Melissa McCarthy Shares Finance, Travel Tips

Melissa McCarthy may be super famous and super rich now – in 2017 she was the fourth highest paid actress – but at one point in her life, she had virtually no money, struggling to pay her rent in New York City as she worked to break in to the comedy scene.

Comedian and actress Melissa McCarthy wasn’t always as rich as she is today. When she first started her career in New York, she couldn’t afford her rent, calling family members every month so they could help her make ends meet. Eventually, though, she realized that working for a career that wasn’t yet paying her bills wasn’t the smartest plan of action – so she took a reliable job as a production coordinator and continued to work on her comedy career on the side. Finally, she was able to pay her bills.

And according to McCarthy, in an interview with Glamour, you can do the same. Here are her five tips for financial success.

1. Quit getting credit cards.

It’s not free money. And you can say all you want that you’ll pay it off, but realistically, you probably won’t. Just say no to plastic.

2. Work hard and negotiate.

McCarthy didn’t get where she is by not trying. She quit school to work in the comedy business, growing her own business through tough negotiation skills.

3. Fight for yourself.

Don’t lose out on a fair deal because you’re too timid to fight for yourself. And that applies to both getting the best amount of money for the work and also for having a piece of yourself in what you do.

4. But if you just need a paycheck, take it.

Don’t get so caught up in the art of things and your dedication to a craft that you lose sight of what you need to do to survive. If you need to take a job just for the money, like McCarthy did, then do it. There’s no shame.

5. When you can, indulge.

Once you can enjoy the spoils of your labor, just do it. You deserve it.

[Photo: Shutterstock]