How do you guys afford to raise a family and have the cash to have fun with your cars too? Am I doing something wrong? Do most of you have a percentage of your weekly income that is dedicated to the hobby?Do you have a percentage figure for a disposable income? I make roughly 40k a year have a modest home,the wife in training makes just under 20k a year. We have two boys 12 and 3. I have no car payments, one credit card and the house payment,and it seams that I'm always scaping at the end of the month. We never go out and we don't go shopping unless we need something. I haven't even bought beer since new years eve. What am I doing wrong?
I make about the same as you. But I plow snow in the winter for extra money to play with cars. I will also watch the trading papers for parts and cars that I can resell to make extra car money. Buy low sell high.
I dunno,,,with your combined income I would think you could find a few bucks here and there,,, If it's taking everything you make and you are not taking your wife out every now and then,,,you need to find some kinda side work if you want to build a hot rod. It took me a long time over a lot of years to build my first car while raising a family,,remember the family comes first,,,this stuff is just a money eating hobby,,,,do it as you can afford it. HRP
Here's my deal.I'm a dealship mechanic,with a very sick wife who can no longer work,raising a 4&7 year old.I keep all of the aluminum I can get my hands on to scrap.I try to find smoking deals on car parts and sell them for a little profit(if you get greedy, it won't work).Other than that I look for things that others consider junk and try to find a use for it.Remember hotrodding was built by the backyard mechanic mustering all he/she could find to make his car better than the next guys.
I worked two jobs for most of my life. I had to work and save up to buy stuff for my car addition. Had three jobs ... a couple times. Now understand ... I did not have any children so my time was a little more of " my own " to do this. I think it was worth it ... I now have the two cars I always wanted ...
I know where your coming from.I make considerably more money than you and its still not easy.My family,wife and three daughters come first,when I get a few extra bucks I play.The one thing I love about the HAMB is it doesnt matter how much you spend,just that you have fun doing it.
Somebody may need to get a second job. I plan on getting a second job once I get married. I have a teacher friend of mine, who probably has a combined household income of maybe 130k and he builds wooden decks and patios during the summertime when he's not teaching. He worked construction when he was young so it's something he enjoys and it provides extra income. I dunno what you situation is, like whether the wife in training stays home with the kids or whatever. Maybe you could throw up some numbers and we could figure out where you can cut costs or improve things. Do you do any investing? Stocks, bonds, etc...? Do you play the lotto? Here's an example for folks that play the lotto. Take the money you spend playing the lotto and put it in a high yield savings account. Have you or your wife in training ever taken a personal finance course? I know it sounds silly, but I had to take one for my college degree and even though I thought I knew everything about managing money...I learned a thing or two.
It's not easy at all. Hell. I make 47k and my wife makes about 38k. 2 car payments, mortgage, credit card and 2 kids ages 10 and 18 puts a hurt on me too. I was working part time in a parts store and driving tractor trailer full time on a local level and that worked out great for car money, BUT, losing the part time put the extra cash straight down the shitter.In other words, I'm broke now too and that pisses me off cause I'm only about 400 bucks away from the tunnel ram and extra carb for my ride and don't know how the hell I'm gonna get it.Be patient, things have a way of working out some how
I noticed you have owned 3 auto repair businesses. Is there any way you could take on side work doing small repairs at your home for side money. nothing major but brake work tune ups, things like that. Hell most people had rather pay someone like $40 to $50 an hour than pay a shop $70- $90. just a thought. Thanks, BOBBY FORD
once again.........www.daveramsey.com I work in lending. I am a Loan Originator at a Mortgage Broker. Half of my job is basically credit counseling. Folks just dont realize where their money goes. Look at Daves site, listen to his radio show.
I am in the same boat with Randy .. Kidless with a few cars and a great wife of 18 years I work my dick off !!! 70 plus hours a week to major corporation The only drawback is a Taxbill that could bring a man to his knees ...
i can't offer any real help , i make a LOT less than you . i don't understand why you should be scrapping unless your house payment is real high...
We had a class in high school called "Modern Problems." One of the lab experiments was the teacher paired you up with the opposite sex (different back then I know), and you had to make a budget. Budget and home cooking. I've been successful maybe 50% of the time in the last 40 years
debt free is the way to be. get all your shit paid for cut up the credit cards, and then you got the cash to play with. I haven't had a car payment for six years but I owe on my house and am building on out of my pocket and doing all the work myself. I don't have a job but I made 40,000 some last year and my wife made 30,000 some and I have an 8 year old boy that likes dirt bikes and go karts and is kinda spoiled. all I do is buy and sell. I build a car enjoy it for a while and sell it and start over again. I do some custom stuff for people too. I have a 32 pickup to build for a guy and a couple to build and sell. Some day I'll be able to keep one. But I'm have fun and making a living doing what I love to do
It's not what you make it's more about what you keep.....side jobs for cash should help some. Times are tough and getting tougher....makes a guy want to find a cheaper hobby thats for sure. With diesel at 3.75 gallon and heading up everything will get more costly...all I can say is good luck when the depression hits!(and I don't mean your mental state)
sounds like you need to ask your wife where the $$$$ went, that or your not doing a good job of hiding money from her. i have to sneek $$$ from mine other wise i wouldn't have shit it would be going towards this or that.
The best thing my wife and I did was get seperate checking accounts.She makes more than I do but I still have money left after I pay my half of the bills.She is always broke and doesnt understand why.We found out where all the money was before. I know this sounds harsh but it works well for us.
I agree, 70k combined anually, and only mortgage, and 1 credit card, someone is spending too much money on something.
seems like there is a money disposal somewhere in there your not catching...with that combined income you should be doing alright
i worked a lot of overtime, painted a lot of cars, and scraped and scrounged to build my hot rods. now that my house and everything is paid for and my kids are fixing to graduate its getting a little easier. but i still have collage tuition to look forward to if she doesn't get the scholarship and a wedding but thats not going to be that bad i hope. it just takes patience and time, like somebody said earlier "think marathon not a sprint". also my wife has never worked the whole time we have been married. if she did it would have been easier for us through the years financially , but she was there to raise the kids, and we have never missed a family vacation, and the bills were always paid on time.
Most people bleed money away and don't realize it...$5 here, $20 there. In addition, things have been added to the budget that were not there in the past but are a "required necessity" for some people. Gots to have a cell phone, right? So you'll drop the land line...cause you won't need it any more...? Many people still have both. Maybe 4-5 cable boxes, at $5/month for each one after the first. Or cable premium channels. High-speed internet. Eight magazine subscriptions. 55" plasma TV. A brand new PowerStroke 4x4 F-250 crew cab, even though you tow/haul once a year. Whatever. Sometimes you find that you have to give up a lot of little things in order to get the "big thing" you really want. The trick is, once you give them up, to actually save that money.
A lot depends on the size of your mortgage. At $60k a year combined income you could be living well with a $500 a month mortgage or be pinching pennies with a $3000 a month mortgage. Factor in the cost of the kiddos and . . . well . . . now you know where your loot is going. My dad had to wait 35 years to have the custom of his dreams, but he had just as much fun building beaters over the years to tide him over. You'd be surprised at just how much fun you can have with a beer budget in this hobby. Not everyone needs champage wishes and caviar dreams.
I do not use any 40 hour a week job money for the hot rods. My job is for the family needs. (20 year old daughter in college and 18 year old son graduating from high school this spring) I do side jobs for "hot rod" money. The wife has no problem with that. I also scrap metal when I get a chance. You would be surprised what people do not want to fool with. The wife works and makes about 60K and I make about 45K. This keeps the family needs satisfied. Are there side jobs you can do for hot rod money? I am a golf course equipment mechanic so I have a mechanical repair background that is helpful in doing a lot of repair jobs on the side. What about buying and selling stuff on ebay? A lot of guys fund their habit this way. Can you heat your house with wood rather than pay for electric,gas,or oil heat? This could be a huge savings if you have access to a wood source. Hope any of these suggestions may help you to get more hot rod money.
Homespun91 is right...a lot of money just slips between your fingers. Take a paper and pencil and put them on the kitchen counter. When anyone in the house spends cash for anything, have them write down "how much" and "what for". I did that about 20 years ago and after one weekend I was shocked where the money went. $5 here and $15 there...holy crap does it add up! TMAN, Do young folks starting out still use 33% as the gauge for how much of your gross income should be spent on housing/mortgage?. I know years ago that was the norm, but doubt it is anymore.... Its much tougher today than when I bought back in the 70's, thats for sure. Watch where the cash goes....might surprise you. We all buy way too much stuff that we really don't need. Stop that waste.
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