How do people afford this stuff??

Slow and steady as others have mentioned, being able to do a lot yourself helps the most. The rest is being patient, getting good deals like group buys, buying used from other members upgrading or trading in and ultimately making sacrifices in other areas. For example eating cheap, not going out to movies or other entertainment fees of the like.

It also helps that my truck is pretty much all my entertainment, so it gets nearly all my expendable income one way or another.

As for deals, I recent got an ARB Snorkel and Wet Okoles through two separate group buys together that saved me nearly $200 off list prices. My Rigid light bar I bought off Craigslist "broken" from a guy who simply couldn't figure out how to wire it, that saved me $1200 of list price. Making my own brackets and mounts for ditch lights and gear etc saves me a lot. I even made my own sliders and welded them to the frame myself again big savings.

All the little things add up fast.

Just got to be patient, and weigh your money in vs money out.

Also don't get caught up in trying to keep up with guys who have a lifetime of savings and or six figure jobs. Know your budget keep to it and know that you'll get there eventually.

For what it's worth I'd say I probably spend an average of $300 a month on my truck and as I'm sure others will tell you that's pretty damn aggressive spending for a depreciating object but my truck is my entire fun budget. Movies eating out or other entertainment doesn't really do anything for me. Plus I'm single, childfree, petless, and have roommates to lower bills.

 

5k post tax?

If you’re making $60k, no rent, no kids, no wife and posting here about how do others get parts and stuff.. you have bigger issues to address man I’m sorry.

 

They say " money don't buy happiness" buy it buys a lot of taco shit...

 

If you have no rent or house payment right now, you are simply ROLLING in dough.

 

Good Wheels and tires. No need crazy bumpers or crazy lifts cause Oahu doesn’t have any crazy off roading. And shipping is too fucking expensive to begin with. But I hear you OP some of these builds are crazy awesome.

 

Depends on where you live.

 

Ain’t that the fucking truth

 

Also huge!

 

I have no problem throwing my money out the door on stuff that I like, enjoy and will use, knowing full well I'll never recoup the cost. However the idea that it could all get ruined in the blink of an eye in a car accident that may or may not be my fault does freak me out a bit.

 

I bought a 91 Carrera 2 about 10 years ago and it’s tripled in value.

 

Oh how the air-cooled market has blown up...

 

I’m a member on Rennlist and I get 2 or 3 offers a week for mine.

 

Lol plenty of members on here who can attest to that.

Not to mention I have threads and build for all 3 .... ? Also I edited out “ profit” I didn’t make a profit, but for what they sold for. I didn’t lose much. I bought a welder and tools. Built everything myself, the only stuff that costed money was stuff I couldn’t build myself. Before I started at a university this year all I did was work non stop. That’s Not the case now

I never owned 3 trucks at once either. I’ve only ever owned one vehicle at a time

 

Wow I agree with @dYL0n completely.

5k a month after tax, no rent, no kids, no expenses? That'd be around 90-100k a year before tax. Makes a guy wonder where you are indulging otherwise.

 

***
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/got-taco-but-alone-and-lonely.548293/

 

If I didn’t live in Hawaii with mine and my wife’s combined income we could to do whatever we wanted to do financially and I would have a bad ass Tacoma build. But sadly I don’t.

 

BUT you live in HAWAII!!!

 

Traffic, no real off road spots, and it cost half a mil for a shack. I can’t wait to move. Montana, Wyoming, Idaho are my most likely destinations. Food and most goods cost 20% or more compared to mainland prices(we call it aloha tax). Even Amazon won’t ship some goods to us.

 

Anecdotal garbage.

In 95 a AR GTV cost $19,500 brand new. Adjusting for inflation only, that would be around $38,000 today. Even if you could line up a buyer, and sell it for $40,000 which is a huge if, you made $2,000 on a 23 year investment. If you figure you could have had a 4% return (modest) year over year by investing that money instead of buying a vehicle you would be at $48,000. Lost $8,000.

There is a reason people constantly lose money on car restorations at auctions. Everyone overvalues their stuff. Stuff is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

Speculating on making money on cars is no better than the crazies who have thousands of beanie babies in a storage locker.

 

BONK...
business owners no kids.

I think I have about 8-10 K in my truck, all cash.
Everybody has areas where they splurge and spend what some people think is too much, even people who claim to be frugal.
I like vehicles so my truck and my wife's car and my motorcycle are pretty nice, that's my thing.
I'm in my mid-40s, there's no way I could have done this 15-20 years ago.
You live once so live it up!

Last thing I care to hear is another idiot giving out pointers on what a bad investment new cars are... Ahhhhh, the droning sound of another whiny poor person and their wise financial advice.