Thing Two, The Younger, entered middle school last fall. A few months before he started, the new school sent us a package that included information about electives Thing Two could take. Thing Two had neither played an instrument, nor shown any interest in doing so. But wouldn’t you know it, he selected “orchestra” as one of his electives.
Tune in
I figured that we’d have to get Thing Two an instrument, and that that’d probably be costly. So I gently tried to gauge Thing Two’s interest in this elective before sending in his request. Mind you, we weren’t opposed to Thing Two taking this class. Personal growth, an enhanced and broader appreciation for music, a chance to work together with others, and having to learn a new “language” are just a few of the invaluable things that can come out of this experience. As can sore ears for me and The Missus. But we want to promote Thing Two’s personal growth.
I mentioned to Thing Two that his teacher surely would require regular at-home practice, and that we’d hold Thing Two to that. “Yep,” said Thing Two. Then I said that regardless of whether Thing Two quickly discovered that he hated the class, he’d be in it for the full year. “Yep,” said Thing Two. And so, I resigned myself to the fact that Thing Two would be taking this orchestra class.
Orchestral acquisitions in the dark
Thing Two ultimately was assigned the viola as his instrument. His teacher sent home a flyer with information on where to rent instruments. Because renting is just what everyone does. Right?
As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, aside from the home I live in, I now am inclined to rent very few things, because renting often isn’t the smart money play. So I priced out the cost of renting vs. buying a viola. I found that I could buy an acceptable viola for about $150 more than the aggregate cost of renting one for the year.
Were I to rent the viola, at the end of the year, I’d be out a few hundred dollars and have no viola (tho at least part of the money spent could be applied to a purchase of the instrument). Were I to buy a viola, at the end of the year I’d have spent more money than had I rented, but I’d also have something tangible. A viola. If Thing Two takes a shine to the instrument and wants to continue learning, my costs have been fixed. If Thing Two finds that he doesn’t want to continue with the viola, I can resell it.
I don’t know if I’ll be able to get the amount I paid for the viola (let alone more) if we need to sell it. But even if I sell it for half of what I paid, I’ll have made out better than had I rented the instrument. And that’s no joke.
