Funding projects and purchases

I make decent money in a city with a low cost of living. My mortgage is only $800 per month, bought the house as a short sale. My truck was purchased at auction for a very reasonable price, and my FZJ80 was even cheaper. I buy things used when possible, wait for group buys, and shop around.
I'm getting a nice pay raise this year as I leave the Air Force and become a civilian contractor, so more mods to come.

 

Great thread...I’m surprised at how many folks dont have kids and yes, they are expensive!

Maybe I should get into the daycare business as a side job...

 

Delayed gratification goes a long way to helping with savings. I've always set conditions for me upgrading any sort of hobby.

A long time ago I thought I might like astronomy and a telescope. You can sink enormous amounts of time and money into such a hobby with gigantic expensive mirrors as well as eyepieces that cost more than an aluminum bumper. So before I could spend any money at all I made myself learn all the constellations and drive up to the mountains where there were dark skies at least five times. Next I bought a pair of astronomy binoculars (about $200). I made myself view at least 50 Messier objects through the binos from dark skies before I'd spend money on a telescope. Then I bought a decent 8" telescope but not any fancy eyepieces (about $600). I was going to need to observe every Messier and every Caldwell object before spending money on eyepieces (that's about 220 objects to observe). Well despite living in wonderful dark skies at that time I never made it through the 220 objects so that's where the spending on my astronomy hobby ended for a long time.

For my truck I got bit by the desert exploring bug right at the end of college. I realized though that plenty of places don't need a truck to get to them. So for the first five years I explored in a Honda Civic - the same car I commuted in. There were a lot of places I couldn't get to of course but there were still plenty of places I could. I really did learn how to "pick a line" off-road in a Civic! Finally after about five years of doing that I decided I still really loved exploring and so I bought an eight year old 4WD Toyota pickup (about $8000). It was totally stock with just a fiberglass shell. I put good tires on it and that was the only "mod". I ogled fancier setups for a long time. The reality though was it would get me just about everywhere I wanted to go. I used that truck for fourteen years. So finally after two decades of my desert exploring hobby and with an addition to the family meaning we wouldn't fit in that old truck anymore I finally decided I could graduate to a new truck with a fair number of mods. I expect to use this rig for 15 to 20 years by which point if we are still exploring a lot we will be empty nesters probably looking for a different kind of rig.

Instant gratification costs you *a lot* in the long run. Going slow, for me at least, makes me learn a lot more about what I like to do, how I like to do it and gain skills in the hobby. That all means when it is finally time to spend "big money" on something it is much less likely to be money wasted.

Oh, and as others said don't underestimate how much small savings integrated over time add up. Smoking is an insanely expensive habit. Drinking too - especially if mixed drinks at a bar. Eating out adds up to a whole lot compared to eating at home and brown bagging it at work. It is hard of course to cut back on everything (I eat out too much for example) but being aware of what that is all costing you can be eye opening.

Last but not least avoid debt like the plague. Debt is like walking around like with open wounds bleeding all over the place. It can be difficult to avoid entirely but at least restrict to reasonable debt on things you really need and then pay it off fast. If you are funding a vehicle purchase with debt then you really should probably be buying used or at least if new something at the low end of the price spectrum. Mortgages generally a requirement if buying a home but really easy to end up buying "too much" home. There is no good reason to ever have *any* credit card debt at all.

Bottom line - it takes an enormous amount of discipline to visit someplace like TW or ExPo and *not* lust after every fancy build. Think about those things for the future. Save and save more. But go out and make the most of what you have now. If you have a Tacoma of any kind you can do a lot with it not having a single mod. You can sure do a hell of lot more with it than the Honda Civic that I used for five years...

 

I bought my truck new in 06 and the only mod was a 6 inch lift which i won from a bet. I have 220k miles and intend to keep it for another 10+ years. I have always oogled over sweet builds especially some of these young kids and just ponder the cash flow it takes to do that. I am getting ready to have my coilovers rebuilt. And maybe go back to running 315's. ( i stepped down to 285s for gas mileage as it was my dd) now have a 95 camry that i bought for 700 bucks to commute to work.

Would be cool to run some trails with any of you here in az..

 

I partition a certain amount of the money I make for my hobbies. Truck is considered one of those. But guns, fishing and a few other things are also part of that same segment. I'm also a college student and only work part of the year, but it's good money when I'm making it.

To get my truck where I want it, (lift wheels and tires) it's gonna cost me $4,000 and mess up my gas mileage. I'm technically able to afford doing that stuff to my truck, it's paid off and everything. I just don't like spending too much money in one place over a short period of time.

It's also worth noting that a lot of guys with lifted trucks blow all their money on lifting them and don't save any money, but have huge loans out.

 

A lot of you said you pickup side gigs but do not mention what they are.... So what are some of those "side gigs" you guys have picked up to make this extra income? I have college loans to pay off which I do easily with my regular income. But after paying rent and other bills too I really dont have much room to save for my hobbies/mods and still have fun on the weekends.

 

Finance guy here. These 2 things are strangely difficult to get people to wrap their heads around.

 

I fix cars on the side for side money and I’ll flip motorcycles and cars. Good source of income

 

Dedication right here, especially since youre in cold Canada

 

Two incomes and no kids, im horrible at giving financial advice.

 

I just save for like 2-3 weeks and then order whatever it is I want lol. I can save around 400-500$ a week if I really want something lol. It's pretty easy when I dont eat out and just save that money instead

 

See shiny, i want. Lol.

 

Haha Ive always wondered this myself about some people on here.. Buying used where you can certainly helps

I still think many people overextend themselves a bit on these builds. Either that or trust fund babies. But at the end of the day its not my money, so who cares!

 

Single, no kids, good job.

Big mortgage and shit load of student loan payments though.

The balance - Instead of a company vehicle I took a vehicle allowance, which is my truck payment and gas every month. So the company is basically buying the truck for me, and I'll continue to receive after truck is paid off in two more years. Renting a room in my house provides funds for toys, trips, home and truck upgrades, etc.

I also flip free stuff off craigslist too - get it for free because it's broken or someone is moving, fix it, then profit. Lawn equipment, small engine stuff, furniture, rims/tires, etc.

 

I cleaned out a warranty return/open box bin for a local independent hardware store awhile back. Ended up with a full range of yard tools and a power washer, a smoker, and $600 in my pocket.

 

Lots of opportunities like that out there, just takes a little effort that's all.

 

Used to be a huge sports memorabilia collector sold it all got tired of looking at it.
Also dual income no kids wife makes the big bucks but split bills 50/50 no consumer debt besides her car. Paid my truck off in 2 years with money down and trade in. Started working a 2nd job for extra mod/folding money.
I’ve always had a knack for finding a good deal and waiting for 2nd hand parts or when the great vendors here have the holiday/tax season sales.

How bad do you want it?

 

I've bought more sets of tires in the past 20 years than I have pairs of shoes.

 

Same but I really want to retire early so I’m a pretty good saver

 

I do cheap cosmetic mods. Nothing major. Owned my truck for 5+ years. Paid it off first.