Associated Costs

A few weeks ago, my daughter and I heard a casting director speak. She talked about auditions and preparation, and all the things you would expect a casting director to know. She also talked about the real costs associated with being an actor. Or the parent of an actor. There are headshots and classes and tickets to shows your kids are in and travel to auditions-- the list goes on.
 
I am learning more each day that not just acting has associated costs.
 
For every job you take, there is the associated cost of child care (not to mention the cabs to race home to relieve the child care when you work extra hours). There are also the costs of events missed, time and energy stretched, and takeout meals when you have no interest in cooking at the end of a long work day.
 
When your children play on sports teams, you know there will be the associated costs of the league fee (you've gotta have uniforms!) and the necessary equipment. But do you ever think about the buses (if you're running on time) and cabs (if you're not) to get to games and practices? The extra loads of laundry you do when the uniform has to be clean for multiple games each week? The snacks you end up buying at the field for yourself and your child when you realize you brought nothing but the baseball equipment? And the extra child care you might need if the games and practices are at times when the job you take (see above) makes you unavailable to go yourself?
 
When you send your kids to schools that aren't close to home, your children may receive a free Metrocard to get there each day, but you're on your own when it comes to getting to parent events. And whether school is far from home or not, there are the associated costs of supplies, and brownies for bake sales, and fundraisers. That's just how it is.
 
It has become clear to me that acting is not the only thing out there with associated costs. Everything in life pretty much has them, whether the costs are strictly monetary, or whether they are emotional as well. If there are things we want, we have to be willing to pay the price.
 
The question is, what associated costs are you willing to pay? Is your children's acting or playing sports or going to a particular school worth the time and the travel if it makes them happy? Is your work worth the hours away and the taxis and the child care because it clears more than it costs and/or it satisfies you?
 
Every day, we are faced with balancing the associated costs with the value of what we are getting. There are no easy answers, and the balance changes every day. The trick is making sure that at the end of each day (or at least at the end of each week or month), we come out in the black.