Save Money

The secret to saving money is always to spend less than you earn. After all, if you earn only $500 a week, you can't spend more than $500 a week, or you'll gradually go into debt. Earning more money is rarely the solution, either, because many people who can't handle $500 a week aren't likely to be any better at handling $500,000 a week.

The best way to stop yourself from spending more money than you make is to deposit a certain percentage of each paycheck into a savings account. Then use the remaining part of your paycheck to pay your bills.

The percentage of each paycheck that you save should remain consistent, such as always saving 10 percent. So, for example,. if you earn $1,000, save $100 for yourself and use the remaining $900 to pay you bills.

You need to allocate part of every paycheck toward developing your future acting career. That may include buying new headshots, traveling to auditions in other cities, or taking additional classes in acting, voice, singing, dancing, or improvisation.

Saving a certain percentage of every paycheck takes discipline, which is something that every professional actor should try to develop. The more money you're committed to saving, the more financially secure you can be. That way if an emergency strikes, such as your car breaking down, your acting career won't go into a tailspin because you can't afford to get your car fixed, and without a care, you can't get to as many auditions as you'd like.

Saving money also removes the desperation that often plagues actors who have less than two weeks to come up with their rent money or face eviction. The more desperate you are, the more likely it will taint any audition you do. The more relaxed and confident you are, the more likely you'll succeed at your next audition. For that reason alone, you simply can't afford not to save money to provide a cushion to finance your acting career.

After you're a member of one of the actors' unions, you're eligible to join the Actors Federal Credit Union, located in New York City. Like most credit unions, the Actors Federal Credit Union generally pays a slightly higher interest rate on savings accounts and charges slightly lower interest rates on loans. Best of all, because the Actors Federal Credit Union caters to actors, it understands the often bizarre nature of the entertainment industry. So although a regular bank may frown upon loaning money to someone without a regular history of work, the Actors Federal Credit Union may be more understanding. (That doesn't mean that they'll loan you any money; it just means they would be more aware to the needs of an actor.)