13 Things To Avoid CRUSHING Musician DEBT!!
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
- Want to run a home studio and NOT suffer under the weight of predatory loans or credit card debt? Here are 13 suggestions to make sure you're working for yourself, and not for a bank.
Can't cook? Check out Headbanger's Kitchen! / headbangerskitchen
0:00 How To Not Go Into Debt
0:57 No Massive Student Loans
2:24 Easy On The Subscriptions
3:28 Wants vs Needs
4:30 Buy Used
5:43 Research What You're Buying
7:27 Beware The Credit Card
9:37 Diversify Your Income
11:10 Ditch Your Car
12:33 Cook Your Own Food
14:01 Give Up The Party Life
14:31 Work From Home
15:50 Savings
17:23 Wait For Sales, But Be Warned
19:02 Recap & Bloopers
About Spectre Sound Studios:
I'm Glenn Fricker, engineer here at Spectre Sound Studios. I love making records, and after doing it for sixteen years, I want to pass on what I've learned. On my channel you can find tutorials on how to record guitar, bass, real drums and vocals. There's reviews and demos of tube amps, amp sims, drums, mics, preamps, outboard gear, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, and plugin effects.
We've covered Moon on the Water, played Bias FX, given you the absolute best in Stupid Musician Texts, ranted & raved about bass guitar, and this channel is where The Eagle has Landed.
Everything you've wanted to learn about recording Hard Rock & Heavy Metal can be found right here on this channel!
I also respond to your comments & questions: The best make it into the SMG Viewer's Comments series of videos. Loads of fun, lots of laughs.
Thanks for checking out my channel & please subscribe!
Awww thanks for the shout out Glenn!!! I really appreciate it. In fact it's so crazy you mentioned cooking for those who might not be very experienced because I've got a massive number of 3 and 5 ingredient recipes that even amateur cooks can easily make and enjoy tasty food. So cheers again and thanks for the shout out!!!
When I got my first full time decently paying job I fell in to these spending habits and behaviours. Paying with credit, downpaying, invoices etc. Because I have a stable job and pay now, I managed to make a good plan on how to pay things off. With only around $1000 left to pay off I’m coming close to being 100% debt free
Awesome! Work for yourself, not a bank!
I had bad spending in my 20s and early 30s, but once I hit my 40s, I finally landed a good job. And since I had come very very close to homelessness, I was far stricter on budgeting. Now I just have a house payment and that's it. (and it's cheaper than renting). The reduction in stress is huge.
When I was paying of my debts that last $1000 took me forever. I started getting impatient and would buy something. I should have just waited a month and be done with it. I just got tired of listening to music but putting my phone in a bowl as a "Speaker".
I don't understand this North American student loan system. Here in Europe it's pretty rare to have to spend a lot of money to study, with the exception of the United Kingdom. Perhaps it is an English speaking thing to starve to study.
I'm right there with you. An opportunity to make an assload more money came up and I'm using it all to pay off debts. I have $300 extra on this next paycheck that I'm gonna pay half my sweetwater card with (the Captor X was something I needed!)
I'm 44 and I'm glad to say that I've never had a credit card.
Growing up, my father always drilled into us that the worst thing to do in life is to get into debt.
having credit card is extremely important, you *OBVIOUSLY* don’t need to get in debt, and buying things with credit card and paying it on time *Will* pay for itself, by giving you free flights and coupons and great interest rate when you’ll buy a house.
Do you not live in the US? Because here you have to use credit cards at some point to build up and maintain your credit score, which is needed when you get a loan for either a car or home.
that's not what billionaires and giant corporations think. why wouldn't you go into debt for something worth more to you than that debt plus interest? plenty of inventions never would have seen the light of day without inventors willing to go into debt to make it happen.
@@noam.yuvalor1381 Yeah. my credit card gives a percentage back each month. Just need to pay it in full every month !
The biggest money saver for myself was learning to build my own bass cabs. my sealed 2x10 cost me the price wood glue and screws, its super punchy with great mid range clarity. DIY is definitely the biggest money saver plus you learn actually USEFUL skills.
I agree. Only cost it comes at, the time you spend building it.
@@RadOo Its soo much more rewarding when you're done aswell because you can look at it and be like "FUCK YEAH I did that"
Good point!
I recommend to also learn fairly basic guitar Technician skills. Basic woodwork, Electrics, Finishes etc.
I started back in my late teens many moons ago, and that has saved me so much over the years in maintaining my collection.
It also adds to earnings. Being able to fix friends instruments and once the skill sets have developed further, then you can begin to advertise your services.
An to say well done with building your own Cab. A extremely satisfying process. Did you go to the extent of tuning the enclosure?
I got into that myself originally from building those huge car audio systems back in the 2000's. That eventually morphed into the studio world building monitors and acoustic treatment.
D.I.Y. is more of a mindset in my opinion. There is always an expert out there to accept a paycheck to fix something, or we can always just go and buy that new thing.
But to want to create or fix that thing for yourself, by yourself.
Well that requires the hunger of personal character development.
I applaud your desire for growth my friend. May your future be lead by independence, and self reliance.
:)
From my experience, the cost of a new item tends to equal the cost of materials and tools. If the cost of tools is more, then make a few things to make it worth it. You may even be able to start selling the items.
I remember one of the best financial advices that I’ve ever heard was, if you can’t buy something five times over, you can’t afford it.
Another point in tandem with most:
No you almost definitely do not need that plugin.
Great way to finish off 30 for 30. Invaluable advice for us all, Glenn. Thanks much.
I’m too late
How anyone can do 30 videos in 30 days is beyond me! Respect to you sir!
Thanks very much! I'm taking tomorrow OFF!
This video is proof that Glenn has not been corrupted and is still on the side of good! Great video, Mr. Fricker!
Extra tip: keep some money aside for your taxes. I know a luthier who started out and spent every cent that he received. After about 1.5-2 years, his first tax bill dropped in the mail. He had nothing to pay it with. Bankruptcy after the first round of tax...
Number nine (cook your own food) is literally one of my favorite hobbies. I cook for friends at least 2-3 times every week.
Doing your research before you buy? Also an actual pastime for me.
Can't lose the car tho', my day job starts before public transport is available & I need to transport my bass amp (& sometimes our singer) to rehearsals!
Yes, bass amp lol ;)
I have a rule being an individual who plays for enjoyment, not income: I must sell gear to buy gear. That can be a guitar, pedals or an amp. If I made an income off of music or reviews, I would consider a purchase an investment.
I currently have 2 jobs, one is full time job which pays the bills (like ordinary living expenses) and then the other one where I work as a piano player for our townhall (playing on various ceremonies like weddings, eldery people aniversaries, funerals, city awards evenings, etc...) and I have one solid rule - all musical equipment is paid just by income from this second job which is also my passion.
I feel like this is the course that we needed back in high school. Awesome video!
Happy to help!
Couple of years ago i was renting a rehearsal space for other bands with my friend. There were always problems with getting money on time from other bands, going to houses of your "musician friends" just for money they owe you sucks a lot. One guitar player even told us, that if he pay us a rent, he won't have money on food. Couple of days later we saw him in local bar getting really drunk. This is how you run into debt with your colleagues in the most stupid way (aaaaaaand you get an angry bass player with expendable baton and tear gas at your door). If you can't afford rehearsal space, play at home. Don't go into debt. Friends won't take loan interest like banks, but that doesn't mean you can screw them.
Grubhub: Your total is 30.95 for 4 items from McDonalds.
Me: Oh fuck, that's like half a guitar pedal.
My biggest money saving skill was that I learned to do a setup on my guitars early on from an '80s Ibanez catalogue explaining how to intonate a tremolo bridge. Then a friend who was into electronics showed me how to solder my own guitar cable. Now I can even do Boss DS-1 mods and after I changed 20+ times guitar pickups and done setups I found out that I have recovered the cost of one of my guitars! I have taken them to a professional for fret leveling and edge of frets rounding but I can do everything else on my own and don't get charged 75 euros/setup and I don't know how much for pickup replacement. If the job doesn't require a special set of (expensive) tools you'll save a lot by doing it on your own with easy to purchase screwdriver, allen keys, a couple of wrences, a cutter and a soldering iron.
Glennnnn! Overall, excellent video, but I must partially object to number 12. A savings account in the US will yield anywhere from 0.1 to a tidy 0.01%APY, while inflation YTD has been hovering around 5%. Meaning, if you kept your money in a savings account over that time, it has lost 4.9-4.99% of its buying power. That is not always the best long term solution for a goal; a savings account should be thought of as an emergency reserve only, with ideally 3-6 month's worth of living expenses (I understand this isn't realistic for everyone). Simply saving for a large goal like a tube amp or custom guitar, one should consider a conservative guided investment portfolio that you can make monthly contributions to. Also, FOR THE LOVE OF CROM, don't keep your money in a jar. In a US bank, it's a deposit guaranteed by the bank, and is FDIC insured up to $250k should that bank fail. If you keep your money in a jar/under your mattress, it's subject to theft, loss, fire, etc., and once it's gone, tough shit. [Edited for spelling]
I don't think it's a bad idea to keep a little bit of cash at home in a lock box. But the rest of it should be in the bank; or preferably a credit union. I am glad I ditched bank of America and switched to a credit union.
@@jennoscura2381 Oh, absolutely, having some cash on hand is always a good idea. I'm referring more to the people like a client I recently met with who had literally $100k in a box in his closet... yikes.
Buy bitcoin
@@DickTruth 100k? Yikes! If they got robbed they would be fucked. Even with a good safe there is still a risk. And in a safe it doesn't earn interest. Even on a basic checking account I still get some interest. A frew cents here and there isn't much; but it's money I didn't have.
Lots of sound advice - especially the one on giving up party life ;-) I've never understood how in the world anyone might want to spend half of their earnings on getting shitfaced. Some of the advice is not applicable everywhere though - e.g. here in Europe credit cards are not so ubiquitous as in the US or Canada. We usually have debit cards instead. As for ditching a car - it's not a real option when you need to haul some gear on a regular basis. But in such case, a downgrade might be worth looking into. Recently, I sold my Volvo V70 and got an old but well-maintained Corolla diesel wagon. Yes, it's rather slow and less comfy but it's getting the job done just fine while saving me a small fortune on maintenance (costs of servicing a FWD Volvo are ridiculously high). And this way I'm a bassist who doesn't need to ask his mom for a ride to the rehearsal!
I'm a proud minivan owner. Great for hauling gear!
@@SpectreSoundStudios it is! I don't need such a big vehicle on a daily bas(s)is though - the Corolla serves me just fine. My basses fit in the trunk and I still have some place left for an amp and a small cab without folding the back seat. I still miss my '92 Volvo 940 wagon though - best car I've ever had, and it had enough cargo space to swallow most of my band's gear. I keep promising myself I'll get another one someday.
I miss mine. I opted for the accord over another odyssey. I regret that decision. My wallet thanks me though, it really does! $35k for a base model odyssey, $45k for the one I wanted. The accord was a returned lease with 20k miles on it for $16,500.
@@SpectreSoundStudios Me too. Love my 2008 Siena. Nearly at 200k miles. Not the sexiest car on the street but she gets the job done when I'm hauling gear.
Legitimately awesome advice glenn. Now that your 30 video grind is over. Please take a minute to finally breathe. You deserve it. And thanks for the honesty about people thinking its easy to make money from music or engineering. Knowing your experience really puts that into perspective for a lot of folks.
Had a couple credit cards early in my career, and ended up defaulting on thousands of dollars of debt. These days I say No to even the most advantageous sounding cards. I've learned I just can't manage them. It was a lot harder for a while, but I've gotten used to it.
Glenn is very clever with who he wants to hire; someone who can record/edit audio, video, program plugins and such because we all know that people who have multiple skills juggling different things are the best at it. Coders who *just* make software, recording engineers who *just* record, audio editors who *just edit* , same with video editors, produce mediocre work. You want the ones who mix it all. Newspapers do just that, hire hybrids. Instead of writers or photographers, they hire people who write, produce video, code, shoot stills, and so on, which is why newspapers are THRIVING!!! Brilliant!!!
Excellent video Glenn! Steve Vai was talking about living within your means in an interview, and he mentioned that no matter how much or how little he made, he always lived within his means and squirreled away some money for the future. Prioritizing you expenses (and keeping a budget) is a lifesaver! For example, as much as I enjoy video games, I do not play them very often (time constraints) and thus I do not buy very many. I might by a video game every few years, not multiple games every year. Things like that add up surprisingly quick! Remember, debt is slavery!
This ain't just advice for musicians. It is life advice. Glenn, you fucking rule dude!
For credit cards, I only use them in 3 circumstances:
- I can pay it off when the bill comes
- I get 0% interest financing
- An emergency (N/A for hobbies)
It's a lovely feeling going through Black Friday / Cyber Monday and not spending a thing. And the best feature about my 6 year old phone that none of the new ones has is a tiny tiny bill. But my biggest money saver in life was not going to Uni/College to learn my trade. Probably missed a lot of good parties, but saved a ton of money
I don’t play the heavy stuff you tend to showcase on this channel, but I always watch your videos because you are an important mentor in the community.
I appreciate the wisdom you are passing down to the next generation of musicians. It is especially important for young people to hear this information if they don’t have a family member or close friend in the industry.
I went through a very long, twisty, and expensive path to get into medical school that could have been avoided if I had a mentor. So now I mentor undergrads at the local university and try to help them as much as possible through all the bullshit getting thrown at them. Much respect to you and your team of musicians. Rock on.
Good vid. I worked years in grocery, service industry and doing shows / back line / studio work had two leases on home and studio lockout and barely got by. Didn’t have any health insurance and my car was breaking down.
I studied web development for a few months and went ham on it and got really good paying gigs from that working from my house with my own studio room.
The savings part is spot on..My mother always said "Be always ready for a rainy day"..
Ah, 3-6% interest rates. I'm old enough to remember when 3% was a low rate on my savings account (but not old enough to have had enough money to really take advantage of it). Now it's time to go be depressed by the shitty rates on offer now.
This is probably one of the least metal videos I've ever seen! But it is good advice. Love that you advocate for the aeropress. After working in coffee for the better part of 10 years, anyone who asks me what they should use to brew at home, I recommend the aeropress. Cheap to buy, easy to use, and even easier to clean.
Also to add to this list would be learning to set up your own equipment. It's not that hard, will cost you all of about $20 in tools (probably less), and you actually get to know your equipment better.
Great video! I’m happy that people these days have more resources than we did (back in my day haha). In 1999, when I was considering college, information wasn’t as readily available about…well, ANYTHING. It’s also worth noting that back then if you didn’t go to college you were looked at as weird or a loser. I’m happy that this culture is changing as well. It’s a debt trap. Although I got good education, I graduated in 2008 into an economy with NO jobs, and by the time came to pay my loans, I had no job to earn money to pay them! What a crock! College needs to cost less, and debt student debt needs to wiped away.
what im learning from these videos is that I'll be happier keeping my day job
Saving up money has been the best decision I've ever made. The transition from paycheck-to-paycheck into "I still have $50" took a staggering amount of weight off my shoulders.
Best video ever...not only for musicians!!!! Shared to a lot...
Been subscribed for maybe 2 weeks and this man is one of the most consistent creators out there!
It's been four years since I quit smoking, now I have an upgraded guitar rig without changing anything else in my lifestyle. Lockdown helped a bit too...
What you said about credit card debt is spot on. It's the hardest debt for me to get rid of currently. The savings idea is awesome too and actually how I save money. Leaving it in a jar at home eliminates my access through my debit card. Sure I can always just go and get it but it's harder for me to do.
As for the car, I need mine because I move around with my son all the time. For the average person I would say you don't need a car, but if you have kids, it makes things so much easier when you're grocery shopping or even traveling with your little one.
Great stuff Glenn!
"I'd think it was more, from how round most of them are." Bullseye, Glenn.
On the subject of cooking, I am in my high school's foods class so I can learn to cook for myself, which is nice, so I won't have to deal with crappy take out and restaurants as much.
That's exactly how I've managed to get by for the past four decades.
Buying used gives one the advantage to sell for about the same price. Also keep your gear in good condition, so it sells with ease.
This is in fact hell of a great video for most young people trying to make a career in arts in general
Great video Glenn! I recently paid off my credit cards and man is it a good feeling to not have that looming over my head. I'd like to add, one of the positives of having a savings account is that if you do actually find yourself in a financial bind, you can take a loan from YOURSELF and pay yourself back over time at zero interest.
Love the channel! Cheers mate.
Gleeeen!
Not a metal guy but your videos are always helpful.
One way to think about interest is the law of 72: if you divide 72 by the interest rate, the result is roughly how many years it will take for your debt to double: if you have a $1,000 loan at 7.2 interest, in 10 years you will have paid $2,000.
Greetings from Mexico
Great advice Glen!
Keep up the good work.🤘
Thank you Glenn great advices!!!!
Thank you for this video. You gave some very good advice in here and while most the tips you have mentioned here I have already been doing for years, there are definitely some others I need to work on.
Great advice Glenn! Loved it man!
Awesome video; thanks 🤟
Excellent Advice!!!! Thanks, Glenn!
Hey glenn thank you so much for offering your knowledge and expertise in music. It is very helpful and Substantive. Love ya man
Thx to you Sr!! This is a great video! Big love from Argentina
Glen! I’m in 100% agreement about these recording conservatories that notoriously overcharge for their curriculum! That said, when I get asked about these programs, my advice has always been if you’re dead set on wanting to do some sort of a degree or certification in the recording arts, consider a community college. What isn’t very known, is many community colleges these days are providing some very generous incentives such as departmental grants, program scholarships, tuition waivers, and more recently COVID grants! I took this route and ended up graduating with grant and scholarship money in my pockets which allowed me to buy some basic recording equipment. Now the caveat is youll most likely spend a minimum of 2 years going through a community college degree program, and if for some reason you have to pay out of pocket, you’ll be out about $2k - $3k as opposed to the $80k + these recording specialty institutions charge. The reason why I got the resources I did to pay my way, is simply because I asked what resources were available to me. Mileage and situations vary, but asking never hurts!
Great stuff Glenn!
One of your best videos Glenn 👍
Brilliant video, probably your best.
Great practical advice!
Relatively new viewer. Major cheers for the month of videos man. Your videos are always great
Great advice Glenn!
I also cook for myself. Every now and then I do order take out but work extra to cover what I spent.
Very good advice. Every point you made was spot on.
A bit off topic but great advice Glenn! Much appreciated!
Gdaam your looking good bro 🤘 keep up with the hustle!
Thank you so much for the info Glenn!🤘🏼 don’t feed the corporate monster!
Thanks Glen. Right on about all the facts. Sometimes need to reset and take a look at the self.
Great video!! 👍 Happy Holidays, everyone!
It's so much fun too listen your videos, always on point, even if I don't need to watch I do. Always something to learn....listen to this guy people.
above every single bit of information you give us. i love the bloopers lol killer video with 100% accurate points!
Im already there on all these points, scrapping by but getting by nonetheless :)
Good luck, man!
Absolutely loved this one. I will miss seeing your notification pop up every day. I enjoyed your challenge. I definitely love having regular content from you, even though exhaustion might creep in. Nevertheless, hope you find a balance where you can shoot a relatively big chunk once and then chop it into 10-13 minutes clips for 3-4 uploads per week (but I assume you do that anyway. Thank you for your work and as always...fk you Glennn!
This is such a great info video 👍👍 I found a great deal on a used Ibanez RG guitar at a Music Go Round store. Dropped in some high output pickups and it’s awesome. Saved a ton of money buying used. Most my amp sims and IR are free too.
Great, great video
1000% on buying used! Not only can you get something in mint condition for hundreds less than new, but a lot of guys will take trades at street value.
A lot of this is general life advice, great stuff Glenn.
Hey Glenn, this vid is much appreciated! Hope it finds some open ears and open minds. It addresses one of the biggest problems of our society.
Well said - great advice - thanks
No, actually, this is all EXCELLENT advice! (and fu... {^_^})
fantastic video sir! I do enjoy them all, but this one will help a musician make it further and be able to keep pursuing their musician dream should they follow the points! Bravo again sir
Hehe. True story. I bought a scratch and dent refrigerator back in the day because i needed one and i was pretty poor back then. Fridge worked like a champ for years. Then it started not keeping food as cold. Then the only way to keep food cold was to put it in the freezer. Called a service guy out, and basically, i had screwed myself by switching a switch to "economy" from "keeps the outside sweat free."
Turns out that economy means it doesn't defrost the cooling coils, whereas the "keeps the outside sweat free" just let the entire cooling coil area freeze into a solid block of ice. All of this had damaged the compressor, and while thawing the unit out and switching to non-ecomony mode would prevent it from freezing solid in the future, the tech straight up told me the seals were damaged in the compressor, and it would die soon.
Sure enough, a couple of months later it started failing. Right around this point i got a call offering an extended warranty on the fridge. I gleefully bought that warranty on the spot. About a week or so after i got the paperwork for the warranty called it in and received a replacement fridge because mine was "irreparable." So i made money on that deal.
But generally extended warranties are a gigantic waste of money. Do i want to buy an extended warranty on this $130 toaster over?!? Really?!? If it fails, i'll either do without, or just go buy another one.
Gold👍🏾thx Glenn
I respected you before.. then you brought up aeropress and hand grinders and now I respect you even more. good coffee for the people and hail Glen!
Buy used is great tip... All my guitars are used... Amazingly built instruments... Specially my Yamaha sg2000 1973!
Great to hear!
The outtakes are getting better Glenn. :p
the hair flip was golden. Great vid, Glenn!
This is just life advise and I loved it
Great no bullshit advise!
Thanks for your guidance Glenn. You are a great mentor and are right about pretty much everything. I always feel so stupid after listening to you break it down for me... 53 and still learning 🥂
I’ve been watching this channel for about 6 years now, and this has been my go to for any recording advice since. I’ve unfortunately been that guy to spend money trying to get a career in this industry, only to end up with nothing. Fortunately I didn’t do it through loans, but if I have any advice for myself at the time, I’d say to use the information on this channel to my advantage. Not only would it save me time/money, but also come with a great deal of solid/straight-to-the-point recording advice!
Totally awesome advice, Glenn! Thank you so much! I save up as much as I can to buy my gear, and when I use my credit card, I pay as much as I can in cash so my monthly payments are as low as they can get to make sure I'll be able to pay for them, maybe that helps someone too! Big F U from Chile!
This is a really great video
Glenn! Superb final video for the month, hopefully you'll be taking 45 minutes off to recuperate.. want vs need has been my mantra for years, and buying used gear has saved me a LOT of money. I agree that patience has definitely fallen from favour of late, and let's face it, musicians (I include myself here) are suckers for "ooooo shiny!" The fallout from poor decisions on other musicians parts lead to great bargains on the second hand market for the rest of us, the ridiculous markup on "vintage" gear notwithstanding . We're the same age, so I will make the huge assumption that you too miss the days when there was only new gear and secondhand/used gear. Remember kids not everything old is good, I am living proof of that! Again, excellent episode, all the best straight outta riverside!!!
Yes going easy on subscriptions is such a breath of fresh air, I’ve done the same with owning the DAW and plugins instead of subscription. Also used mics was so easy Facebook marketplace got for less than half the price for new.
Great tips! Especially the buy used one. It's a good idea for more than just music gear. For example when your friend accidentally backs into your car in the driveway on your way to lunch going with a used hood and front end for repairs is so much cheaper than new! And when her husband has to pay for repairs he'll be thankful for saving cash!
Thank you Sensei
Honestly I can definitely say for a fact that you should go out and see if pawn shops have stuff, because they often do.
Found a lot of great gear at pawn shops for next to nothing. (Found some old synths once, a TR-606 in ohio once, as well as the Combo Amp I'm currently using)
Hey, so this is completely unrelated to the topic at hand, but I just wanted to say that I got the top 0.001% of Woods of Ypres listeners on my Spotify Wrapped which might make the me numerically the actual biggest Woods fan in the world, and I know that you were behind my favorite Woods album: Woods 2. I recently discovered your channel and the first video I saw was, coincidentally, one in which you dropped that you worked on the record. Thank you for all your hard work all those years ago, and thank you for the continued hard work now. I've been loving your videos.
Thanks, Jeff!
I love the outtakes at the end. :)
Not to brag but I'm gonna:
Few years ago I bought a CD printer, this instantly took off more than my home studio/ live recording hustle.
Since the last lockdown here in NSW Australia I've been booking bands every week at my home studio, charging a decent rate and making a good side income to my pizza boy job I've had for 8 years 😁
Been shooting heaps of videos and am going for a job interview as a trainee video editor tomorrow 🤞
Now to pay off my $1000 credit card debt I've been making minimum repayments on for the last 2 years 😬
Great video as always Glenn, much respect 🤘
Well done.