I made some soup for my family this afternoon. It’s a variation of a soup I’ve made forever. It was especially impressive to my friends when I was a young teenager at conservatory. For various reasons, my younger brother and I knew how to cook pretty competently as very young people. But all the reasons relate to it being the 1980s, living in suburbia with nothing but other houses and total boredom around us, spending a lot of time without adults around, and getting hungry and liking good food.
Most of the kids I went to conservatory with were pushed very hard to practice as children (to contrast with me), and so, their parents did a lot of things for them that mine did not, so that they could practice more. Then they ended up living on their own in piles of filth and paying money they didn’t have for takeout or convenience store food. I lived in a clean apartment (yeah, I bleached it for three whole days before moving in, but…) and ate well-prepared beans, grains, and discount fruit and vegetables.
Since we all basically have to take a vow of poverty to become musicians (though some of us get lucky, and some of us become Big Fancy Men), I thought I’d throw some advice out there for young conservatory students:
Learn to cook some soups you like. These can sit in your refrigerator or freezer and make a quick meal, preventing you from spending money you don’t have. I’ve always had a split pea soup, a potato soup, a lentil soup, and a beet soup at least in my skill set. Learn to cook them without a recipe and with your intuition, so you can use what you have on hand and what is cheap. The internet can help you now.
Learn to cook some simple pasta sauces and their variations. This will again bail you out when you are hungry and tired. The internet can help you now.
Once you’re comfortable with those things, learn to cook meals out of what is about to go bad in your refrigerator. Invite your friends over to eat with you. Cooking for 2-3 is barely any more expensive than for one. Hopefully they invite you over to eat, too—those will become your friends for life. Other super-helpful skills will be learning to make dried beans and grains (there are tons of ways.)
Learn to budget and save a little money, even if you don’t make much. The internet can help you with this, now.
Learn to make coffee and tea. It is like sometimes 20 times cheaper if you make it yourself.
Don’t steal toilet paper from your school.
Practice some music just for yourself, not for a lesson or a coaching, but for your own personal development and enjoyment of yourself.
Develop fluency with a washable rag for counter wiping and other cleaning tasks.
Learn to clean your apartment/dorm and don’t live like a slob. Even if you really don’t care, if you end up sleeping on someone’s couch, you need to know how to be a good houseguest.
Strip the bed/couch, or at least ask what to do with the sheets, if someone gives you a place to sleep. Leave their place cleaner than you found it. Be prepared to be judged and turned down the next time if you don’t do this.
Do your own laundry, fold it, and put it away. The internet can help you now if you don’t know how.
If you get a last minute call to substitute somewhere, or even a non-last minute one, make sure you have at least a little professional looking clothing to be wearing. You don’t want to be the worst-dressed person in the room. Goodwill and thrift stores are totally fine, but don’t show up in shorts, athletic clothing, or athletic shoes if you want to make a good impression.
Return calls and emails about work, paying and non-, in a timely fashion, hopefully within 24 hours.
Learn to show up on time. That means early. That means even for rehearsals with your friends.
Learn to drive while you are young if you can. It will be invaluable if you ever have a freelance career. If you can’t learn to drive, make sure you always offer gas money to someone who has driven you. Hopefully you’ve saved some by making your own coffee and tea.
The most successful young people I know can take care of basic living and common sense tasks like these. The good news is that if you don’t know how to do this stuff, it’s all very learnable when you are young and is much easier than playing an instrument well. Okay, now for another bowl of soup.
Check out budgetbytes.com, it's a great site to get ideas for recipes that are cheap, nutritious, and easy to make. I have no affiliation with the site or its author but I still have several of her recipes in rotation from when I was super poor. When I'm on the road and have to stop for takeout, I usually hit up a supermarket rather than fast food. They have prepared packaged sandwiches and individual cold drinks for grab-and-go, it ends up cheaper and faster than a drive-thru.
Most excellent advice.