How Much Have You Spent On your Hobby Fleet?

In reply to Tom1200 :

Obviously very little.    (female 1/4 round molding 3" lg.)

dean1484 said:

wearymicrobe said:

I could almost buy a town home in SoCal with whats in the garage right now and its way down from where it was a few years back and its easily in the low 6 figures in lost time working,repairs over depreciation.

 

It's a metal illness.  

It is not an illness it is the price of therapy. 
 

I have said this before but no where do I feel at peace more than in a race car. There is a zen thing that happens. A heightened sense of awareness and focus where time slows down. I can actually think and be at peace when this happens.   It is good for the sole. 

I view it as a percentage of income to not go insane. It's a small single digit of what I take home yearly and honestly I could not keep working without going insane. I needed an outlet. Cheaper then booze and hookers in the long run. If I sold off the fleet I would break even or make a few bucks even if I paid myself for the hours worked. 
 

Plus no kids and zero external responsibilities in my life. it has never effected my retirement planning or health and everybody has vices. 
 

as I get older though I have been focusing on cars and bikes that I love. Not exptics, or even race cars. Just nice to use on the weekend cars that I wanted as a kid. I likely get more enjoyment out of my prowler then I did my R8 and my ACR combined. Which is not what I expected when I was younger. 

I live in a DINK household so there are some open funds. I guess enough so that I never have added up the costs.

If we were to consider my Tacoma as my daily driver, since it is pretty much our primary vehicle. ($13k purchase in 2010, $1200 in bumpers, $300 winch, $500 for a used rear end housing...)

Opel (so far): $3200 to buy it, $150 for the engine, $200 for the header, mucho $$$ to come.

914: $700 to buy it, $150 for the wheels (but going on the Ghia). For sale.

Ghia: $10k to buy it, maybe another $500 on little things.

Cayman: $32k to buy (2016), $4000 exhaust, $3200 in brakes, lots of money in tires (30k fronts, 15k rears for average miles), maybe $10k in repairs over 9 years.

Westfalia: $11.5k to buy it (2012 I think), $1500 for Wheels and tires, maybe another $1000 for little things. For sale.

Those are just the current fleet.

914Driver said:

In reply to Tom1200 :

Obviously very little.    (female 1/4 round molding 3" lg.)

Just don't ask anyone "playing" Star Citizen that question. :)

dean1484 said:

Tom1200 said:

Rodan said:

I prefer to keep track of the great experiences and happiness my hobbies have brought me.  If I strictly look at numbers, I don't think there's any way to logically justify the expense.

Believe it or not I'm all about the experience rather than just raw dollars but there are two things in play.

1. As a career purchasing guy tracking n the spend is a professional hazard.

2. There is a certain spending level (regardless of being able to afford it) that makes the experience not worth it to me. If I'm spending more than 5% take home pay monthly on racing it quickly.starts to wear on my nerves.

I can justify spending at that level because it brings me great happiness.

Beyond the 5% level I start to find increasingly more absurd.

@Tom. I can see that thinking sucking the fun out of a lot of things.  If it is because of financial necessity I get it but if it is an arbitrary line in the sand I am not sure it is healthy. I am not advocating wasting money. But sacrificing personal enjoyment to hit an arbitrary percentage just seems to not be healthy either.  

The 5% number isn't a hard number it's simply becomes incrimentally more uncomfortable after I get above that level.

I'm also debt adverse so I tend to live a lifestyle a little bit below what my income allows.

In the 90s I owned a very expensive to run race car. It was amazing to drive but hated owning it. I quickly figured out I was having more fun in the Datsun. 

My main expense these days is keeping a couple 35+ year old BMWs on the road as daily drivers.  I don't add it up, but what I spend in maintenance and repairs each year is still a lot cheaper than a monthly payment on a new car.

dean1484 said:

@Tom. I can see that thinking sucking the fun out of a lot of things.  If it is because of financial necessity I get it but if it is an arbitrary line in the sand I am not sure it is healthy. I am not advocating wasting money. But sacrificing personal enjoyment to hit an arbitrary percentage just seems to not be healthy either.  

Everyone draws a line somewhere.  Its perfectly healthy.

Too much and yet not enough. 

I've kept loose numbers on every project I've done but I also don't keep them, so there's always some recoup back to my fun budget. I've broke even on a bunch and even made a few bucks from time to time. Definitely lost money too, thankfully not near as much or often.

I've also done really well keeping a fleet alive that saves us tons yearly on maintenance and overall costs in general. For that I feel like I get a pass on spending money projects. The wife appreciates that more now than ever. Since I don't have monthly payments on any vehicles it's easy to spend "monthly payment" amounts a year without causing a struggle.

If you add up all the cars, boats, motorhomes, SXS, and 4-wheelers...

Let's just say I'm not going to do that. 

It's a lot. 

Having the escape of building my Exocet for a few years during a particularly difficult time in my life gave me something constructive to focus on and innovate with, and therefore kept me (mostly) sane.  How do you put a pricetag on that ??

In reply to einy (Forum Supporter) :

Despite my having put a price tag on it, I'd agree it's priceless.