The Photography Budget – Original Post by Amanda Bailey Photography

I saw this post circulating on Facebook a few weeks ago and thought it would be the perfect post to re-blog here.  You may think that your dream photographer is out of your budget, but if you follow these simple steps, you can afford the photographer of your dreams.

The Photography Budget {Affordable Custom Photography in Killeen, Texas} » Amanda Bailey Photography – Central Texas Portrait & Wedding Photographer (Blog).

Every morning my mailbox is full of new client inquiries telling me they love my work and that they would like to request a price sheet. Everyday, I send my investment guide out to them. In some cases I get “Great, Let’s book” but more commonly than not, I get ” I love your work, but it’s not in our budget”. There is honestly nothing wrong with this, but today it inspired this blog.

Did you know that custom photography is a luxury? No, serious!! Contrary to what some people may tell you, you will not DIE without having your pictures professionally taken. Does that change the fact that you want them done? Not at all. People want nice things, that’s why they work hard & budget their money, to afford things that are important to them.

For instance, I often forget that I can survive without my iPhone & Starbucks coffee in hand, but because I want those luxury items, I choose to budget my lifestyle & income accordingly to make those things obtainable.

I don’t have cable, it’s just not on my list of luxury items that I want or need. I checked and the Major cable provider in my area is offering its basic cable for $64.99 a month, before equipment & fees. So because I do not want cable, I can use that $65.00 a month towards my cell phone payment, coffee, dinner out with friends, a trip to the nail place, and the list goes on…… OR WAIT. I can place that $65.00 in a savings account, or my personal favorite, a savings Jar marked “Photography Fund”.

So If I started saving my $65.00 in my Photography Fund each month, by October, I will have enough money to book my Annual Christmas Family pictures, and get the disk of the images high resolution format, with an additional two free months for the money to be budgeted somewhere else.

Want to Stretch it over 12 months? $54.00 a month, or $27 a paycheck ( for you military folks) or how about, $1.74/day. I don’t know about you, but I hate change. Maybe I should make a change budget jar for something else that I want?

The point is, custom photography is a luxury, just like that BMW that’s sitting in your driveway, the laptop on the desk, the Keurig (wait, not necessity?) the cell phone, cable, internet, eye brow wax and nights you eat out.

You save for things that matter to you. Now what do you need to do? You need to start by doing your research on WHO you would like to work with ( because when you look for a photographer, you look for style, not pricing first) Once you’ve fallen in love with the one you want, you set your budget to accommodate that. It can be done, and you’ll feel a lot better about spending your money on photography when you have saved the money just for that..