Planning a Recording Project on $2 a Day!
So, seriously... who needs money, right?
It's kinda funny how out of whack our priorities can get. Money really isn't that important to me... it's a means to an end. I honestly don't mind too terribly living on the edge of virtual poverty, so long as my family is fed and my bills are paid. It sucks when something breaks and you don't have the money to do anything about it... which, in my experience, is a much more frequent occurrence when you really' don't have the cash. And my job doesn't pay too well... it isn't convenience store or restaurant wages or anything, but it's not great. Between us, Roulette and Moonled and I make enough to just kinda scrape by.
So here's what happens... we have kids. When tax time rolls around, we get a pretty good chunk of change back from Uncle Sam. We organize these funds into basic priorities; some of the money is allocated toward an entertainment fund - meaning that it is used for things that we want, like new computers or a TV - and some is used to pay down debts. The rest is used for important purchases like household repairs, appliances, vehicular maintenance, etc.
So then Roulette and I started school... and financial aid has added a couple other times a year that we can expect an influx of extra money. If you the read the fine print, this is cash that's supposed to be used for educational expenses, or possibly living expenses when you can't work two or three jobs and still go to school full time... and a lot of it gets used that way. There have been times that we've all considered seeking additional income options, but school certainly eats up a lot of that extra time.
But when it comes to money, we could simply take these extra amounts of cash and apply it to our regular living expenses. It would be more comfortable, certainly... life might be easier. But our lifestyle would just suck it up, and then the money - and any possibilities it represented as a bulk phenomenon - would just disappear. So we use it for things that would not normally be possible. For Roulette, as of late, this is her ball-jointed dolls. For me... the CD.
It's going to cost me almost a thousand buck just to get started. Yes, I selected an expensive studio. Yes, I'm planning to take my time doin' it. It's about quality. I've worked on half-assed recording projects in home studios in years past, and the results are never what you want them to be. This is my first time recording an entire album full of my songs, however, and I want to do it right. I want to be proud of the end product for years to come. But it's going to be expensive... I'm expecting it will be less than $3,000 all told. I hope so, anyway. But I'm prepared to make whatever investment I need to. To get it right.
And Roulette supports me... which, given the struggles of our everyday life, is remarkable.
But... well... there was supposed to be this payout in July. It got pushed back to August, so I had to move my recording date to September... and then the money didn't show in August. There are complications. I might still get it this month, but it might not be until October. I'm lookin' at having to borrow money for the studio. Only problem is, that money was intended to cover a number of minor expenses in the weeks leading up to the studio as well. I need strings for one of the bass guitars, for example. And I have new tubes for my amp, but I need to pay someone to adjust the bias when I install them. My studio date is a week and a half away, and I don't even know how my amp is going to sound. Because I can't afford it! And if it sucks, I can't just live with it... that's the kind of shit that happens on those discs you toss on the shelf and don't admit you spent any time or money on. And bass strings...? If you toss them on the instrument on the way in the door, they sound terrible. It takes a couple weeks to wear the shine off of them and get the right tone.
*headdesk*
Eleven days and counting........