Harness Your Inner Buffet
by Kevin Urban
Last month our Savvy Coach Doug Shapiro wrote about finding “your inner Stockard Channing.” This month I want to help you find your inner Buffet, not Jimmy, but Warren – the billionaire that is.
Warren Buffet is a master of getting his money to work for him. He doesn’t try to find some fancy investment strategies. His strategy is to stick to what he knows. He doesn’t over complicate. Instead he lives modestly and invests in only those companies he knows something about.
As actors we need to focus on our finances. At The Savvy Actor we always talk about finances being the backbone of your business. You need to have money in order to live and pursue your goals, especially if living in NYC or LA. Your finances and how you manage them are as much a part of your artistry as your talent.
So learn from Mr. Buffet, simplify your approach and start by tracking your finances. What are your monthly bills? Your fixed expenses? Your variable expenses? What are you spending on your acting career each month?
I recently came across Mint.com. Mint is an aggregator, meaning it pulls your online financial information from your bank accounts and works on both Mac and PC. It gives you at-a-glance information about your finances in graph form. It’s simple, not technical, and very intuitive. For example, it categorized Starbucks for me as dining. Lord knows, there were a lot of Starbucks to categorize! You can also set up various budgets (ie. acting, living, entertainment.) It even sends you alerts when you exceed those budgets, deposits are made or fees have been assessed to your account. Plus it’s got an iPhone application for keeping track of your finances on the go.
By focusing on your finances you’ll start to get a handle on your total monthly nut and you’ll be able to use your finances to help you make decisions for your acting career.
Your financial strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t have to invest in something you know nothing about. All you have to do is stick to your plan and begin to harness your inner Buffet.
