[Trombone-l] Expenses

[George Carr]

> In very rough numbers, that means I am laying out about
> 10% of what I make on a 3 hour job in expenses. Of course, on longer jobs
> the percentage is less.

Keeping 90% of the money after overhead is pretty good in any other
industry.  :)  But that's a low estimate of your overhead, as you say;
after you throw in purchase and maintenance of the horn, the insurance
(both horn and car), the sheet music to practice from, buying/altering
a tux every time the ol' spare tire gets a size larger, etc., etc., it
gets expensive.

I think your numbers are pretty reasonable; the only way I can suggest
to keep costs down is to track your expenses and deduct them on your
Schedule C; that saves you lots of money on self-employment tax.  You
can even deduct buying recordings (for 'research' purposes), and other
expenses.  I'm pretty sure I remember at least one year when I spent
so much on CDs, new horns, and gig clothing, I ended up reporting a
negative income on my Schedule C.

But there's not much you can do to save travel expenses; you might
consider carpooling with nearby players, or getting a car that's
cheaper to run.

George