Here’s the short list:
- My January income- $3,107.87
- Total January spending (this includes contributions to savings)- $4,214.46
- Business spending- $917.18
Income
I am definitely thinking about and exploring ways to diversify my income.
As you can see, my income is mostly from teaching. I love teaching, but I feel like I am overcommitted right now. When we moved to TX in the summer, I was accepting any and all work that came my way. I was very grateful to have a couple of colleagues recommending me for teaching positions.
I wasn’t sure how many students I would end up with, but I currently see about 35 students a week. I appreciate the income, and that I can make contributions to our retirement accounts, but I’m afraid it is at the expense of my practice time.
I see my career as one based on performance, so this just won’t do! It is becoming apparent that I won’t be going where I want to with such a heavy teaching load and little practice time. I am figuring out how to adjust this in the near future.
One very exciting thing is that one person “purchased” a digital download of my orchestral duet arrangements. That was less than 1% though, so it didn’t show up on the chart 😛
Still- the first seed of a potential income stream is a big deal!
Spending
Necessities are basics: rent, food, insurance, gas, and electricity.
Saving is contributions to saving and retirement accounts. I consider this an expense, because I’ve found the only way to “afford” to save money is to budget for it!
Business spending is all tax-deductible spending for our music careers (details below).
Other is everything else. This month it included: a vet checkup, a toy shelf and clothes for kids, eating out once for a meal (and a couple of ice creams), a gym membership, and oil for the cars.
Taxes were big! And I still need to pay more for the last quarter of 2021.
I had a Zoom lesson on New Year’s Day. After reviewing our finances from 2021, one of the things I realized I wanted to focus on this year was taking regular lessons. I have one lesson already scheduled in February, and am hoping to schedule a couple more. I’ve been seeing three different teachers- two on Zoom, and one in person. I used to be afraid that it would be confusing to have multiple teachers, but now I really enjoy the different perspectives.
The supplies I purchased were all sheet music- mostly flute chamber music.
Summary
My priority over the next few months (as the school year wraps up) is going to be exploring other sources of income. The primary reason for that is to give myself more time to practice.
I finally feel like I’m starting to gain some traction with my playing (after having a baby, moving, having another baby, and moving back…), and gaining a clearer understanding of the expectations for a professional orchestral player. I am aware of several of my weaknesses, but just haven’t had the time to work them out.
Most days, I am scraping together about one hour of practice time- but this is usually between students in a middle school practice room. I try to do a long, quality practice session on my days off (Monday and Saturday). Still, I think I need to take myself more seriously and give my flute playing the time and respect it needs to develop.
Alyse Hokamp 