Some musicians take the “vow of poverty” when they finish high school, and they decide to live in a van and travel with a band. They pride themselves in just scraping by, bouncing from couch to couch and living on the road. It’s all worth it if you’re doing what you love, right? Maybe that’s so, and maybe that life is right for a select group of single 19 year olds out there. But just because you want to be a full time musician doesn’t mean you have to take the vow of poverty and be broke.

All I want to do today is give you some tips for handling money as a full-time musician. This is for any of you young guys who are in high school or college, and this is especially for any of you doing the full-time music thing. It’s so important that we manage our money wisely, otherwise we really could become broke and end up on the street.

I’m your average musician. I play a bunch of gigs, some paying more or less than others, and I...