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New MT-BCs – The Importance of Making a Budget

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As you are starting out on your own as a professional, preparing a realistic budget is important. This will help you know if job or contract offers you receive will allow you to manage financially. While no one enters music therapy and expects to become wealthy, you should not have to take on a second job in order to manage your basic expenses. You should also not be depending on a spouse to “subsidize” a low paying music therapy job or contract.

You will have fixed expenses that occur every month, and you should start with a list of what you estimate those will cost. These expenses include things like apartment rent and utilities, groceries, car payment, gasoline and auto insurance. You may need to consider having a roommate to manage your rental expenses. If your job does not include health insurance, then you may want to check and see if your proposed income will qualify you for subsidized health insurance, otherwise individually purchased insurance can be quite expensive and will be a significant percentage of your fixed expenses.

Other fixed expenses would include any school loan repayment you may owe, medications you may need for yourself, and your phone and internet bill. Remember that you will need to plan to make regular contributions to a retirement account (SEP-IRA, etc.) to insure that you will have income down the road when you retire. That may seem a long way off, but it will come quicker than you may think. It is also wise to have an emergency fund that contains the equivalent of three months of your regular expenses. If you are self-employed, you must pay quarterly taxes as that money will not be taken out of your payments. This should be set aside in a separate savings account so that you have the money on hand to pay the IRS when it is due each quarter.

You will also have a category of rotating expenses; those that occur throughout the year, but don’t occur every month. These types of expenses might include clothing, office supplies and computer cartridges. Other rotating expenses include music therapy equipment, music therapy books, continuing education and your AMTA membership.

An important financial consideration is how much travel a given job or contract will require and how that affects how much you are really being paid. To determine how much per hour you are actually making; do not look at the “per session” or “per hour” rate. Instead, determine how many hours it takes you per day to see the actual clients/groups and make that money. For example, let’s say that you are being paid $45 per session, and you have 4 sessions per day. You are required to drive to each of these homes and they are all at some distance from each other. You leave your home at 8 a.m. and arrive at the first home at 9 a.m. That means your work day starts at 9 a.m. (you don’t count the time it takes to get to your first client nor the time it takes to get home from the last client of the day). Your other three clients are scattered throughout the day; with the last client being seen at 5 p.m. You take an hour for lunch (lunch is not calculated as part of your paid time). This means it takes a total of 8 hours to make the promised income as you are not able to do any other paid work during the day when you are traveling back and forth to clients. So you are not making $45 per hour; you are making $22.50 per hour. You have to look realistically at what you are making per day and determine if that job or contract is really a viable option.

Organize your budget in a spreadsheet or in a computer program or app—there are lots of possible options. The most important thing is to have a very clear idea on what it will cost to run your household. That’s the only way you will know if the job or contract you are considering will meet your basic financial needs.

 

New MT-BCs: What to Look for in a First Job — Location, Location, Location

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When you are looking for that first job, it is important to give a lot of thought to what you want and need in that first professional paid experience and part of that consideration is where you would be willing to live.

People have environments that will and will not work for them and the environment you live in can affect how happy you are in a given job or contract situation. Consider initially whether you would want to live in an urban, suburban or rural area. Do you like a busy, active environment with lots of access to different activities? Or do you prefer a quieter, more low key environment with a lot of access to outdoor activities?

Access to transportation can be important. Do you want to live in an area where there will be considerable driving involved, and if so….do you have a reliable, economical car? If you are in an urban area, is there good access to inexpensive, efficient mass transit?

Are you willing to move to a place where you don’t know many people?  Don’t immediately reject the idea of a great job that is located somewhere unfamiliar.  There are many ways to build networks of friends and support, starting with other local MT-BCs.  You can explore a location pretty extensively online, discovering clubs, meetups, and other gatherings — and even using Google Maps street view to see what it would be like to stand in a particular neighborhood.  For some people, finding religious and spiritual institutions can mean an immediate “home away from home.”  For others, a sports or recreation club can mean the same thing.

On the other hand, maybe you know that you won’t be happy if you are too far away from core family and close friends.  You may love your job, but if you are unhappy and isolated it will eventually affect your work.

Climate can also be an important consideration. Some people do not do well in colder climates with a lot of rain and overcast skies as it affects their mood. Others find that they do not tolerate heat well. Give careful thought to the climate of the area in which you plan to live. Is this a climate you can tolerate for at least two years?

Consider also your political and religious leanings. Some areas of the country are more liberal; other areas are more conservative. Certain religious beliefs tend to be stronger in the southern part of the country. Given your own political and/or religious beliefs, is the area of the country you are considering one in which you can see yourself having a lot in common with others or not as much in common with others? You can find kindred spirits almost anywhere, but if your own beliefs are a great deal different than a majority of those living in your area, you may find yourself feeling more isolated.  You may not want to be a trailblazer while navigating your first job.

Does the area of the country you are considering offer enough of the activities you are interested in? Are there healthcare and/or education facilities pursuant to your professional interests or that offer advanced education, should you wish to pursue that?

Finding that first job not only takes time and effort, but it requires a great deal of thought in regard to what will work best for you in terms of where you will be living. Taking the time to think through these points will give you a much better chance of ending up in a location where you are happy.