Money Matters Part 1: Rocky Beginnings
2022 marks the beginning of my fifth year as a professional actor (!!!)
I feel very lucky to still be doing this. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing, but it has pushed me to grow in so many ways. One of them is learning how to manage my money. I know money is a sensitive topic, but now more than ever, it is important to consider how to make it work for you, especially if you work in the arts industry during the pandemic.
I would like to share my story with money in three parts, starting with how I began. I don’t claim to be a financial expert, but I hope you’ll take away something useful from my story. I also hope this inspires you to build a life that works for you with however much money you have.
Rocky Beginnings
I’d like to start by acknowledging the privileges I’ve had: I grew up in a middle-class family and went to public schools in Hong Kong with good reputations. My parents paid for half of my university education abroad and I took out a student loan for the rest. I am able to speak the local language fluently in the city that I work in after graduation.
Without delving into too much detail, there was some financial trouble in my family after quitting my first job as an English teacher in November 2017. By December 2018, we had to surrender our family home. I took up my married friends’ offer to stay with them until I could find a place of my own. Hong Kong is one of the most expensive cities to live in, so most people live at home until they are married. That was my plan too, so it was a huge shock to the system when it was no longer an option.
Let’s backtrack a little: when I started my new career as a freelance performer in January 2018, I wasn’t making much at all, given I had few network contacts and the only drama experience I’ve had was from high school, plus two more productions since then. I took whatever gig I could get: teaching Drama to English-as-a-Second Language students, assisting other Lead Teachers in their classes, doing bits of performing, puppetry, translation, and voiceover. I was still living at home at the time, and being constantly aware of how the family financial situation is going to go downhill from there, I started bracing preparing myself before the inevitable disaster (which turned out to be the end of that same year).
First, I had to clear my university student debt using the savings I had from my English-teaching job and money from my mother’s life insurance. Then I came across this amazing women-led YouTube channel called The Financial Diet and started educating myself on basic things such as budgeting (see video below) and saving. Tracking my spending helped me identify the areas where I tend to spend unnecessary money, so I would find ways to cut down or get creative with getting things for cheap. As I said, I wasn’t making much at all freelancing, but I would automate a few hundred HKD towards my Savings account every month. The goal was simply to consistently put money aside, no matter how much.
It felt like watching tiny drops of water dripping into a bucket, but I told myself, when I make more, I’ll put in more.
I had no idea what people make on average as an actor, and to this day it is still quite hard to quantify. One thing I had to do was to swallow my embarrassment and (as tactfully as I could) ask my actor friends about their hourly rate (or an approximate range if they don’t want to say it). Unfortunately, for non-acting jobs, people care a lot about qualifications in Hong Kong and many companies didn’t think I was a legitimate candidate since I didn’t have a drama school degree. Some companies aren’t as strict but I’ve had people tell me they will only hire me if I get a TESOL certification because schools prefer them. I am thankful to the friend who talked me out of paying unnecessary money when she told me that my English level is enough for me to do the job. I know I was still underpaid, and sometimes I joined things for free just to meet other actors, but I trusted that with a few more years of experience, I can afford to charge more.
Moving Forward
After moving in with my friends, I kept up my saving habits and continued to live frugally. It felt amazing when I managed to pull together an Emergency Fund of a few months’ worth of living expenses. But that’s just the start of a long road to financial freedom…
I always hear about having a clear goal in mind to help you stick to your saving habits. I agree to a certain extent. My initial goal was saving 6 months’ worth of living expenses, but after that, I didn’t know exactly what I was saving up for.
I wanted to be honest about the dark side of this learning process. After going through financial instability, the plan is to save as much as I could in case of another financial disaster. I admit it’s not the best motivation… but it was certainly effective. So ‘effective’ that I would foresee my future crumbling because I kept buying a Kit Kat here and there whenever I felt stressed, and it drove me into anxiety because it meant taking away money I could be needing in the future. I have since been working through this with my therapist and talked about ways to make allowance for fun while balancing having self-restraint.
Going to drama school has always been on my mind but back then, I wasn’t 100% sure if that was the right investment. Some say it is worth having formal training, others say is it not necessary to become a successful actor. I find myself falling into the thinking that having a drama degree makes me a ‘real’ actor. Looking back now, it’s completely untrue, but I see there is still value in pursuing formal training.
I had to think carefully about what I aim to get out of drama school if/when I do decide to go for it. In any case, I decided to keep putting money aside and by the time I decide to go for it, I’ll have had an early headstart.
Personal Takeaways
Just. Start. Saving. A little bit put aside consistently is better than nothing.
Fun is allowed. Being frugal with your spending is a challenge, but that doesn’t mean you can’t treat yourself to new clothes or fancy coffee from time to time. I find having a small stash of Fun Money (accounted for in my Monthly Budget) helps me to balance enjoying life with being money-conscious.
Forgive yourself for not knowing better before. Once I started seeing my spending patterns, it was a bit discouraging to know I could’ve used every dollar better. Congratulate yourself for being brave enough to face the facts, and see this as an opportunity to make a new choice.
Budgets are supposed to be flexible and help you achieve the things you want, not restrict you from enjoying life. Simply put, it’s a plan to make the most of your hard-earned money and assign them to different areas of your life. Some months you may spend more in certain categories (eg. higher electricity bills the summer because of air-conditioning, buying Christmas gifts in December). Remember to plan accordingly and keep adjusting those figures month-by-month.
You CAN be a little picky with the contracts offered to you! It is okay to walk away from people/companies that don’t pay you what you deserve. Of course, the reality is there are a lot of unpaid work or not enough compensation in the arts industry, but there is a difference between people who can pay more but won’t versus the people who can only pay you so much. It is up to you to decide what is worth your time and energy. When first starting out, you have to bite the bullet to a certain extent, but it is not necessary to take every project offered to you. Go for the contracts that you don’t mind doing for less pay, and the ones that can give you valuable experience.
Know your worth. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics, a few years of informal drama experience under my belt, and my English proficiency is native level (my mother tongue is Cantonese, but I’m more fluent in English). Many people will justify paying you very little because you don’t have ‘nice to have’ qualifications like a TESOL certificate, or that schools/parents prefer to have ‘native English speakers’ (aka. white people) teaching their kids. I’m not joking; I literally had a woman offer me a lower rate when she offered a higher price to the Caucasian colleague who referred me to do the same job. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS BULL$#!%. There will be better companies that believe in you and find value in what you bring to the table, however much experience you have.
Research about the market price. People use GlassDoor to finding out about the average pay in their industry, but it’s not as clear-cut for arts practitioners since most of us are freelancers. Brave the awkwardness and start discussions with trusted friends in the industry about how much they got paid for past gigs, how much they’d typically charge per hour, etc.
The Starving Artist is a stereotype. Forbes posted an excellent article here that challenged my misconception of what it means to be a ‘good’ artist. It’s not necessary to struggle financially through life in order to create groundbreaking art with a message (although it can). In the article, Jen Rudolph said, “The ‘starving artist’ mentality is a means of disempowering yourself and not taking responsibility for your destiny.” I’d go further to say that getting your finances in order helps you create better art when you’re not consumed by worries about rent or food.
Therapy is always, always, ALWAYS worth it. It’s not cheap, but there are affordable options. I started with counselling students doing their Master’s practicum, and some places do a sliding scale system (you pay a certain amount in proportion to your income). Financial instability and freelancing can really take a toll on your mental health, so it’s important to take care of that part of your life if you want to have a good career in the arts.
I’d love to hear from you if you have any questions or things you want to share! I’ll leave you here with a video that helped me start my financial journey. Stay tuned for Part Two of this story :)
