Money Management for Freshmen Music Students

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Over the past several years our daughter has worked as a camp counselor and earned about $1000-$2000 over the summer which she used for her gas money, presents, and fun money. We supplemented this with an allowance of $16.00 a week. This year we agreed that she would be working on a special project and will not be earning any money at all this summer. So, we're trying to figure out a financial plan that would give our daughter responsibility for managing a budget and enough money for books, pocket money, and everyday living expenses. She will be living in a dorm with a food plan.<br>
She'll also have a separate clothing budget and she won't have a car on campus this year. </p>

<p>I would like to hear what parents of music students are doing with regard to allowances and money managment. For those of you who have vocal students with one year behind them, I'm wondering how much they spent on books, CD's, and other learning materials. All input welcome! Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Will have a D who will be new at college this fall, as will yours, but I do have some thoughts on the subject. First, the school library will have music and CD’s which can be used and sometimes (depending upon copyrite and school rules), copied.I don’t expect her “school supplies” to be anywhere near as expensive as high school was because the courses she’s taking this fall all have to do with music, acting or dance in some way, and aside from what is needed for music history and theory, she pretty much has what she’ll need.
Has your D had experience with handling a checking account and debit card? I’ve shared an acct with my D for the past 4 years, and with it, she has helped manage all of the household bills, tuition payments, clothing, etc. That has given her a good grounding in finance and contributed to making her blush violently when presented with the “Best Accounting Student Ever” plaque at the honors assembly last week, and leaves her knowing that said plaque, with her smiling face laminated upon it, will be hanging in that classroom for the next 50 years!
Creating a similar account for your D to use at school might be the way to go- if you are on the account with her, you can deposit funds and keep an eye on things to see if it’s working out. Many banks have “college student” accounts, which have some benefits for kids away from home- our gives a goodly number of non-bank owned ATM transactions so that, even though D will be in another state, she can keep her account with the bank where she is known. I’ve suggested varying amounts of money to her to see how much she wants, or thinks she will spend, each week, and she consistently tells me that she won’t need nearly that much because she has her meal plan and her work-study. I should say that this girl has extreme self-control and can recite each and every type of interest plan option on credit cards and loans (that course scared her, I think!)available to the borrowing public! You can also contact the Dean of Students or someone in that office and see if they have any thoughts. For us, the biggest expense will be (reading) books and deciding if we need to have two sets of DVDs of “West Wing” and “John Adams”, since we share similar tastes in books and films.
Other parents, please, share what you have done with your kids!</p>

3

<p>DS will be starting college this fall. He has a debit card account that one of us is on jointly so we can monitor it and deposit money. For DS’s trip to Italy, I also got him a backup credit card on my account. We are expecting that during the school year he will probably be able to earn some pocket money singing in a local church choir. It also probably is prudent for him to open a local checking account at school.</p>

<p>I have found that DS is very frugal – he had a account at boarding school, and the biggest bills that came through were for his music lessons! At least now that is part of the package at conservatory.</p>

<p>In terms of other expenses, I am not sure what to expect. Music can be very expensive, but he has a pretty good library already, and I assume that music will be easier to access at school.</p>

4

<p>Books are kind of unpredictable. Course books for DD have varied from almost $800 her first term to under $200. Some her books were used for multiple terms of classes in the theory, diction, aural skills, and history. She managed to rotate and share some of the language books but always wanted her own dictionary in each language. So we never included course books in her budgeted allowance. I will say her recreational books budget went to almost $0. No time. She takes 19-20 credit hours per term and with homework, practice, rehearsals and attending concerts and recitals, most of her non-class time is used up. When not she likes to hang out with friends. </p>

<p>She did not need a budget for music. The school took care of all of it. She just checked things out of the library and there is some educational copying allowed. So that was less than when she was in HS. She does have an iTunes account to download music she is working on. But that is not a big expense. </p>

<p>There are some threads around in the parents forums about how much money to budget for normal things, we used $50 per week as a base but let it vary if needed. At her school Saturday night dinner is not included in the meal plan so they have to go out somewhere. She still seems fine. She calls if there is an unexpected expense. I’ve used $50 for all her brothers for so long that I actually thought she would need more but she has not asked. DD has some work on campus too that gives her a little extra. She buys most of her extra clothes form her own money and budget. Gets me to shop with her when she is home so that I buy then. </p>

<p>For money management, we gave her money once a month. She manages the budget monthly. Some others do it by the semester. She has 2 checking accounts, one home that I deposit into and one at school that has ATM on campus. Electronic money movement is easy. She only got caught once with the money in the wrong account. Paying those high fees once made her pay more attention. She has a student credit card for her small clothing and on line purchases. She pays it off the month the bill comes. She has one of my credit cards to emergencies and course books. It seems to work since she is very responsible.</p>

5

<p>How much money a student wants/needs depends hugely on whether he/she is in school in an urban area or not. The costs to be in Manhattan, for example, are going to be double/triple the costs of being in Oberlin or even Rochester. Subways, meals, concerts and movies all cost more, and there is less of a “campus culture”, so kids are off campus for more activities.</p>

<p>My S is NOT frugal (we call him champagne taste on the beer budget!), but he is funding all of his extra-curricular activities from his own earnings. It has been an education for him this year, as he loves nice things, good food, interesting (expensive) experiences, etc. Paying for all of this himself has been a fantastic lesson in money management.</p>

6

<p>Our kids (including the music major son who DID attend undergrad in an expensive urban area) both funded all of their own expenses beyone tuition/room/board and travel HOME. DS worked 10 hours a week ushering for the symphony (and got to see them for free…a great job), and also had music gigs. DD works 10-12 hours a week. They earn the money and they spend it…so to be honest, I have no idea how much they spend in a week or month. BUT both have had no trouble meeting their expenses (including books). AND DS’s earnings during the summers were significantly reduced because of his music festival participation. Still he earned the money he needed. Personally we felt this was a good responsibility for our kids to undertake. But I do understand that some families prefer to fund these expenses for their college students. This is a family decision.</p>

7

<p>To add onto allmusic’s & thumper’s comments, off-campus job availability also varies widely according to location.Jobs in Oberlin, for instance, would be scarce since the town is small and relatively isolated (but, then again, would most of the retail, etc jobs there be filled by students? anyone know?) and in Rochester, there is not much around Eastman;most positions are in the 'burbs in the various malls, so a car would be a necessity. Also, here, with the noteable exception of the Eastman Theatre (must be FT Eastman students, 80 jobs), the ushering jobs are all volunteer (D ushered for years for our Broadway Theatre League), so planning ahead is key. It’s also a bit different for boys vs girls (I know, I hate it too), because while boys tend to chafe at any restrictions put upon them, even for their own safety, there are areas in cities where you simply woudn’t want your daughter late at night, if the only option was public transit. If your kid has a retail job now, it might be possible to “transfer” to a branch near their college. D has been offered this option, since the company she works for has a store about 20 minutes from her school, but she will take at least the first semester, and maybe the entire year to decide if that would be feasible with her class/concert schedule.
Singersmom, was your D able to buy any used texts? I know that I used that to save $ in college, but is that even an option now?
Link for student employment at the Eastman Theatre for those who could make use of it:
<a href=“http://www.esm.rochester.edu/concerts/office.php[/url]”>http://www.esm.rochester.edu/concerts/office.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>Mezzo’sMama, kids these days buy used texts online. The prices are a fraction of the used texts in the bookstores. My kids haven’t bought books at a bookstore for years. DS (the music major) did have to buy music for all things performed and all auditions. As a musician, he is very aware that copyright infringements are taking money OUT of some composers pocket if he doesn’t buy the music. Plus…legally, you are not supposed to perform any music that is a photocopy. He DID copy his music, but he always OWNED the original from which the copy was made. Copies made…just in case something got lost.</p>

9

<p>thumper- this feels like a really dumb question, but when do they actually find out what books are needed and can freshmen get them in time to use them for classes? Are “book lists” given out before classes begin- but how could they do that since schedules aren’t set pending AP score acceptances, etc? I’m probably making this a lot more difficult than it really is, but I am one who plans waaayyyy in advance!</p>

10

<p>Voice students need to budget for the occasional extra coachings and also accompanist
fees. D’s undergrad school had a pool vocalists could sign up for and if they were chosen by graduate piano majors, they got free weekly sessions. Every school has different policies and opportunities. GET TO KNOW THE GRADUATE COLLABORATIVE PIANISTS!!!</p>

11

<p>Thanks to everyone for your great and insightful answers. I too am a great proponent of kids working and paying for their own pocket money and book expenses. I like the idea of the two accounts, Singersmom07. My daughter does have experience with a credit card and debit card but mostly on the spending side – not really with cost management and containment. So it’s time. The $50.00 per week seemed a little high, but then there’s all those peripheral expenses like shampoo, toothpaste and the etc.'s. So I’m thinking $50 may be right on the money. Thanks for the reminders about the other possibilities for jobs, such as ushering and church singing jobs which may be a possibility – with WCC being located in Princeton, there may be a lot of competition for those, but we’ll see. Glad to see, thumper1, that at least one other parent (hopefully a trillion more) pays attention to copyright laws to protect our own children’s careers.</p>

12

<p>None of my kids gets an allowance.</p>

<p>My sons are both frugal. They both had work study jobs (and S2 had gigs). They pay/paid for all expenses other than what the university charged us directly. Basically that was books and an occasional ice cream cone! They are not spenders. Both boys were in metropolitan areas (Phlly and NYC). S1 was able to keep a car going on his income. S2 pays for subway, taxis, whatever. S2 buys a fair amount of concert or show tickets, too. (Now in grad school, we are willing to help out with rent - put a cushion in his checking account; it’s a matter of pride to him that he not use it.)</p>

<p>Clothing is bought at home on breaks, on my credit card, with me along. That is not to reign them in, but rather to force them to replace the grey and fraying clothing they think is “just fine.” We also pay for travel to and from home, any emergencies, instrument insurance, and frequent care packages to make sure they eat something.</p>

<p>Christmas involves lots of i-tunes, Starbucks, Barnes & Nobles, Amazon, etc - gift cards.</p>

<p>Birthdays we try to keep fun - aiming for a *want * rather than a need.</p>

<p>My daughter the Princess pretty much gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants it.</p>

13

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<p>My daughter too!! I’m glad SHE is paying her bills for these WANTS!!</p>

<p>KeyofH…it’s my SON who watches those copyright policies. We do also, but since he is IN the profession, he knows that folks copying music is really keeping money from musicians who make precious little as it is.</p>

<p>I would tell all here. DO NOT encourage your musicians to use photocopies of music they have NOT purchased.</p>

14

<p>I should have clarified. The copies made were for notations, etc. The copying is for only approved uses. Performances were from an original, but it was checked out of the library. As a vocalist she memorizes them anyhow. If she performs them again later she needs to purchase her own. They go through a lot of music. She does not have to purchase all of it. I think you will find that that is the common practice in the schools. Library originals can be used. BTW - She does not have to pay for an accompanist. One is assigned to her each year. That is something that should be checked at each school. </p>

<p>Even though we used $50 estimate, she paid for it out of her earnings. This summer, however, she is in school and cannot earn as much.</p>

15

<p>Regarding the accompanist issue, do follow Singersmom’s advice, check out the policy asap and take the collaborative pianists Godiva chocolates! I know, for instance, that at least some, if not all of the SUNY schools require the VP student to find their own accompanist and make payments arrangements themselves. Not only can that run up a big tab, but if your S/D is not one of those “early birds”, can play enough piano to help themselves through practice sessions and tends to let things go, they could find themselves up a creek without a keyboard when it comes time for exams and juries…
As for employment-Music schools have “gig boards” where regular and occasional jobs are posted, so make sure it’s whereabouts are known and that they check the board often. Also, look around on school websites and on the sites of other music venues in the college’s vicinity. I was actually looking at the RPO’s web site to see when the renovations at the Eastman Theatre would be finished, and one link led to another, leading to the application for ushers at said venue.</p>

16

<p>Participation in multiple ensembles means multiple music. Mine was the type that would not only listen to the recommended recorded version of a work, but in the case of quartets and small ensemble pieces, at least two or three alternate versions. </p>

<p>Mine also purchased full scores for ALL the works he played. Gets expensive very quickly. I ran the numbers once, and my recollection he averaged close to $100 a month on music. I’m not sure if he ever set foot in the music library. I’m still trying to determine if I got bilked. </p>

<p>As we were close geographically, and saw both performances and games on a regular basis, so we supplied both s & d with assorted foodstuffs & beverages from home, hoping to ameliorate some costs. Even bought d a small freezer the size of a small dorm fridge. D had a roomie first year who was a sponge, and d did nothing to curtail the situation. When she changed roomies for year 2, her from home supplies lasted far longer. Both kids seemed to spend way too much on food (socially) and probably beer and other “happy juice”. The excuses for excesses from both the music major s and varsity soccer playing d were centered around schedules and not being able to eat at “normal” time frames. Both had microwaves and were supplied with ample stock from home. It was easier to order pizza, wings or chinese than pop something in the oven, easier to pop a buck into a machine for a water or juice than bring one from the cases we supplied.</p>

<p>Wife and I recalled our college days of living on tuna fish (3/$1) and mac & cheese (6/$1). They thought we were making it up. </p>

<p>Played payback a couple of times during visits when they were expecting a restaurant dinner out with us. “Sorry guys, can’t swing it.” It sank in by the time they graduated.</p>

<p>Both kids got the “audit” on an on going basis. Any undocumented/discretionary spending not under the umbrella of what we agreed to cover (and we covered all educational expenses, including travel home) was tallied and they were presented with a bill when they graduated. Both sets of eyes popped, as the bills were in the 4 digits and I’m not counting decimals. They were lucky I did not charge interest. </p>

<p>A conversation I had (more than once with son):</p>

<p>Me: “I saw you spent $47 for dinner”</p>

<p>S: “Yep. 4 of us went to eat after the quartet performance. I put in on the credit card. They gave me cash.”</p>

<p>Me: “Where’s the cash?”</p>

<p>S: “I spent it.”</p>

<p>Ca-ching.</p>

<p>Do pay attention to increased spending habits. It may signal a newly acquired vice. </p>

<p>Good luck. Your mileage will vary.</p>

17

<p>Just to re-iterate what a lot of parents have already said, there were unexpected costs associated with being a music ed major that my D also encountered this year. Most notably on the Music Ed front were MENC membership fees, attendance to the NYSSSMA conference first semester (she was lucky to get to stay at a friend’s home in the Rochester area, most had to get hotels). As well as the aforementioned accompanist fees for juries and exams. And, yes, she found out that good accompanists are very well employed around the school so if your student is a good pianist they can make some money there possibly but it takes up tons of time. As MezzosMom said, at SUNY schools (at least at D’s) this is a separate transaction from the school billed stuff. Fees varied from $35-50 to a gift card for Starbucks (lol, bc she would not accept money and actually was the best accompanist my D had!)</p>

<p>As Singersmom007 said, books and sheet music ranged from about $900 the first semester (ouch) to about $200 the second (lots of continuation courses). But she also had to purchase a percussion kit (I think about $150) and this coming semester will have to rent a flute and trombone from the school (about $50 each for the semester). Sheet music mainly only had to be purchased for University Chorus (not required after first semester), instrumental music was loaned by the school. There were also several additional technique books that D purchased at the suggestion of her Horn professor throughout the first year. And modifications to her new Horn (not much, about $50 and a drive to Ohio). </p>

<p>For D, who took her car, gas and thruway tolls. Everytime she would go back I would fill up her gas tank (my grocery store savings card gets me savings on gas via a points system). But for the most part she was self supporting through scholarships and loans, money from graduation, and money earned from working PT last summer and babysitting for me on breaks (we just pay her what we would pay daycare for the week). Insurance and registration on her car she pays for, my husband does all the repairs. Gift cards and care packages supplemented some treats but I found that D still has a pretty good balance on her Starbucks card as it is on campus and meal points can be used there as well. Any clothing that was purchased was out of her own money unless I was there to supervise (with the exception of a water repellant heavy coat, I instructed her to go to TJ Maxx and spend no more than $40 which I deposited into her account).</p>

18

<p>Momof3Stars makes a good point for music ed majors. Most programs mandate student participation in either MENC, ASTA, or MTNA (and sometimes a dual participation in the case of string educators).</p>

<p>Also, most programs will try and attend a regional or national conference of these professional organizations. While these are not necessarily mandatory, they are an important learning experience, offering seminars, masterclasses and lectures by notables in the field, and a source of networking and potential contact for future job searches.</p>

<p>Keep this in mind and remember to ask your student. They may not necessarily tell you, or hit you up for unexpected outlays for airfare, hotel and food costs. Some programs may subsidize costs, or the students may do fund raising to help soften the blow. I would recommend that a prospective music educator attend at least one national conference as an undergrad.</p>

19

<p>Couple more thoughts after reading more posts.</p>

<p>My kids use the library a lot. They also borrow a lot. My S gets emails probably weekly from friends - “Hey! Anybody have the music for … that I can borrow?” He has an extensive i-tunes library for recorded music. I think we actually are saving money now that he can buy individual pieces for $1, rather than entire CDs for $20.</p>

<p>Another expense that music performance majors need to consider budgeting for is audition expenses, which often include airfare and hotel. Keep track of these expenses because they are tax-deductible on the musician’s schedule C.</p>

<p>My S subbed with the Charleston Symphony a couple years ago. One of the section horns admitted that she couldn’t take many “step up” auditions, because she simply didn’t have the money for it. That was sobering to my S - and he recently made the comment again that he needs to make sure he budgets for that.</p>

<p>He evaluates potential auditions based upon the time they will take and the amount of money they will cost against his chances and/or attractiveness of the position.</p>

20

<p>Yes, the pro audition expenses can add up, but it’s something they need to be aware of NOW.</p>

<p>Air, bus or train fare, even gas as it creeps back up, transport to and from station or airport, normally an overnight stay (or two if there’s additional rounds), meals add up fast. If the final round is scheduled for a later date you can double your costs if you make the cut.</p>

<p>Get them in the habit of saving receipts and recording expenses now. It will serve them in the future.</p>

<p>Pays to use your network and crash at a relative or peer’s if at all possible.</p>