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Thread: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

  1. #1
    God/dess Lysondra's Avatar
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    Default Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    I'm contemplating my work schedule. I make roughly $300 a night and rent is $190 a week. I could work 1 night a week if I wished and live minimally. Or I could work two nights and live pretty comfortably. But if I work 5 nights that's $1500 a week and $190 rent which is a $1300 profit. But even though it doesn't wear me out nearly as much at the new Brisbane club...I want to spend my days pursuing other interests... but those interests cost money.

    What would you do? If I did this for 10+ years and spent $300 a week on other stuff... I could have over $480,000 saved up and buy myself a nice house in the future.

    What would you do?

    Work hard now for investments later or work less now to get college for potential investing later?

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    Featured Member francescadubois's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    ^^^Ooh, good one. If you would work the 5 nights and do very aggressive investing, you could have great returns.

    If you do like I did and spend all your money on school, you'll have the paper (which may or may not be an investment) to get into the job market and have that to fall back on.

    I guess it depends on how risky you are feeling. What are your plans after dancing?

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    God/dess Lysondra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    I want to be a sexual psychiatrist and help couples in their sex lives and promote safe sex at schools. Highly valued position. Roughly 100k investment.

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    Featured Member francescadubois's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    ^^^Well, you gotta invest in the degree, then! Why don't you do 3 nights? That's what I did in undergrad! Just make sure to give yourself a break around finals!!!

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    God/dess cinammonkisses's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    Currently, I work 2x per week...which is just enough to live by. I wish I could be one of those "power strippers" who can work 4+ shifts/week, but it's not for me.







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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    I would treat dancing as a traditional career and work the 5 nights per week without fail, I would work to gain financial security which is something most dancers fail to do. Treat this job as your good customers treat this career, and save at least 1/3 of what you make per week.

    But, have a plan for how you can use maybe 1/2 of your savings after a certain period of time that will provide a new source of income for you that will eventually make you financially secure for life.

    Don't assume however that dancing will provide a stable amount of earnings 250 or so days a year for 5-10 years. This business is on the decline. Accumulate as much money as you can now, and keep your eyes open for business opportunities down the line that can make you secure financially. Evaluate what you want to take in college, the costs, the career opportunities and how much they pay and see what is ultimately right for you.

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    God/dess Lysondra's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    Yeah the thing is...in Brisbane I REALLY don't mind working 5 nights a week (all the nights Velvet is open) so I could do POWERSTRIPPERARGH! But my weekends are MY weekends damnit. Haha. With the disease in my body I can't work and am stressing out. My boyfriend is working extra hours to pay my rent while I recover. I don't want to be in this situation again so I'm going to HEAVEHODIVE into work once I get back into it and make sure I get at least $3k in savings...but after that I'm thinking of cooling down... or even taking a small break? Give my poor damaged soul time to heal.

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    Moderator Djoser's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    You could choose option D--get into something else that's not so stressful, and do both--say dance two nights a week, and have your own business or a decent-paying job that will combine to give you a good income.

    This has been my goal since I started DJing, but I always seem to wind up getting sucked into working way more nights than I would have chosen, or intended from the start.

    Consequently, I have twice now (or maybe more, but definitely twice) not only let the architectural drawing thing whither on the vine, but gotten burned out from too much involvement in the business.

    Both times this happened, the clubs were not really the kind I should have been in, and caused more stress than they were worth. But I digress yet again, sorry.

    It doesn't sound so bad, stress-wise, where you are working, but maybe you could start to think about other business interests, and maybe this could be a profitable option you haven't yet considered, that could give you the most happiness.

    Surely you deserve that...
    You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.
    Friedrich Nietzsche

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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    Quote Originally Posted by Djoser
    Consequently, I have twice now (or maybe more, but definitely twice) not only let the architectural drawing thing whither on the vine, but gotten burned out from too much involvement in the business.
    Architectural drawing? My love for you just doubled.





    More on topic:
    Why don't you make 5 nights a goal with a minimum of three?



    Because there ain't no tits on the radio

  10. #10
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    Ahhh, we've now touched on the very heart of "Wealth Building" - which essentially boils down to making your money work for you in the future instead of having to keep working yourself ...

    In this specific case, your dancer earnings potential is currently at its maximum. Every year that goes by will make you another year older and will bring a ton of brand new dancers into the business. Every year that goes by will bring stricter anti-dance club regulations, lower / fewer blue collar union paychecks, tighter tax enforcement etc. Thus you are currently in a position to generate more cash from the effort of dancing than you're ever likely to be in the future.

    Then there's the issues of the time value of money, passive income, compound interest etc. People who do have money to invest smartly right now can achieve very good rates of return, simply because most Americans / Aussies etc. are in debt up to their eyeballs and must pay higher and higher interest rates to keep attracting foreign investment to support growing piles of debt.

    If you put these two factors together, dancing 5 nights a week and establishing an investment portfolio, you can build a source of passive income quicker than you think. If you were to contribute say $50,000 per year to that investment portfolio and could average 10% return on reasonably safe investments (which is actually fairly easy to do right now), after a year you would have around $52,500. After two years you would have $110,200. After three years you would have $162,750. After four years you would have $231,500. And after five years you would have $307,177 ! At that point, your little nest egg could theoretically generate $30,700 per year in passive income forever if you were to quit dancing, embark on a different career, and never contribute one additional dollar to your investment portfolio (again assuming an average 10% return on reasonably safe investments).

    Thus if you were to dance full time for 5 years, control your spending, and consistently add to your investment portfolio, you'd be in a position to get your college degree at that point and pursue whatever interested you with enough passive income coming in to pretty much guarantee that basic living expenses were covered (forever). If you were to do the same thing for 10 years instead of 5 years, you'd almost be a millionaire, and you'd have enough passive income coming in to live comfortably forever while pursuing whatever interests you choose (as I do LOL).

    IMHO people who insist that sacrificing four years of maximum dancing earnings potential right now in order to obtain a college degree which is actually of little or no added value in terms of straight job earnings potential vs dancing are actually limiting the ability of dancers to maximize their future economic situation. However, the dancing full time right now and going to college later scenario is ABSOLUTELY DEPENDENT ON FINANCIAL DISCIPLINE. Some girls can manage this, and some cannot. Without the discipline, a dancer can find herself 5-10 years older, with dancer earnings potential in rapid decline, having blown all of her previous earnings, not being able to survive without an active income to pay next months bills, no money set aside for college tuition, and financially 'stuck' for the rest of her life. But it strikes me that you have the necessary determination and discipline to pull this off very successfully !
    !~
    Last edited by Melonie; 04-23-2006 at 06:42 AM.

  11. #11
    God/dess Lena's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    What Melonie said... I backed off from dancing to get a college degree and do other things and I wish I'd just danced full time and banked the money.



  12. #12
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    ^^^ well, the 'you must go to college at all costs in order to be successful' paradigm worked very successfully in the 70's and 80's, but started to falter in the 90's and is rarely true today. Parents, school advisors etc. still recommend it on the mistaken basis that 'you'll always have your degree to fall back on'. However in today's world of rapidly changing technology, 'imported' Asian talent offering bachelor's degree work for blue collar pay etc. the actual cash value of that degree is far below what it was in the economy your parents and school advisors grew up in !

    It's true that a 'retired' dancer with a college degree will be in a better position to keep earning a decent active income for the rest of her life than a 'retired' dancer without a college degree who has blown all of her dancing earnings who must earn an active income doing blue collar work. But with dedication and discipline, this scenario can be avoided. I won't say that this is easy, because it is all too tempting to look at a $250,000 investment portfolio balance and start thinking 'hey I can afford that fancy car, or a killer vacation, or a plasma TV, or only dancing 2 nights next week'. Doing any of these things will derail your 'cash flow train' and prevent you from achieving your objective.

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    God/dess GoldCoastGirl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    Here's a good scenario: work 3 nights minimum with the option of doing the other two nights at all times depending on how you feel and the 'scene' in the club. The other alternative is to do 4-5 night a week for 3 weeks with ever fourth week being a 'rest' week (either not working at all or only working 2-3 nights if possible)... this way you can starve off burn-out as well as make good money (and invest it).

    Curiosity, how many hours is each 'shift/night' for you? If the shifts are only 5 hours shifts then working 5 nights per week would be easy to do continually until you felt you were at a point where you could cut back. If the shifts are closer to 7-8 hour shifts, you really need to think of your body and thus work 3 shifts with the option of working more if you feel up to it (and you think it will be worth it).

    Take it from me... you will eventually feel wear n tear on your body thanks to dancing so you can either go hard now whilst your body and mind can take it or just work at a steady pace so as to not suffer from burn out and/or wear n tear too early.


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    God/dess Emily's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    if it was me, I'd work 6 nights per week....and I do. I know you can't, but my point is that this is all a waste if you leave this business with nothing to show for it.

    I could theoretically live off one night per week, but I have a nice house and car, so I need two to meet my expenses. But why stop? The ability to make great money dancing is not something to be taken lightly. it's a gift. You can go to school later if you want. Youc an only dance when you're young.

    oh, and if you're like 99% of the population, the more you make, the more you'll spend....so your savings estimates, while admirable, are probably unrealistic.

  15. #15
    exotisch23
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    I don't really work that much anymore, just sell stuff on ebay or get money from my b/f

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    God/dess scarlett_vancouver's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    It also depends on if you actually want to live...5 nights doesn't seem like a lot, but week in week out, it is. Especially dancing.

    I wonder the same thing...currently I only work enough to pay my bills, pay for school, and put a (very) modest amount away every month. Plus the occasional trip to boost my savings acct. Really, I am making a lower-middle class income when I could be making a hell of a lot more. However, I want this time in my life for other things...life is pretty sweet when you're 26 and not tied down to a job!

    I worked hard for a few years, and got myself to where I am today (some investments, a 75% paid off mortgage and a useless degree and a half ), but I don't remember much of that time in my life, and I don't like that.

    I agree with Melonie in theory, but in practice life is too precious at your age to be that single minded, imo.

    Happy medium, Do 3 days one week, 4 days the next. Or 2 weeks of 6 days, 2 weeks off.

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    God/dess Emily's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    I forgot to mention that my shifts are only 4-5 hours, so I have all day to myself. It's like a mini vacay every day. I also take a week vacation every 3 months to leave the country. I'm really not robostripper.

  18. #18
    BrunetteGoddess
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    This is a tough one girl. I think to get the answer to this question, you need to take a look at your priorities. Do you have anything saved up? Is it important to you to save for the future? Or are you more comfortable living in the right now? Either choice is up to you. If I were you, I'd work my ass off now while I still could. You never know what twist and turns you'll have to deal with, and dancing isn't a stable position. Things happen. Good luck.

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    Veteran Member candie00's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    I would Just mix it up. I would work 2 times a week one week then the next week probley 5.. then the next maybe 3 times a week.. I would just keep switching it up....

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    Featured Member WiseGuy_TX's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    ...i'm curious Melonie. In your entire entertainment career, what guesstimate percentage of dancers have accomplished this monetary feat(saving over $300K) before quitting?
    "Peter, did you take Stewie to a strip-club? He smells like sweat and fear." - Lois and Stewie (Family Guy) ... "Through early morning fog I see, Visions of the things to be, The pains that are withheld for me, I realize and I can see..."

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    Featured Member MadisonM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    I try to work as much as I can. I only work 2-4 days a week while I'm in school, but this summer I plan on working full time as much as I can. I want to make as much as I can now, so that when I'm ready to quit dancing, I'll have a bunch of money saved so that I can take some time off to have kids, or to go back to school and only have to work part time, or whatever else I decide to do in the future.
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    God/dess Emily's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    Quote Originally Posted by WiseGuy_TX
    ...i'm curious Melonie. In your entire entertainment career, what guesstimate percentage of dancers have accomplished this monetary feat(saving over $300K) before quitting?
    you are asusming that everyone that had it told her about it

    I don't talk about exactly what I have saved with ANYONE, not even family.

  23. #23
    Moderator Optimist's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    Quote Originally Posted by WiseGuy_TX
    ...i'm curious Melonie. In your entire entertainment career, what guesstimate percentage of dancers have accomplished this monetary feat(saving over $300K) before quitting?
    You're on to it! I think the vast majority of dancers don't make that kind of money. Of the top earning 10%-20% of dancers in every state, how many make enough to "save $50,000 a year"? Over and above what we spend for our needs, obligations, how many of us can save $50,000 in a year?

    As for becoming rich, $300,000 isn't rich. It's a hansome nest egg but I think a million in assets qualifies as rich for most Americans. At today's income level it would take years to scrape for that on dancing alone. How many women would and could stay in this job enough years dancing five days a week 50 weeks a year? Not many I've seen.

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    God/dess onlythebest's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    Quote Originally Posted by Optimist
    You're on to it! I think the vast majority of dancers don't make that kind of money. Of the top earning 10%-20% of dancers in every state, how many make enough to "save $50,000 a year"? Over and above what we spend for our needs, obligations, how many of us can save $50,000 in a year?

    As for becoming rich, $300,000 isn't rich. It's a hansome nest egg but I think a million in assets qualifies as rich for most Americans. At today's income level it would take years to scrape for that on dancing alone. How many women would and could stay in this job enough years dancing five days a week 50 weeks a year? Not many I've seen.
    I agree with you,Optimist.I once told this guy how long I've been dancing and he was like,"You should have about $500K in your savings by now,shouldn't you???"I wanted to slap him after hearing his ignorance.
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  25. #25
    Senior Member neve's Avatar
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    Default Re: Working one night to live, two nights to be comfortable or five to be rich?

    i work 6 days a week also, if my clothes are coming off then i need to have the money to show for my efforts.

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