and we pay certain bills together

Checking: $412.22 (as of the last day of my money diary)

Household Monthly Take-Home Pay: $6,168 ($4,114 from my partner, $2,054 from me)

Monthly Bills That We Split:

• Mortgage: $1,511. (I pay $486, my partner pays $1,025)

• Car Insurance: $130 (we each pay $65)

• Credit Counseling Payment Program: $546 (we each pay $273)

Monthly Bills That I Pay:

• Private Student Loans: $265

• Life Insurance: $28

• Parking: $107

• Car Gas: $180

• Hulu: $13.99

• Paramount Plus: $10

• Disney Plus: $10

• Car Payment: $383

• AT&T Cell Phone Unlimited Data Plan: $164 (covers both of us)

• Netflix: $0 (My parents share with us)

• HBO Max: $0 (included with our cell phone bill as a promotion)

• Credit Card Payments: $500 

• Dog Grooming: $40 (since she is a puppy, she goes every 4 weeks right now)

• Barkbox: $27 (I got a 6-month subscription when we adopted our dog in August)

• Acupuncture: $100 

• Planet Fitness: $10

• Google Drive Storage: $2

• Adobe Creative Cloud: $10

• Dance Tuition: $45 (I take tap and jazz class at a studio near my house. Tuition includes our costume deposit for a small recital we have every year.)

Monthly Bills That My Partner Pays:

• Verizon Fios Internet: $90

• Church Donation: $128

• Electric: $100

• Gas: $90

• NY Times Weekend Delivery & Digital Access: $30

• Local News Digital Access: $20

• Planet Fitness Membership: $20

• Spotify: $10

• Life Insurance: $18

• Peacock: $5

• Car Gas: $250

• Groceries: $400

• Parking Ramp: $85

• Misc Spending: $50

• He also puts $150 in savings each month for our upcoming vacation

• His student loans are currently on pause because he only has federal loans. When it resumes, it will be $480.

• Depending on which half of the month his paycheck is in, he also pays off his credit cards in any amount from $100-$300.

• I only included all of these things because we share 90% of the things he pays for and it’s evident to you now that I could not afford my home or our life without depending on his income.

Regular Expenses:

• I pay for Amazon Prime yearly, which is $119/year. My best friend pays me $30/year to also use it.

• Our dog food and dog vitamins are auto-ship every 12 weeks, so we pay $119 every 12 weeks for those. I get her treats through Chewy auto-ship for $28 every six weeks.

• I get my hair cut and colored every 6-8 weeks. It ranges from $125-$225 depending on what needs to be done: sometimes I get my highlights refreshed, other times it’s just my roots.

Relevant Context: 

• We are sitting on the savings we have (roughly $8,000) which is partially an inheritance from my partner’s great aunt and partially the leftovers from his $50,000 game show winnings. We spent the remainder of it on getting our dog, buying furniture, home repairs, and traveling.

• Our health insurance is covered completely by my partner’s employer. We have a deductible plan and the first 80% of that deductible is reimbursed by his employer, which covers my therapist who I see bi-weekly and any other medical expenses like bloodwork, dental visits, etc.

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Monday

We just closed our first show of the season so I have a busy day ahead of me. I start with my weekly freelance client call at 9:30 before heading to work from 10-5. I park in my usual daily lot for $5.35. I stay late to bridge a gap in time before rehearsal for a show that I’m in. I have a lot of personal financial wins today: I make my coffee with my K-cups and creamer at home, make a chicken caesar wrap for lunch with food I prepped the day before, brought snacks for the drive, and ate leftovers at home after rehearsal around 10:30. To wind down before bed, I play a game on my phone and succumb to an in-app purchase of $14.11. 

Total Spent: $19.46

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Tuesday

I head to work at 10, then stay a little late before rehearsal. Nothing exciting food-wise, I’m on Day 2 of sticking to my new habits of bringing lunch from home and making coffee with what I already have. Due to being gone pretty much all day between work and rehearsal and prepping for a video shoot on Wednesday, I don’t have much of a chance to spend money on any extras. I get gas on my way home to fill up the tank for $37.94 and get sucked in by an Amazon Prime Day deal before heading to bed: a 2,000-piece puzzle of donuts for $11.99 by my fave puzzle brand. (Puzzles are my kryptonite.)

Total Spent: $49.93

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Wednesday 

I am up bright and early for a 14-hour day on 3 film sets. We are filming trailers for upcoming shows in our season and while thankfully the film company we work with is totally on top of their game, I wasn’t when it came to budgeting the shoot day itself. Due to an insanely tight budget and myself and my production manager having a heart and soul, we ordered breakfast as well as water and snacks for everyone out of our own pockets. I refuse to make our crew and actors traipse all over town for the day without a little something to eat. We ordered coffee, bagels, and cream cheese from Panera for $38.73 and picked up water and snacks from the grocery store for $68.11. We have another shoot day next week so all the extras can be saved for then. We have a successful shoot day and during some downtime I review my Stitch Fix order. I have been hemming and hawing about returning all of the items I got because I didn’t really need anything, but I needed to get a costume I could dance in for the show I’m in (a community production of Mamma Mia! so we are supplying our own costumes) and the jumpsuit that came in my order was too cute and…yep, I bought it. It cost $60.76. On the way home, my coworker kindly buys my McDonalds for dinner, which saves me $9 but truly just brings me happiness since I am starving and exhausted.

Total Spent: $167.60

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Thursday

Ah, the greatest enemy to my personal finances: an extra day off. Since I worked essentially a double shift on Wednesday, I take Thursday off to sleep in and have coffee and breakfast at home. I get a little bored by the afternoon and have errands to run and gift cards burning a hole in my pocket so I head out into the world. I return an online order from Old Navy due to me being too optimistic about my recent weight loss and get a refund of $118.87…but I also found two pairs of flats to replace mine that I’ve been wearing long past when I should, so I spent $56 on those. I struck out at all the stores I had gift cards for and decided to drown my sorrows at Trader Joe’s on some seasonal treats (apple cider donuts anyone?) and spend $27.82. After I get home, I go to get the mail, misstep somehow on one of the three steps outside my front door and sprain my calf muscle (I had pulled it a couple weeks prior at rehearsal). I have to cancel my plans to do dinner and an escape room with friends, but am able to at least get my money back for the escape room ($29) and so I order takeout for myself for $16.19. My college newspaper (of which I served as Editor-in-Chief) posts on Instagram about selling t-shirts as a fundraiser, something we never did, so I order one for $26. 

Total Spent (if you net my refunds): -$21.86 (If you just look at spending, it was $126.01)

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Friday

The guilt of the previous day’s spending got to me, so I use my Starbucks stars to get a free beverage on my way into work. I bring the last serving of my chicken caesar wrap supplies for lunch and end up working from home for most of the afternoon thanks to a plumbing issue in the theater. I am mostly catching up on work on our playbill for our next show, so I am busy doing that instead of online shopping like the previous day.

I have rehearsal again at night and make a protein smoothie to eat on the way, and then essentially just mark the whole show due to my calf injury. I  enjoy some leftovers when I get home. Right before bed, I get an email from my most reliable freelance client (a guaranteed $300/month) saying that due to her business expenses and the market right now, we needed to part ways despite me being an excellent employee. I go to bed frustrated, knowing I’m going to have to reinvent my budget to account for that loss in income because it was going to ensure I paid off my credit cards while in the zero-interest promotional period.

Total Spent: $0

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Saturday

I have a hair appointment this morning where thanks to being suckered into buying expensive shampoo at my last appointment, I only have to get my roots touched up and not the highlights nor purple streak I added to my hair in August for my 30th birthday, which saves me about $100 at my appointment. I always charge this service on a zero-interest credit card since I usually have to cover the cost in smaller increments over two paychecks, but my hair means a lot to me, as it’s the only personal luxury I really indulge in and I go about every 6-8 weeks. I spend $125 including tip.

I go home to pick up my partner, and we drop our dog off at the groomers and grab some groceries since we are hosting my family for dinner that night. Her grooming appointment is $40 and groceries are about $65, but my partner covered both of those expenses (as he usually does, since I don’t have much cash from paycheck to paycheck and my more expensive week of the month is coming up).

Total Spent: $125

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Sunday

Lazy Sunday over here! We had a ton of fun with my family last night, so I sleep in and enjoy my coffee and Eggo waffles at home. (I’m running low on K-cups and will need to order some more next week). I am also one serving away from running out of protein powder, so I order more of that for $40 on Amazon. My partner did a pretty basic grocery shop after church which covers our needs for the upcoming week. I have a week full of work/rehearsal days again, but between leftover soup my partner made and the prep supplies I got, I plan on trying to minimize my spending again next week and utilizing all of those. We are having dinner with my in-laws and plan on a quiet end to the week.

Total Spent: $40

Total Weekly Spending: $380.13 (after refunds)