<prompt> Human: Hey guys Ive been a struggling musician for awhile now but I just signed a new record deal where I get 150k now and 100k a year after. This is my first time having this amount of money and a little nervous on how to manage it. Im 28 now and clearly know money in this industry is not consistent so I want to prepare for the worst. Im looking for advice on how to budget w a inconsistent income and how can I save the most on taxes.  <response>: Talk to an accountant.Depending on the contract etc youre probably self employed of some sort. Part of that advance is to pay your expenses related to the contract, and its likely that you will have a bunch of costs and can write off most of them. I.e. if they expect you to travel for shows, you can write off the travel expenses. Maybe not the case if they pay for all that on top of the check to you, but an accountant would know far more. 