I spent the first six years of my career working in professional theater. True to the classic “starving artist” stereotype, I held my fair share of side jobs during that time, including hostessing, personal assisting and babysitting.
Between late night restaurant shifts and early morning auditions, I would muse about the future with my fellow artists and dreamers. We’d daydream about how our lives would transform once we had “made” it. To us, some arbitrary measure of career success, be it booking a Broadway show or a national commercial, carried all the solutions to our present woes.
As I started living out my dream though, progressively hitting higher self-imposed benchmarks of success, I found that my problems weren’t disappearing. Sure, I was no longer stressing over client spreadsheets and chronically unsatisfied restaurant regulars, but I was still worried about money. Unlike my fantasy of living the dream, the reality of the dream wasn’t some magic bullet for righting all monetary wrongs.
I have since cheered on many a friend and coworker as they’ve lived out their own aspirations, including on Broadway, television and film. I’ve also commiserated with them about the financial difficulties of those realities.
Max Jenkins, one such successful friend, currently starring in NBC’s hit series, “The Mysteries of Laura” alongside Debra Messing, shared his financial frustrations. “I’ve been feeling so disillusioned because I feel like my hometown [Manhattan] has become too expensive for me to sustain a life here, and I have an amazing job!”
Turns out living the dream requires a commitment to financial planning as much as any other reality, struggling or not. There are no guarantees, even when you’re outwardly successful. So whether you’re just starting out or well on your way to stardom, consider implementing these strategies for living the dream on a budget.
Cut essential costs. “My main money saving technique has been to live at home with my parents. I’m lucky I even have parents who live in Manhattan,” Jenkins says.
Whether it’s renting from mom and dad or splitting housing costs with a roommate, reducing your basic cost of living can go a long way toward freeing up money for savings. Work to fund future financial goals or build a buffer for premature job loss or both. Whatever the goal, maximizing savings through cost cutting strategies can provide increased flexibility and freedom from financial stress.
Track everything. An unpredictable schedule of income presents another financial challenge. Every dreamer should stay grounded in the reality of their finances by implementing a budget and tracking the destination of every dollar and by keeping spending well within the parameters of current income realities and away from interest-inducing debt.
Automate when possible. Living the dream, whether it’s artistic, entrepreneurial or otherwise, demands a lot of reinvestment. Spending on further training, networking opportunities and career tools can put a major strain on already limited resources. With all that reinvestment in your career, it’s easy to delay or forgo investing in yourself.
Musician and actor Justin Guarini of “American Idol” fame uses automation to make sure he pays himself first. “Auto bill pay, auto savings transfer, auto alerts, auto everything! My creative brain likes to rebel against those kinds of responsibilities, so I set it free by making the bank and software work for me,” he says.
Self-educate. While dreams vary, the reality of finances is constant. No one can afford to ignore their money and chalk it up to “being bad at math,” whether they’re artists or any other kind of dreamers.
Take the time to foster financial literacy. Go beyond budgeting for today and start learning how to plan for tomorrow with retirement accounts and investments. Develop strategies for building credit and paying down debt. Everyone needs a basic understanding of how financial vehicles work and how their chosen lifestyle and career plays into the numbers. Dreams can’t thrive if they’re continually stunted by financial stress.
Rather than blowing his entire TV show salary on a luxury apartment rental, Jenkins is living his dream with eyes on the prize: He’s using the savings generated from living at home to save up enough to buy his own place one day. “I’m not there yet, but I’ve managed to open a couple retirement accounts.” Whatever the future of his dream holds, he’ll be prepared with enough savings and financial savvy to have the freedom to choose what comes next.
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Living the Dream on a Budget originally appeared on usnews.com
