When I first started escorting/sugaring, I used to not be able to make ends meet even though I would make a decent amount of money. I was always late on bills, and credit card payments. I had no savings and I wouldn’t know where my money went.
This summer was a little tough for me because I moved to Toronto and it required 2 months rent as a deposit then when I got back to Montréal I was moving out of my apartment and had to give another 2 months of rent.. I also had 9500 CAD credit card debt and unpaid bills here and there.
I got really tired of living like so I decided to give budgeting a try. It took a lot of trial and error to find something that worked for me and my lifestyle. So this is what I have been doing for the past 2 months:
Your overhead is the fixed bills, so any expenses you feel is necessary to you; your rent, you bills (phone, wifi, utilities, insurance payments), your groceries, pet expenses if you have any, any subscription that you have (Netflix, Chegg, Gym). I personally have a word document with everything written so I know exactly how much I HAVE to make just to survive.
2- Know exactly how much debt you have (if you have any)
I know it’s hard to open your bank account and see exactly how much you owe but you need to know the exact amount and write it down so you can approximate how much time it would take to pay that off.
You need to write down your financial goals (I wrote mine on the same word document). Do you want to buy a house? A car? Go on a vacation? Get plastic surgery? All these things require money and you need to know exactly what you want to work for. Example:
4- Have a monthly income goal (Optional)
I know that in this industry, income can vary every month but personally I like to have an income goal just to know approximately how much money I have left to work with after my overhead is all paid.
BUT NOW THE DAY TO DAY BUDGETING: (hardest part)
I have a word document where I log in every single purchase I make on a daily basis to know exactly where my money goes and at the end of every week, I go through it to see where I can cut down costs and what I can do to spend less.
What I log in this word document:
Income: I write down every dollar I receive; student loans, parents, boyfriends, sex work.
Business expenses: For example, if I make 800$ on one night but I bought a 20$ pack of condoms I will write it down as (Monday: 800$ - 20$ condoms) so I can know how much I really made.
Bills: Pretty self explanatory. Whatever bill I paid off that week.
School expenses: If I ever need to buy a textbook, notebooks, etc.
Unusual expenses: Expenses that don’t occur every month; if you get sick and buy medicine or go to the doctor, if you had to buy a new charger for your laptop, took your family out for dinner.. etc. Things like that
AND THEN the most important part, your DAILY spendings. I have a table with 4 columns: groceries & laundry, other, beauty maintenance, shopping.
Groceries and laundry: I only give myself 120$ a week to do my groceries and make any purchases like detergent, laundry fees, toothpaste.. etc
Other: (60-80$) anything that is extra; Starbucks, dinner with friends, ordering in.. etc. It keeps you accountable on how much you spend on unnecessary stuff.
Beauty maintenance and shopping: necessary to this industry; facials, eyebrows, waxing.. etc. I do my best to keep my cost low on the maintenance column by making home facials, home mani pedis and shopping when there are sales.
The good thing about logging in your expenses is that it keeps you accountable. When you open that document and see you spent over 300$ a month on Starbucks, you’re gonna start thinking twice before doing that. At least that’s what worked for me. I stopped ordering in or going out to eat (unless someone’s paying). I cook and make my own coffee. I do my own facials and manicures (most of the time). I don’t uber anymore, I only take the public transit unless I’m really forced to. I also used to give myself a weekly credit card payment goal when I had debt, so if I reach it, I can do what I want with the rest of the money (Save it, treat yourself.. etc). I am doing the same thing right now with my savings.
AND MOST IMPORTANT, DO NOT SPEND MONEY YOU DON’T HAVE YET. BIGGEST MISTAKE SEX WORKERS MAKE. ONLY SPEND WHAT YOU PHYSICALLY HAVE.
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