Your Gig $ - Who Gets It?

[RDUB]

Here's what I slowly figured out. When I keep it for myself, the VISA bill seems to be higher. When I hand my wife some cash, the VISA bill seems to be lower. I like lower VISA bills, so I give her some gig cash from time to time.

Last year I bought a bunch of gear, so almost all of my gig money went to gear. I don't see myself spending much on gear in the near future, so the VISA bill should be nice and low for a while. Unfortunately, I needed a new car, so...

Either way, The Man wants my money!

On a side note: According to my accountant, the IRS has been looking at musicians and the money they make. I've recently heard stories of the IRS going to the clubs and finding out who gets paid, how much, who's in the band and then going after those band members. I make sure I keep track of my earnings and music expenses. I claim my earnings and musical expenses at the end of the year.

That's wise. There are so many expenses the average musician can claim that it really lools like you earn a lot less on paper. If you have a day job, you can really do well at tax time. I've claimed an overall loss from the music business in the past - many expenses, not many gigs. That loss comes off the taxable income of my day gig and I get money back. Can't complain about that.

 

[bolophonic]

Any extra money that I make goes instantly towards farmhouse renovation and/or the purchase of livestock. I have a set of congas that I am selling this weekend for the exact price of 10 muscovy ducks. My wife is cool with that. Unfortunately, I don't see my band gigging for a long time in the foreseeable future, so "gig money" is an abstraction for me right now.

 

[SteveHeissner]

I spend 90% of my gig money on booze and women. The rest I just waste.

 

[mikeswals]

When I played in cover bands, I kept 100% of my cut. It's cover bands, we weren't out making albums, so band business expenses were very low.

In my originals, all the $ went into a kitty, unless one of us is using our truck/diesel fuel since we just about always ride in one rig to gigs, especially out of town gigs.
We as a originals are recording albums, so the kitty pays for it as well as each of us chipping in more $. As a band we advertise heavily, buy t-shirts and swag, so the kitty pays for it.

 

[Brad Johnson]

I'm married and gig for a living. It's income. Goes into the joint account like all income. Simple.


Most of my gigs are 1099 (working as a contractor) so I'm cool with the IRS.

 

[Dave W]

Luckily for me, I get all of it.

 

[brenner182]

i make sure to get all my money in one dollar bills and i lay on my bed and throw it all up in the air. Sometimes i also have a bowl of flour next to me and i bury my face in it so it looks like i snorted a lot of coke and then throw all the dollars in the air and post pics on instrgram and use hastags like #turnup or #ballin and #donthatetheplayerhatethegame

 

[Bassman7PM]

This year is the first time I've ever had to pay the Feds a large amount(OUCH), so most or all of my earning go to the IRS.

 

[Zoomie]

I give all my gig earnings to my wife, but not for the reasons you might think.

First, I have thousands tied up in gear. My wife supported the purchases by repeatedly telling me to buy what I need or am most comfortable playing. I would have to gig every weekend for the next 320 years to actually break even.

Second, she never shops or buys anything for herself. Ever ! I have to all but threaten her to go buy clothing.

For whatever reason, she does view gig money as pure disposable income and will actually go out and do something fun for herself from time to time. Mostly, she just incorporates it in to household expenses.

When your wife agrees that a second Dingwall makes total sense for her 50 year old husband playing in a local hack cover band, trust me, you happily hand her gig earnings. Heck, I fling it at her faster than a guy in the sniff seats at a gentleman's club.

 

[MegaSwing]

My wife and I gig together a lot, so that takes care of that.

 

[fhm555]

I do several things that generate cash and I usually just toss that cash in a catch all bowl on top of the dresser in the bedroom where it becomes our mad money stash.

I'm phobic about never leaving the house without some just in case cash, but wifey is just the opposite and it drives me crazy so I make sure there is always cash where she can see it while she's dressing for the day to remind her she should pick up some greenbacks before she heads out for the day.

I used to just hand her all the cash I earned but she would wind up cramming it in our savings account. It was not a problem except for the hassle of having to withdraw cash from the checking account. We went around about this several times and wound up settling it with the mad money stash on the dresser.

 

[jaywa]

I'm phobic about never leaving the house without some just in case cash

Same here. I've had too many times where I need to fill with gas or need a bite to eat and for whatever reason my card won't work. And very few places around here will even take a check anymore. So now I always make it a point to have enough cash at hand for at least a tank's worth of gas and a couple burgers.

 

[Mihel]

I give all my gig earnings to my wife, but not for the reasons you might think.

First, I have thousands tied up in gear. My wife supported the purchases by repeatedly telling me to buy what I need or am most comfortable playing. I would have to gig every weekend for the next 320 years to actually break even.

Second, she never shops or buys anything for herself. Ever ! I have to all but threaten her to go buy clothing.

For whatever reason, she does view gig money as pure disposable income and will actually go out and do something fun for herself from time to time. Mostly, she just incorporates it in to household expenses.

When your wife agrees that a second Dingwall makes total sense for her 50 year old husband playing in a local hack cover band, trust me, you happily hand her gig earnings. Heck, I fling it at her faster than a guy in the sniff seats at a gentleman's club.

+1 Zoomie! I'm pretty much in the same boat as you. Sounds like we were both able to find ourselves the perfect "bassist's wives"

 

[bassguppy]

hookers, beer, & blow....

If there's anything left after my wife gets hold of it.

 

[reddavid]

What is this "gig money" you speak of?

 

[hrodbert696]

Married here. If we were gigging more and making more, it would go into the household budget and help pay bills. So far paying gigs have been pretty scattered so it's wound up largely being pocket or gear money for me.

 

[SPYD3R #9]

every pennies goes to my wife, I'm not good at keeping money

 

[fourstringdrums]

It used to go in a band fund, but since my most recent thread I'm rethinking that decision for the future. I'd much rather hold a portion of my cut in a separate account for future band use and keep the rest in my regular account for whatever.

 

[will33]

I try to keep it where my day job money covers regular bills, etc. and gig money is extra. That extra goes towards gear maintenance/repairs, etc. or covers some sort of extra expense, like a night out, or a traffic ticket, car repairs, somebodys birthday present, etc., something besides regular bills.

I keep it/spend it, don't just hand the cash over to the SO, although a good part of it ends up getting spent on her anyway, it's still my choice.

 

[3star2nr]

Mine goes straight to the land lord so she can stay in her office playing video games.