No worries, you bring up totally valid points. There are a lot of kinks I still need to work out and things to think about for the future.
You also don't seem to be accounting for any non-regular expenses in your budget. What will you do for transportation when your lease is up? If you want to keep working your way up in the movie business you're still going to need a reliable car. If you save that mileage reimbursement money now you could be able to buy an inexpensive used car outright when your lease is up. Likewise, you need to be saving a lot more for the slow periods between jobs, unless you are planning on moving back in with your parents every time you're out of work.
Basically, I had to revamp my budget this month because I discovered Mustachianism and realized how much I was dumping into spending for stupid reasons. I'm completely confident that my spending will never exceed the payments I get for milage. However, I see your point, and yeah, it's something I'm still grappling with to figure out how much is stuff I need (gas, groceries etc) vs straight up spending. Networking is a HUGE part of this industry, so there will be times where I go out to eat or pay for tickets to things because staying up in the industry almost completely depends on who you know.
My plan is to buy a used car once my lease is up, using money saved as well as money I'm (hopefully) going to make in profit upon selling the car. Basically, if the car is worth $10k when the lease is up but I sell it for 12k, I get to pocket the extra 2k.
How long have you been tracking your spending (so that you know what is an "unusual" spending month and what is a "usual" spending month)? You really need to keep an eye on that and be realistic about what you need to spend and/or what aspects of your lifestyle you want/need to cut back on.
I've been keeping track of spending since 2014--I keep an Excel spreadsheet that lists our my expenses, how close I am to reaching paying those expenses, tracking my paychecks, and a section for allocating how much spending I have, and what I've spent on. For 2014-May 2016 I was going by semester, since I didn't have monthly costs as I lived in the residence halls, and my costs came up at the end of each semester.
Granted, my spending sheets probably have some holes. But I'd say I only ever miss one or two transactions. I do include summer expenses with my Spring worksheet because I needed to have money to pay for fall semester. Anything in my spending column is entertainment, going out to eat, non-school purchases, gifts, etc.
Spending:
AU 14 (August-December): $832.49
SP 15 (Jan-July): $712.86
AU 15 (August-December): $854.89
SP 16 (Jan-July): $906.71
July '16 (after getting the job--this month was only for half the month because I was moving): ~$400
Sep '16: $756.57
Oct 16': $719.76 (previous number above included gas and groceries)
In addition to that, this year I had moving expenses (about $2,500 total), but I had savings in preparation, so I could cover it all with what I had built up. I can do further breakdowns if necessary, but yeah, I've been spending a lot more since the move and new job.
Honestly, I'm not sure working your way up in the movie business and retiring at 32 are mutually achievable goals, unless you get very, very lucky (and the riding lessons and the pet expenses don't help). If working in film is your dream and your joy, I don't want to discourage you from it! But from what I understand you are likely to spend years in subsistence-wages "paying your dues" kinds of jobs. Working long hours for low income without access to tax-advantaged accounts (e.g. 401k) will make it very hard to retire at 32. Which is fine! There's nothing special about retiring at 32! I'm 38 and I'm not retired (partly because I spent my 20s working low-paid dues-paying kinds of jobs). But you will probably need to decide which one of these is more of a priority for you.
Fortunately, I've been very lucky in the industry. Whereas most people are working as Production Assistants for years before they land a movie, my first job was on a big movie, and my connections I gained there have gotten me on big movies since. My current pay rate is high for the industry, and the studio I work for really only hires from within, so unless I royally screw up, I probably at least have a PA position for awhile. Of course, I want to plan for the worst, but I have stellar connections so I'm in a much better position than most people starting out.
However, it's just a super volatile time in terms of my career. I could walk out of this job making the same, or get a personal assistant job and make double what I make now. Both are equally possible. And if I do get a personal assistant job, then I get traveled, so I'll get $65/day per diem for food, free rental car, gas reimbursed, and $85/day for housing. Pretty much beyond December 2017 I have no idea what my life is going to look like. :/
As for retirement by 32, I guess I should have reworded it to FI by 32. I love my job, but ten years from now I just want to be in a place where I don't need it. Retiring would be awesome, but I have no idea what my life will look like then. I have 7/8th of a business degree, and corporate life isn't entirely unappealing, so it really could go anywhere. And if it's not possible. That's fine too--I prefer to set the bar high and undershoot a bit than set the bar too low and barely achieve it, if that makes sense.
Thanks for all of your input--I hope this helps!