Setting Up Your Budgeting Tool

In the inevitable column, list your non-monthly but predictable expenses. These include car registration, car and house maintenance, and other non-monthly membership renewals. The total of these inevitables will show up at the bottom of the list and be automatically divided by 12 months to give you a monthly number of how much to save, so your inevitables will always be funded. This number will be added to your monthly expenses column and included in your monthly budget.

Setting Up Your Income Streams

Musicians should start by categorizing their income into different streams, such as live performances, session work, royalties, merchandise sales, and teaching or workshops. Each category should track the amount and source of income over time. Tracking can be done manually via spreadsheets or financial software that automatically categorizes income

Setting Up Your Forecasting Tool

Now that you have your income streams categorized and listed in a way that you feel best suits you and have all your expenses itemized and organized on your budget, it's time to show you how all the information comes together.