32: Tracking Finances as an Independent Contractor
with Tiffany Soricelli
What should people be doing to track their finances?
One of the things that, I mean, I hate to be like a die-hard capitalist, but if you make money, you can stay in a career longer and you can, you can share your work and impact with more people and change more lives. The world needs artists to make money, and they need them to be good at making money. So one of the things that I really emphasize to artists of all disciplines, not even just musicians, is understanding what are you doing that gets you the most revenue? I'm not saying you have to sell out. I'm not saying you have to, you know, play jingles or write something that, that is not in alignment with your, your values.
But, but look at where your money comes from and where are you having the most success, being aware of that and then giving yourself the opportunity to lean in… to those, those areas where you're going to be able to make more money is one way to manage that, that, that level of success and also awareness of, you know, where your income is coming from, but then also awareness of outflow. There's so much in this career as a musician that we cannot control, but you can control how you spend your money, where you spend your money. And I'm not saying don't drink the coffee or don't buy the latte, but I'm saying be really intentional around using your money that's in alignment.
So everything has an opportunity cost. So money that goes towards consumables can't be in your savings. But at the same time, if you're prioritizing an experience or, or travel or something like that, that's really important to you. That alone-- It's just important that you're aware of where the money goes. I think so much of in America or even in the world, so much of our day-to-day is, is not measured. People spend money, especially on food and drink, where you just, you swipe the card and you don't even realize that that was a $25 lunch. But it only takes $28 a day to lose $10,000 a year.
Kellogg:
Wow.
Soricelli:
$28 of unexpected spending each day result in the loss of $10,000 a year. But conversely, making an extra $28 a day is, is the result of giving yourself $10,000 raise. So you can control it. It's just depending on how you want to spin it.