I cashed in gift cards from work for working hard last year, for about $1,400, and I have been saving my band money, which is about $125 - $350 twice each month. Not a penny out of our bank account! It isn’t about the money at all. It’s about me buying a music item. I’ll just put it where my AX8 was. She’ll never notice! Band money pays for band stuff, and what’s left over just goes into our account for other stuff.
She’s not a musician, she’s a nurse, and other than the computer and medical devices at work, she’s not technical at all. She doesn’t know what any of this stuff is for. It’s just band junk to her!