I'm going to talk about money today. I'm going to reflect on how much money was spent and what I learned from spending that money.
Here is what the top sheet looks like for the final cost report turned in to my capstone instructor, Lisa Cook:
First off let me explain a couple things-I had originally budgeted for approximately $2200. This is what I had projected to spend (this includes a 200 contingency). The total budget, $2500, is what I actually had to spend. So in actuality I had an extra $300 dollars that I didn't tell anyone about.
Why did I hide $300 dollars? It was more of a mind trick I sometimes do when I budget in my every day life. I only allows myself to spend a fraction of what I actually have in case of an emergency.
Though this time around it didn't really help much, because I kept thinking about that extra contingency. I didn't keep my spending down as much as I should have. But at times I had to spend a whole bunch of money at once and I couldn't really keep an accurate record of what I was spending (at the time). My mind was preoccupied with a lot of logistic problems as well, and throwing money at it was the best fix - one day I had to rent a U-HAUL to store some pieces of set dressing, and I didn't account for not knowing anyone with a truck to move it. That set me back a good $100. And renting ANOTHER, bigger truck the week of production was also pretty damn expensive. This is mentioned in the top sheet above.
We also spent more than I expected in camera gear, but I think it was probably the best purchase made, other than food. I budgeted roughly $350 on food, but a lot of the food was bought and prepared fresh so I had to spend a little more (one day we had leftovers though, which wasn't too bad).
Anyway, things I learned:
- Make sure you rent your trucks and find your transportation in advance. Really shop around for the best deals.
- Budget a little extra on food if you really want good food
Thanks to Christina for helping get this budget report together, and for helping to get all the receipts organized during the production. She's a real life-saver!
