Cash-Intensive Careers
Many people rely heavily on cash for their personal finance. In general, Masseurs, Escorts, and Adult Performers are paid in cash. This can pose a problem when it comes to accumulating wealth. There are two main issues when examining your personal bookkeeping:
Establishing a Credit Record is difficult.
Cash is difficult to track.
Cash is difficult to save.
I do personal bookkeeping for adult performers and see this issue repeatedly. When you use online banking, it's a cinch to download and categorize expenses. When you use cash, the information isn't in a spreadsheet. It will likely be either a bag of receipts, a hand-noted list of expenses, or both. The time that could be spent working and earning must be devoted to tracking cash.
Here are some solutions I've suggested to adult performers that can help them on their path.
If you have any kind of job with a traditional payroll, you can get a bank account based solely on your first paycheck.
You are an actor/performer. If you don't have a secondary traditional job, several credit unions will still accept you, such as First Entertainment in Los Angeles.
Once you have a bank account, you can deposit cash. Many ATMs will accept cash immediately.
Make a habit of depositing all your earnings in your bank account once it is established. If your pay is $1,000.00, put $900.00 in your checking account and $100.00 in a high-yield savings account, such as Apple's compounding interest savings.
Avoid too many cash expenses, as they are often lost opportunities for write-offs.
Get receipts for all transactions and store them in a safe place labeled for each year. I recommend a 12-pocket file folder labeled with the year.
If you work from a rented space or home, you can allocate a percentage of your rent as a business expense.
You put $100.00 in a traditional savings account because you need to build an emergency fund. This is not money you use to pay rent, bills, or food. It's money for the future. You can put the remainder in the stock market, bonds, or other higher-risk vehicles for earning when you've accumulated enough.
The goal is to arrive at a place where your money is paying you money. If you fell asleep reading this, fear not! I can help you with any or all parts of this. I accept payment from influencers in tweets or other social media posts.