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In my last article I wrote about the cost of renting in Los Angeles when you move here for your acting career. I wrote then that I would write more about the cost of living in LA. Well here is part two. I’ll go over the rest of your living expenses in Los Angeles and determine how much you’ll need to earn to make it here in Tinseltown.

This is a rather lengthy article, so in case you can’t make it all the way to the end I will cut to the chase: You need to find a full-time job that pays about $20 an hour to live in LA and pursue your talent career.

Let’s come up with a monthly budget using the categories that the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses when they are tracking consumer prices and the cost of living. Here are their categories:

Housing ($750 to $1300) We have already figured out housing expenses in a previous article. You will be spending $750 to $1300 on apartment rent in LA.

Utilities ($200) Utilities will be your gas, electric, cable and water bills, internet connection and mobile phone. (Don’t bother with a land-line telephone.) Gas, electric, water and sewer would run about $100 for a studio apartment. A DSL or cable internet connection is going to cost $50 a month. Do you really need cable TV? A lot of time is wasted watching television. You are better off buying a DVD player for $50 at Best Buy and watching shows when you want.

A cell phone may run about $50 a month, depending on your plan and how much you like to yack. Consider a pre-paid cell phone like AT&T Go Phone. If you don’t talk to much you can save money with prepaid plans. Here is another phone tip: use Skype to make calls when you are at home. With Skype you can make free calls over the internet to other Skype members. If you have a Skype account, for just $3 per month you can call any land line phone. There is also an option for having an incoming telephone number.

So the monthly total for utilities is $100 for utilities plus $50 for internet plus $50 for telephone equals $200.

Food & Beverage ($300) This includes meals at home and meals away from home. Eating out is expensive in LA, unless you limit it to Pink’s Hot Dogs on North La Brea and Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. A hamburger and fries at a sit down restaurant is going to run you $15 with tax and tip. If you eat out 10 times per month, that will be $150 for food away from home. Spend another $150 on groceries at Ralph’s Supermarket or Vons. That would be $300 monthly food and beverage expense for one person. This would not include alcohol consumption at your favorite hangout. Do I have to lecture you about drinking in moderation?

Transportation ($700 to $900) If you work in southern California, you must have a car. If you have to buy one, get a used Toyota Corolla. They get excellent gas mileage, are very reliable and your maintenance expenses will be the lowest. You will probably drive 15,000 to 20,000 miles per year in southern California because everything is a drive away. Obviously this depends on gasoline prices, but at 50 cents per mile total ownership cost, the annual runs about $7,500 to $10,000 per year, or $625 to $800 per month. (This includes all expenses of owner and operation are car including the purchase price, finance charges, taxes, title, registration, insurance, gas & oil & fluids, annual maintenance, repairs of broken things, parts, labor, everything.)

Other transportation expenses include airline tickets, public transit, taxis. Maybe you fly home once per year to visit your family back in Arkansas. That would be about $500 round trip or $41 per month.

Forget about riding around in taxis. You ride the bus to help save the earth. An EZ transit pass that covers Metro bus, Metro Rail and Metro Orange Line costs $62 per month.

So total transportation costs is 600 to 800 for you car plus $100 for public transit and airplane tickets equals $700 to $900.

Medical Care ($100) This depends on your age and overall health. Also, men and women have different medical requirements. But if you are young and healthy, and are not a alcoholic requiring annual detoxification, your medical expenses should be low. And if you have a good day job that provides health insurance you are in the cat bird’s seat. I am going to say $100 per month for medical care for a healthy individual just to cover aspirin and Nyquil and the occasional doctor’s visit.

Apparel ($100 to $200) There is a big difference between what men and women spend on clothing. Older people also spend less. Your father probably still wears shirts he bought in 1975. One of the best ways to save money on clothing is to shop at thrift stores. You can also find vintage clothing that is super chic. How much you spend on apparel really depends on what your existing wardrobe is and how important it is for you to stay in fashion. My guess is $100 to $200 per month for apparel.

Recreation ($0) This is the cost of all the stuff you do on your free time like go to the movies. As an actor, you have to keep up with the latest movies. Unfortunately, movie tickets on LA are ridiculously expensive running $10 and $15 for IMAX. The best way to save money on movies is to borrow a DVD from the local public library. The best things in life are free, like sunsets on Santa Monica pier. So as a bare bones budget I would say $0 per month for recreation is doable. (But if your idea of fun is poker in Las Vegas, it could cost your whole paycheck.)

Education ($100) You will probably be at least taking acting classes. Consider signing up at a local community college to take acting or film making classes. Santa Monica Community College, Orange Coast College in OC and others all have theatre departments and film schools. Tuition is low compared to what you would pay a private acting coach or at a big private school like USC or even UCLA Extension which is excellent, but unfortunately not cheap. Let’s say $60 per month for tuition plus $40 for books equals $100 per month.

Other Goods & Services ($300) This is everything else like haircuts ($15 for men/ $40 for women) and everything else you can think of. It would also include things like you computer and printer, digital camera, video camera and supplies.  Let’s say miscellaneous items total $200 per month and your computer and camera cost you another $100 per month. (Do you have any expensive hobbies like Polo? Polo ponies are very high maintenance. Add $2000 per month.)

So here is a bare bones budget for living expense in LA:

Monthly Budget

Housing $750 - $1300
Utilities $200
Food & Beverages $300
Transportation $700 - $900
Medical Care $100
Apparel $100 -$200
Recreation $0
Eduction $100
Other Good & Services $300

Total Monthly Living Expenses $2575 to $3125 per month.

Wow! Is that shocking? On an annual basis that would be $31,000 to $37,500. But there is more.

Business Expenses
So far we gave just covered living expenses. But as an actor you also have business expenses. This includes things like getting your headshots taken and printed, mailings, paying a publicist.

You probably need new headshots at least once per year. That would be about $500 to that awesome headshot photographer. Or headshot hack. Here is a money saving idea: Why not buy a $600 digital SLR camera and shoot your own headshots.  Find another actor friend and take each others headshots. How hard can it be? And if they don’t come out very good, you can still go to the headshot photographer and use the camera for taking pictures of your cat. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

As far as printing and mailing, you can get 100 8.5×11 prints for about $120  at Isgo Lepajian in Hollywood. Add about $40 for retouching.

But here is some good news about printing headshots. Here in the internet age, you can make a lot of submissions online at not cost. Save your expensive prints for the important auditions with A-list producers.

So let’s say that headshots cost you $1000 per year, or $83 per month.

What other business expenses might you have as an actor? Accountant and tax preparation, your website, miscellaneous office supplies, shipping, and annual union dues (SAG $116 base dues plus, AFTRA $63 base dues plus).

I am not an actor so I really don’t know how much you will have to spend on your business. I am guessing it will come to another $100 to $200 per month. We are not counting transportation to and from auditions and rehearsals. That was already included under transportation.

Bottom Line
Take your basic monthly living expenses plus your business expenses and the bottom line is about $2700 to $3300 per month to live in Los Angeles and pursue your acting career.

So you need a day job that pays you that much after taxes. On a weekly basis, your take home pay needs to be about $600 to $800 per week. With a 40-hour workweek, you need a job that pays $15 to $19 per hour, after taxes. Let’s say about $20 an hour before taxes. Hopefully you job will provide good medical benefits as well.

How easy is it to find a job that pays over $20 an hour during a recession? That is another topic.