Welcome!
Welcome to issue #1 of The Artist’s Money Studio newsletter. My studio is a place for financial and career guidance for people in the arts and anyone who wants to think creatively about their financial life.
This newsletter will contain updates on the studio, some fresh musings on financial and career planning, and a featured resource. My intention is to send out a fresh newsletter every month or so.
Latest News
The Artist’s Money Studio is officially open for business! I am starting to build a client base. I have been putting up postcards in places artists frequent in the Boston area, as well as building on my network to spread the word about the studio.
Musings of the Month
If you are having trouble with spending more than they earn, or not being able to save enough, or struggling with debt, there are two things you can try to fix the problem: earn more or spend less. Or, better yet, you can do some of both. However, must financial budgeting tools assume you have a set income and that you are trying to prioritize your spending habits to fit within the given income.
I believe that as much as prioritizing spending, it’s important to consider changes to your income as well. Perhaps you are earning less than you could in your current job or would consider a new job. Maybe you have a business and could make it more profitable. Or maybe, conversely, you don’t enjoy your current work and are considering changing to something more fulfilling but with lower pay. All of these situations show the importance of considering your entire financial life as a whole.
Still, the question of income is not always simple. Many people stay in unrewarding work because they need reliable income, lack access to better opportunities, or face social constraints that shape what choices feel possible. Reducing your spending might feel more in your control than increasing your income. Nevertheless, I believe it is often worth looking for the choices that do exist, even when they are limited. As Brown and Lent put it, “Agency tends to come in bottles that are neither completely full nor empty.”
If someone doesn’t want to think about changing their income right now, I will honor that and focus on spending. The tools I have developed will work well for thinking about spending habits, savings, and getting out of debt. The ability to work on income is an added benefit of these tools. And even if working on their income isn’t in someone’s immediate future, it might be something they consider in the long run. If you take the longer view, thinking about your whole financial life, now and in the future, becomes worthwhile again.
Resource of the Month
Working with both income and expenses is facilitated by my Two-Way Budget Planner. It contains separate tabs for income, on the one hand, and spending and debt, on the other, and shows a summary comparison of whether your income is meeting your expenses. On the income side, the representation is quite advanced, including a variety of different kinds of income, a rough estimate of taxes so you have an idea of net spendable income, and the ability to model a business in detail. The spending side will be more familiar to people. A useful feature is that debt payment is integrated right into the spending plan, with the ability to visualize different payment methods similar to Power Pay.
The Two-Way Budget Planner has several additional interesting and powerful features:
You can specify the current level of an expense item, the minimum level you could live with, and a target to aim for that is sustainable. Similarly, on the income side, the current income from a given source, the maximum realistically feasible, and a sustainable target. The approach is to start from the extremes and gradually fill the gap to something you are happy to commit to.
You can include whichever categories you want in the budget form; with any categories you don’t want hidden. You can also add new categories, as well as add or remove items within a category.
You can ask what-if questions by turning a category or an item on or off. For example, what if I took on this side gig, or what if a debt was paid off?
Like all my resources, the Two-Way Budget Planner is free to use. It is hosted by my website. If you’d like to use it, please go ahead, and I’d be happy to answer any questions.
That’s all for now. I hope you all keep well. If there is anyone you think would be interested in this newsletter, please forward it to them.
Thank you,
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