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Your Gig $ - Who Gets It?

jaywa

jaywa

May 5, 2008
7,702
283
Iowa City, IA
#1
By which I mean...

I know one guy who is married, who every dollar he makes on gigs he keeps 100% of it for himself. It's his gear money, his beer money, etc.

Another guy, also married, dutifully turns over all of his gig money to his wife (who manages the household finances), maybe taking out a token amount for himself but at least 80% of his gig money he never even sees.

Then there's me, also married, and it kind of goes month by month. I always put a certain amount of my gig pay away into a savings account that is reserved for my musical expenses -- gear repairs/replacement, strings, and of course taxes. After that, I'll TRY to deposit a significant amount of what's left over into our household checking account since my wife stays at home and gig money is our only income over and above my day job. OTOH this isn't really a hard and fast rule so sometimes I'll put less into the family account and keep more for myself as "fun money" (said "fun" of which may or may not include my wife... for example, my gig money basically paid for our anniversary "date night" a couple weekends ago). It just really depends on how much gig money there is to divvy up and how our household finances are looking at the time. If the lawnmower blows up (as happened a few weeks ago) or the car needs a new set of tires then I pretty much know what I'll be playing my next 2-3 gigs for.

Some weeks a lot of gig money winds up in my pocket for me to spend as I choose... other weeks, not so much.

How does it work for you all?
 
#4
It's pretty much a wash. I usually pocket $100.00 and leave the rest on the dresser for whoever may need it. (It's usually me)

However my paycheck continues to go into our joint account which I do not need to access because of the gig money in my pocket.

It really is "our" money.
 
#7
I have a family that I support...So it's "our" money, not just mine...I give my band checks to my wife who deposits them in our account and usually gives me some cash do with as I want. Has worked out well for many years...
 
#8
I have found that it definitely keeps things better on the homefront if I "spread the wealth" of my band income to my wife every now and then. For example, tell her we're going out to dinner and "the band is buying", or on an off weekend, take her for a night away at a nice hotel or something. Things that she can enjoy "guilt free" knowing that it's not going to take a bite out of the family budget (which is her job to keep in line).

She's always very supportive of my musical activities but especially in the summer (our busy season when I'm leaving her at home at least one night of every weekend), I find that reciprocating her support in some sort of material way every now and then is always very well received.
 
#13
I keep some pocket money ... $20-30 bucks for lunches during the week... but otherwise I give all of my gig pay to my wife....she uses it to pay the housekeeper. Accumulated gig pay is kept in a 'petty cash' stash for whatever may come up.
 
#14
We normally split it, depending on who has the emptiest wallet. It's our "walkin' around, gas, beer, night out on the town, lunch, etc.", money. Beats hitting the ATM! Like said above, it's OUR money. I couldn't do it without her full support, which I ALWAYS have! When the "petty cash" drawer gets too full, it goes into our mutual checking account. Our marrage can be summed up in one word: teamwork!
 
#15
After filling up the gas tank, and maybe getting something to eat or a pack of cigs at the gig, I give the rest to my wife. She's a stay at home mom, and I gig to help make ends meet and give her some walking around cash.

A while back, my wife came into some money, and I took it easy on the gigging and kept all the cash. But now that it's all gone, back to the grind, and giving the money to my wife.
 
#17
Joedog said:
We normally split it, depending on who has the emptiest wallet. It's our "walkin' around, gas, beer, night out on the town, lunch, etc.", money. Beats hitting the ATM!
Click to expand...

I hear that, brutha. We (I) got ourselves into a real rough patch a few years ago cause I couldn't stop tapping the ATM. $20 here, $40 there, all the sudden you're into real money. How we solved that is, we closed that account, opened a new one and I told my wife DO NOT give me the PIN number. She never has, and we're a lot better off for it.

I find that when I keep a certain amount of cash from gigs on hand, I budget it a lot better knowing that when it's gone, it's gone until the next gig and mama ain't gonna give me any more. And I detest using our debit/credit card for anything other than gas so being on a pretty much 100% cash basis actually makes me more fiscally responsible... as weird as that may sound.

I also try to set back enough money from my last gig to cover my anticipated expenses on the next one. Gas is usually never an issue because we all ride in a band vehicle that the BL keeps filled, but there's usually at least one meal to be bought and more than that if it's a full-weekend trip. Plus batteries for the wireless pack and IEMs, a brew or two at the gig (since hardly anyone comps those anymore), a PowerAde for the ride home, etc. Basically I just try to make sure that my hobby/"2nd job" of music is at least self-sustaining and ideally, adding a little extra into the family funds here and there.
 

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