Don’t let audition season destroy your bank account

Don’t let audition season destroy your bank account

by | Nov 18, 2016 | Budgets, Getting Started, Money Meditations, Saving, Variable Income

This post originally appeared on Schmopera: an excellent site for all things opera.

Auditioning is so freaking expensive.

This is a fact. And it feels like it’s getting worse.

After application fees, travel, accommodation, food, accompanist fees, and the 3 beers you need after they decided to only hear one aria even though you were banking on them asking for the Bellini…

…you’re probably not sitting on a whole lot of leftover cash.

But you have to do it, right? How are you supposed to get work if you don’t show up?

That’s right. You do have to audition. You do have to pay all the fees, whether you think they’re ethical or not.

But you don’t have to let it destroy your bank account.

AUDITION SEASON HAPPENS EVERY YEAR:

Every year. It’s like Christmas or Flag day. So why not save ahead?

People are always complaining about how it’s impossible to budget in this business. The income is too variable! The costs are too variable!! Well, there are SOLUTIONS FOR THE VARIABLE INCOME, and I’d like to challenge the idea of variable costs as well.

A tree falling on your car is an unexpected cost. Audition season is a totally 100% expected cost, one that you can completely plan for.

No, you don’t ever know exactly how much it’s going to cost every year, but you can make a pretty good guess. If you’ve been through it before, take a look at what it cost you last year. If it’s your first time… think it through. A few trips to New York or Toronto: where are you going to stay? How much does that cost? What do accompanists charge? How many applications are you putting in?

You can get exact about the number, or you can just pick a number out of thin air.

I’m going to save 2000 dollars for audition season.

Wait…what? Where am I supposed to get 2000 dollars…? That’s insane.

LIFE LESSON: BIG NUMBERS ARE MADE OF SMALL NUMBERS

The thing about these big one-time costs.. Christmas, car insurance, or audition season.. is that they seem like too much to set aside out of any given month’s income.

When you’re pulling in just enough to make it through, it’s impossible to set aside two grand in one month. So why not break it up into chunks?

What if last January you had taken a look at the year in front of you, and thought… “man… I want to make a big push next audition season. Last year it cost me around 2000 dollars, so if I just sock away 200 bucks a month, I’ll be ready to roll come November.”

200 bucks a month 47 bucks a week 6.78 a day

And hey presto, come audition season you’re ready to roll!

BUT I DON’T HAVE 200 BUCKS A MONTH TO SPEND ON… SAVINGS…

When I talk about savings, it sounds like I’m outlining a luxury: something to do with all your ‘extra’ money. So if you don’t have any ‘extra’ money, saving seems impossible.

But I’m not talking about how you can spend your ‘extra’ money. I’m talking about how you’re going to find the money to afford to support what you’re already spending.

You’re going to audition. We talked about it in the first paragraph. You have to.

So if you don’t put aside the money, where’s it going to come from?

Planning for major once a year expenses, like Christmas, birthdays, or… audition season, isn’t about adding another cost to every month. It’s acknowledging the fact that you’re already spending the money, and breaking up the cost over more time to make it easier to collect it.

 

 

IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE, IT’S CALLED A PLAN

You can choose to be blindsided by the same stuff every year.

“How did I spend that much on Christmas???” “Plane tickets cost HOW MUCH???”

Or you can stop budgeting bullshit. It’s fine that you spend money at Christmas. Christmas is great!! And if you put away 25 bucks a month all year, you can do all that spending, without the guilt. I’ve been doing it for the last few years, and I love Christmas now… it’s all the fun, with none of the pain.

Audition season is such a stressful time. There’s so much that you can’t control. There’s so much that is really hard. Why not try to take the pressure off of yourself?

Look ahead. Make a little sketch of the costs, and starting this January put away a little cash every month to make next year’s auditions just a little less awful.

Want to start getting control of your money? How can I help?

Chris Enns

Chris Enns

Financial Planner/Opera Singer

Money never came naturally to me. In fact… I was a bit of a disaster. I remember (very clearly) what it feels like to be ‘financially out of control’.

And honestly, I still get stressed about money… that doesn’t stop… the difference is that now I have the tools to deal with that stress.

And those tools are what’s made it possible for me to build a life full of the things I want: art, creativity, travel, family and more.

If you want to start getting control of your money I’d love to help. You can start with THIS QUIZ, visiting my GETTING STARTED PAGE by checking out my SERVICES page.

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How to manage your variable income and expenses this opera season

How to manage your variable income and expenses this opera season

by | Sep 27, 2016 | Living with Variable Income, Variable Income

How to manage your variable income and expenses this opera season

I’ve never been able to shake the feeling that September is the start of a new year.

Sure, I’ve been out of school for *mumbles a number* years now, but when September stopped being the dawn of a new school year… it started being the dawn of a new opera season. 

This week I start back up with my first contract of the season, and in addition to being thrilled to be working with a great company on a really fun project… I’m also really happy to be making some money.

In fact, over the 5 weeks I will make more money than I made during the four first months of 2016.

Such is the crazy variable nature of this job. 

And while making money is mostly a good thing, there are also some huge traps that go along with getting it in one big shot like this. 

For one… it can make you feel like you’re rich. So it’s tempting to spend a little more on just about everything when those paycheques are coming in…. which would be fine, if I didn’t have a few very slow months ahead of me this winter. 

So what’s a tenor to do?  (more…)

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THE BIG BOOK OF VARIABLE INCOME

THE BIG BOOK OF VARIABLE INCOME

by | Nov 3, 2015 | Living with Variable Income, Variable Income

Big Book of Variable Income

It’s a bird… it’s a plane… it’s a big book of variable income?

Regular readers will notice that I’ve been gabbing on about variable income a lot over the last month. I remember so clearly how much of a block it was for me… how do I manage my money when I don’t know when it’s coming, or how much.

And I assume I’m not the only one.

So I’ve compiled some of my variable income success stories into a big (but compact… don’t worry) resource that you can check in with, and pass on to anyone you know who is struggling with making the money work.

If you like the format be sure to subscribe (in the sidebar, or below the post) because I’ll be sending one out every month on a new topic!! Fun right?

But until then enjoy…

THE BIG BOOK OF VARIABLE INCOME

 

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STOP USING VARIABLE INCOME AS AN EXCUSE NOT TO FIGURE OUT YOUR FINANCES

STOP USING VARIABLE INCOME AS AN EXCUSE NOT TO FIGURE OUT YOUR FINANCES

by | Oct 29, 2015 | Variable Income

Variable Income Excuse

Variable income is a real challenge when it comes to managing your finances as a freelancer. But just because something’s a challenge doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

How many times have I heard…

“Budgets just don’t work for me… my income is too variable.”
“I can’t make automatic debt payments because… well… variable income.”
“There’s no way I could possibly do jury duty… don’t you know that I have VARIABLE INCOME… GEEEEEEZZ.”

I’ve heard it … because it comes out of my own mouth sometimes, too.

But here’s the thing … it’s not true. You can do all the same financial stuff that every one else does. You just might have to figure out a way to do it that makes sense with how you spend money.

THE FIRST ROADBLOCK: YOU’RE SPENDING IT WRONG

I don’t mean that you’re spending it in the wrong places. I mean that you’re spending it at the wrong time.

One of the hardest things about variable income is that you have no idea how much is coming in from month to month (duh)… so how can you make any sort of plan?

Regular income earners know exactly what’s coming in every month, that way they can make decisions about how much to save, how much to spend, all that fun stuff.

You may not have any idea if this month is going to be amazing or an exercise in coupon clipping.

So what’s a freelancer to do?

SHIFTING THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM….

What if you could know on the first of every month how much you have to spend that month?

Then you could make a plan, right? If it was a lot, you would know that you could save some… maybe chip away at the old debt. And if it was a low month you would know to keep your eyes open for sales on ground beef.

Sounds pretty perfect.

Well, you can.. if you just shift your spending. Instead of spending money as it comes in, you spend what you make this month…. Next month.

It’s a trick I learned from the good folks at YNAB. Every month you only spend what you made the month before… it’s still a variable amount, but suddenly you’re able to budget and know if you can afford to save/pay down your debt.

WHEN YOU TAKE OUT THE VARIABLES… ALL YOU HAVE LEFT IS INCOME

I’m sure you’re thinking… “that’s all well and good to say, but it’s harder to actually do.”

How do you make that transition? How do you handle months when you don’t make anything at all?

Patience.

The transition takes time. It took me around 6 months to be able to shift over from living “month to month” to a “live off last month’s income” format.

What you do is slowly save a full month’s income, and when that’s ready you make the switch.

On the month you switch tactics you’ll live off the money you saved up, and then when the first of the next month comes around… you’ll have (hopefully) another pile of money ready to budget and spend.

Don’t know how much ‘a month of income’ is?… no worries… fill out this handy dandy worksheet to get your monthly spending number!!: WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER WORKSHEET

don't know how much you need for a month?

Snag this free worksheet, and it will help you figure it out. 

GET THE WORKSHEET

WHAT ABOUT WHEN YOU DON’T MAKE ENOUGH IN A MONTH… TO GET YOU THROUGH THE NEXT MONTH? 

That’s always a risk. It happens to me all the time when I don’t bring in enough to cover my base costs for the next month.

I’ve written about the system that gets me through the dry times, and you can read more about it HERE.

But what I will say is at least with this basic idea of living off last month’s income… you’ll be able to see those months coming. Actually, the dry month isn’t so bad because, remember, you’ll be living off the last month’s income (it’s the month that comes after that’s reeeeal rough).

In those cases you can supplement your income from an EMERGENCY FUND or PAYROLL BUFFER… which you can add to a little bit at a time on the months when you can afford to save.

SIMPLE?… NO. POSSIBLE?…YES. 

You might be sitting there thinking: “That doesn’t sound easy at all”.

Well, once it’s running it’s actually super easy, but ya… it does take a little effort to set up. I’m not saying that it’s simple, but it’s not impossible.

But is it ‘easy’ to live paycheque to paycheque?

Is it ‘easy’ to deal with the uncertainty of every month wondering if you’re going to make it?

What’s ‘easy’ is assuming that things always have to be this way.

That’s the hard truth.

Want to start getting control of your money? How can I help?

Chris Enns

Chris Enns

Financial Planner/Opera Singer

Money never came naturally to me. In fact… I was a bit of a disaster. I remember (very clearly) what it feels like to be ‘financially out of control’.

And honestly, I still get stressed about money… that doesn’t stop… the difference is that now I have the tools to deal with that stress.

And those tools are what’s made it possible for me to build a life full of the things I want: art, creativity, travel, family and more.

If you want to start getting control of your money I’d love to help. You can start with THIS QUIZ, visiting my GETTING STARTED PAGE by checking out my SERVICES page.

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SHOULD I BE SAVING OR SPENDING? THE LIFE CYCLE OF AN ARTIST

SHOULD I BE SAVING OR SPENDING? THE LIFE CYCLE OF AN ARTIST

by | Oct 22, 2015 | Living with Variable Income, Saving, Variable Income

So there’s an article flowing around the inter webs that’s made some waves in the personal finance community:

IF YOU HAVE SAVINGS IN YOUR 20s, YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG

Now I imagine that for some of you just reading this title sent a wave of justification through your soul. And that, even though you’ll probably agree that it’s an exercise in click bait extremism, some of you might be on board with its general premise.

“Why should I ‘waste’ my 20s saving and scrimping? I should be living life to the fullest.”

I’ll admit that in amongst its “learn to treat yo’ self” insanity, the piece makes a few actual points, like… how spending money on networking and investing in yourself can pay off fully in the long run. That’s a huge truth for entrepreneurial types (like artists).

But like many one-size-fits-all statements it probably fails to address your reality, beautiful snowflake that you are. However, it brings up a super basic question that I think tons of variable income artists struggle with whenever a big cheque comes in:

Should I be saving or spending? (more…)

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Dealing with Variable Income: Step one – KNOW YOUR NUMBER

Dealing with Variable Income: Step one – KNOW YOUR NUMBER

by | Mar 5, 2015 | Variable Income

Know your Number

Your number is what your life costs.

Knowing how much YOUR life costs, is a really important piece of information, especially for those of us living on variable income.

You know that fantastic feeling. You’ve just been cut a check for 4,000 dollars. Let the caviar RAAAIIIINNNN!!!!

Or wait. I’m not working for the next couple of months. I wonder how much of this cheque I’m going to need…

So you do some quick calculations, add up your rent, what you imagine you spend on food, a phone bill… oh right, and internet…..um.. There’s probably lots left. I’m just gonna make it rain a little bit, then go hot air ballooning with my friends… okay????

*Sigh*

This is why you need to know your number!!! (more…)

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