How The F*** Do I Support Myself Financially?

[Callum Milner]

My life purpose is acting I'm 17 years old, next year I'm heading off to university and will likely have around 50K debt by the end of a three year course. The problem is with acting I won't be able to find a steady income, unless I get a minimum wage job which will be full time which kinda defeats the point of this entire thing. What do I do? I'm trying to stay away from a victim mindset, I know there are ways to solve this but how? Can someone point me to resources or at least point me in the right direction of how to set it up so that I can have a strategy to survive?

[Live Life Liam]

9 minutes ago, Callum Milner said:

My life purpose is acting I'm 17 years old, next year I'm heading off to university and will likely have around 50K debt by the end of a three year course. The problem is with acting I won't be able to find a steady income, unless I get a minimum wage job which will be full time which kinda defeats the point of this entire thing. What do I do? I'm trying to stay away from a victim mindset, I know there are ways to solve this but how? Can someone point me to resources or at least point me in the right direction of how to set it up so that I can have a strategy to survive?

Why do you need to go to university if you want to be an actor? I'm just mentioning this to save you a lot of time and money. We have been conditioned a lot to believe we need to follow the education system if we ever have a chance at success and if we don't then we will be broke or something but there are alternatives. I don't know exactly what to suggest since I'm 17 also and at the moment still working things out myself. I live by myself and am supporting myself a little bit but through public speaking and I am still a little bit in the education system but actually want to quit for good and start a business anyway. What I can say though is you have the ability to do this but you might need to think out of the box a little. 

Have you been to any auditions so far or is this the beginning of your journey?

[Tancrede Pouyat]

Life Purpose is a much smarter long term financial strategy than the typical 9-to-5 career, so you're on the right track.

Do acting on the side, become a really great, talented actor. Start auditioning, try to start making money. At the end of college, you might need to get a job unless the acting thing is really kicking off. If you focus a lot on doing your best at acting and fulfilling your life purpose, the money thing will just figure itself out.

Also, learn as much as you can about great acting, and practice. Practice, practice, practice. In college, you have much more free time than when you have a job, so make the most of it. 

[Callum Milner]

Thanks for responding everyone  I actually discovered a video after posting this that may have completely solved this problem for me. If anyone's interested here it is, holy shit this stuff is powerful.

 

[MIARIVEL]

@Callum Milner If university is really what you want to do then this is the risk we all take. I have had my life coaching business for a while and I am still not at the place I want to be financially in my business. However, I am still studying at university and working a full time 8-5 job to be able to support myself. I am doing what I need to do to be where I want to be for my future. Don't let having a closed mindset get you in your own way of what is important to you. As a lot of successful people will tell you, if this is what you really want then you will find a way to make it all happen and it all starts with planning, goal setting and execution. Start in small steps. You can research other ways you can make money while at university e.g. get a part time job, look in the local paper for small jobs like mowing the lawn for people or cleaning, there are people out there looking for other people to test their products and their willing to pay you for it. 

Budget incoming finances so you have enough to live and x amount to pay off debts etc. There are plenty of ways to make money to pay off for your course, however you will need to put in the time and effort and work the debt off. This doesn't all happen in one hit (unless you win the lottery) wouldn't we all love that.

[Schulzy]

I agree with what the other guy said, basically you should question yourself why do you want to go to the university in the first place, is it because of social conditioning or because you really want it?

Don't get in debt if theres no reason for it. When he said think outside of box it means think outside of social conditioning.

[Xpansion]

Over here in Australia many of the most successful actors went to university to study acting. The national institute of dramatic arts or NIDA is arguably the best pathway to a career in acting here.  Do you not have something similar where you live?   Is there a reason why you are not choosing to take this path if it's what you really want to do?   Don't take the safest option whatever you do. 

[Live Life Liam]

On 07/11/2016 at 10:53 AM, Callum Milner said:

My life purpose is acting I'm 17 years old, next year I'm heading off to university and will likely have around 50K debt by the end of a three year course. The problem is with acting I won't be able to find a steady income, unless I get a minimum wage job which will be full time which kinda defeats the point of this entire thing. What do I do? I'm trying to stay away from a victim mindset, I know there are ways to solve this but how? Can someone point me to resources or at least point me in the right direction of how to set it up so that I can have a strategy to survive?

DON'T take the safe option. Risk everything and you will be given everything! 

[The Monk]

@Callum Milner You could potentially take out a student loan if you are struggling financially, which requires you to make at least 25,000 before paying anything back. Which means, you won't necessarily have to pay anything back, unless you make the money. However, if you do make the money don't worry as it can easily be repaid monthly, and I'm sure the loans are very flexible, as well as it depends on your University degree and accommodation costs, if you wish to live there.  But, I suppose it depends on which country you live in. In the UK this is what we have available to students with limited funding wishing to learn. 

 

Do some research and take a look around! Good luck! 

Edited December 3, 2016 by Aamir King

[Leo Gura]

@Callum Milner You may need to develop another marketable skill besides acting in order to help finance your acting career. Some life purposes require building up capital. Sometimes the route isn't directly A > B. Sometimes you gotta jump through hoops while keeping your eye on the prize.

For example, rather than being a waiter, maybe you could learn some programming or graphic designs skills to finance yourself through college or during those periods where you don't have acting gigs.

Remember, you are allowed to be strategic in pursuing your purpose. Just don't get lost in the side-gigs.

And especially if you're young, you might need to spend a few years building up capital to open some doors.

[Thomas]

@Callum Milner

Just look at yourself like You'd look on statistics of an RPG character - yeah, your main job is acting, but You also have some other perks that, surprisingly, may be rentable. You never know how many people could use your help or even that there are some individuals who will pay You for it. Invest in your character rather than focusing on a task-reward system.

Example with me: 4 years ago I partially fell in love with sports physiology & nutrition and I also happen to be a nerd - Having an attitude that everything has to be perfectly supported by science, so I ended up involved in reading textbooks and taking seminars. It's a grind and hard to process thing, but I can promise this:  One textbook, read thoroghly, is worth more than 10 months of "researching" articles and pubmed every day for 8 hours/day.

At first, it was purely for me - trying to look better, improve self-esteem etc., didn't even think there is any money in this.
But in a matter of 3 years of self-education for my purposes only I've discovered that I was wrong.

I can study at medical university, which is very hard itself alone and afford to not work 9 to 5 job, because I coach 90% of my clients online.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Thomas

[Rocky]

I was in the exact same situation as you, now im a freshman at university and will finish my course with about $8500 of debt for a 4 year degree in mechatronics when my alternative option would be finishing uni with over $60,000 debt, how? Leave the country and shop about for cheaper alternatives, who ever said you have study within your country, my situation may be easier as im an EU citizen and rates for me are cheaper in various European nations for that reason, but i know that some nations such as Norway (a non EU nation) offer courses that are taught in English for free and for a small fee per semester offer unlimited free health care, councilling, student discounts, free public facility usage and etc, even to foreigners. (i study in the Netherlands btw) but when you look at Uni/college fees in the US,UK or Australia they are ridiculously pricey compared to most foreign alternatives which are often taught in English too.

 

Or if possible look into the Open university, i believe that may be cheaper too.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Rocky