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For all the married people.... (pg. 3)
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| cryophonik |
| quote: | Originally posted by kitphillips
Well, if your making a 5,000 dollar investment in something that's not going to net you any return, and you don't abolutely need it to continue your hobby, then maybe you should listen to your S.O. and save your money for something more worthwhile..?
Sorry to voice such a bizarre opinion, I just think its a bit ridiculous for people to blow thousands on pro gear if they aren't actually profesionals...
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Sorry, but I totally disagree with this opinion. There's absolutely nothing wrong with buying the gear you want if you can afford it. My wife and I aren't professional photographers (although we've made a few bucks off some photos), but we still have over $10K invested in cameras and lenses. Likewise, we aren't professional flyfishers either, but we have over 5 grand invested in flyfishing gear! ;) Similar story for skiing, camping, hiking, etc. Why? Because they're lifelong hobbies of ours and we understand that having the right gear makes the experience that much more enjoyable. And, just because a person isn't making more money off something than they spend on it doesn't mean that he/she doesn't know how to use the equipment as well or better than someone who uses it "professionally."
Just to clarify, I was being mostly facetious in my earlier post. My wife knows how much I spend, roughly how much I have invested, and I tell her when I make a profit, take a loss, or break even on a piece of gear that I buy/sell. Unlike some of the other commenters here, we don't split our money and even though I make considerably more than my wife does, we pool our money and it is all considered "ours", not mostly mine. We cover the bills, invest for the future, and make sure all other expenses are covered before we spend money on ourselves. We both have professional careers and, between the two of us, we earn good money, but we have our spending limits and we live within our means. Unlike most of our friends in our same income bracket, we own a modest home and live a pretty simple lifestyle, whereas most of our friends buy lavish houses, travel the world, buy new and expensive cars every other year, etc.
So, no, I don't feel guilty about buying all those hardware synths, mics, basses, preamps, etc. Besides, I probably have twice as much invested in my computer, periperals, and software as I do in my hardware synths and outboard gear and we all know that the return on computers and software is crap, so the hardware is a MUCH better investment. |
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| palm |
| yeah, snowboard-gear+holidays is where all my money is going lol. been using around 10k(us) on that this season. |
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| Subtle |
| quote: | Originally posted by kitphillips
Well, if your making a 5,000 dollar investment in something that's not going to net you any return, and you don't abolutely need it to continue your hobby, then maybe you should listen to your S.O. and save your money for something more worthwhile..?
Sorry to voice such a bizarre opinion, I just think its a bit ridiculous for people to blow thousands on pro gear if they aren't actually profesionals... |
How do you know that it isnt going to give you anything in return ?
You spend money on gear because you think it is going to increase the quality and fun of your music making, and if it does, it sure is worthwhile!
Also if you are willing to spend your hard earned cash on equipment, it means that you are really serious about what you`re doing and who knows.. if you actually use the equipment enough.. maybe you will become a professional one day. (although the term professional is pretty vague these days) there are tons of non-professional producers releasing cool music.
If you buy tons of equipment and dont use it actively, or buy 10 hardware synths at once or something, yeah then i think it is a waste. |
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| RichieV |
Not married but my girlfriend is an opera singer and the money issue is not so much the main area of disagreement but rather the city we live in. Most of her work is on the east coast and mine is on the west but we are still young and work is never steady so we end up moving around alot depending on who has the most solid contract. There are also times when we have to be apart for a few months.
Thankfully most of my work is more traditional scoring/arranging and the production side is always things I can draft on a laptop then produce it on my setup once I am there for a while. I do have an exorbitant amount of gear in storage in various cities which I should probably just sell. |
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| orTofønChiLd |
| quote: | Originally posted by asdfg
I guess another benefit of buying software is that it's easier to hide. |
lol indeed |
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| RichieV |
lol that reminds me of when I was a kid and I would show up with instruments at my house and my parents would always inquire as to how I got it and how much it cost. I remember buying a fancy metronome when i was in grade 7 and my parents made me return it despite the fact that it was my own money from my paper route.
It got a little harder when me and my brother acquired some instruments thru means that were not quite legal. That same year, we "borrowed" the drums from the school band room and I had to explain to my parents that it was a free rental. And we would go to music shops and come home with things that we could not explain how it was purchased or acquired.
It is actually quite astonishing what we did for the sake of music. We were actually quite good kids and never got into any trouble what so ever except when it came to music and things related to music. We still went to church at that point and my brother was an alter boy but we wouldn't think twice about sticking a cymbal, patch chord, effect pedals under our shirts.
Even at school, I some how acquired so many scores from the library that my collection was pretty extensive. I had all the full scores for almost all the major composers that technically reference books and they really should not of been with me at the time.
Man i sound like a proper little . |
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| cryophonik |
| quote: | Originally posted by RichieV
We still went to church at that point and my brother was an alter boy but we wouldn't think twice about sticking a cymbal, patch chord, effect pedals under our shirts.
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You guys had cymbals and effects pedals at your church?! That's my kind of religion! :p |
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| RichieV |
| naw not at church. Always from music stores. It is just sort of ironic how we were just really good kids except when it came to music. We were obsessed. We were junkies. THings got messy when we turned 18 because we couldn't steal anymore and we started to finance all our new purchases. I remember getting the worst verbal trashing of my life when my dad found out I was 15 000 in the hole and It had passed to collections. He sent me and my brother to work on the railroads for the summer to pay everything off. 14 hours a day for 3 months. I suppose that it was prison is like minus the pay. |
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| flutlicht junky |
Eric I would take your missus out for an amazing meal about a month before then maybe a week before cook her an amazing meal or something. Nothing too obvious to raise her suspicion.
Then just buy the stuff and when she puts 2&2 together say that although your buying it for a serious reason you knew it would also be fun so you had been taking her out / cooking for her so she didn't miss out either.
Well, that's how I'd do it :p |
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| Eric J |
| quote: | Originally posted by flutlicht junky
Eric I would take your missus out for an amazing meal about a month before then maybe a week before cook her an amazing meal or something. Nothing too obvious to raise her suspicion.
Then just buy the stuff and when she puts 2&2 together say that although your buying it for a serious reason you knew it would also be fun so you had been taking her out / cooking for her so she didn't miss out either.
Well, that's how I'd do it :p |
Good suggestion, but tried it before. The thing about is that she's a numbers girl. Since its "family money", she'd probably be more upset about spending money on the nice dinner AND the equipment. :)
Like I said before, its not a major problem, but I was just curious how many others go through the same situation. Its still something to make me (an a few others) stop and think. It's a lot easier to drop 4 figures on gear when you are single. Of course, when I was single, I didn't have a mortgage, health insurance or credit payments which eat up my income. Its as much about the situation changing as anything else. There are a lot of things I like about being married and owning a home, so its not like I feel as if I am having to sacrifice.
I can usually get better reactions if I told her I got it on some amazing sale. "Look honey, I got a $2,000 synth for $1,200. That's like 40% off!" She gets excited about the deal. :) |
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| Takkra |
THIS, doesn't seem to correspond :p
| quote: |
... but there comes a time when you just can't justify a $2-3,000 synth or $3,000 set of monitors, even if you REALLY need it.
Anyone else face this situation?
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"The better you get, the less you need."
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| Beatflux |
| quote: | Originally posted by Eric J
I can usually get better reactions if I told her I got it on some amazing sale. "Look honey, I got a $2,000 synth for $1,200. That's like 40% off!" She gets excited about the deal. :) |
You have to spend money to save money. :P |
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