Features But I just fed my kids yesterday... and now they're hungry again

We have a hobby that can be expensive at times. Trying to make ends meet, feeding the kids, keeping the wife happy, and staying out of collections is tough enough in this economy as it is.

I just sold off a bunch of parts on Craigslist leftover from various projects and vehicles I don't own anymore. I ended up with close to $1000 in my wallet. I keep a separate cash fund for my habit, and I don't pull from the household budget. Sometimes I do a side job instead of working on my own project so I can replenish the fund.

What are some of the creative ways you guys are scraping up enough cash to get that part you just have to have?

 

Gotta do what ya gotta do....

 

I had a freshly rebuilt chevy 350 with a turbo 350 trans I pulled out of a junkyard it still had assembly lube on the rockers and still had the saran wrap with a reciept in the saran wrap. I called the machine shop that machined it and got all the specs for the build they did along with an estimated hp rating.

I took all of this information wrote it down and then took the engine and transmission to a local swap meet and raffled the engine off at 20 bucks a ticket. I had a total of about 300 in the engine and trans. When the raffle was over I pocketed 6,480 dollars and that was in one day. I even delivered the engine to the winners house and he resold his 20 dollar engine and trans for 1,500 but there were people buying 100 bucks worth of tickets at a time. I had an entire roll of those damned red tickets and when it came time to pick the winner I chose some small kid that was walking by with his parents to pick the ticket. That is the best I have ever done by far but someone got a deal and I made some good cash.

 

I have no creative ways. My wife has a sixth sense that when that lbox shows up on the front step from ups she knows how much what's in it costs and matches me dollar for dollar, needless to say my builds cost me twice as much.

My b-i-l used to have his shit delivered to me and he'd pick it up on the sly. Worked for awhile then she divorced him.

 

Hotrod0317 that's awesome!!!! I'm going to have to try something like that. Now if I can just find that fresh 350 at the junkyard...

 

Midnight Auto - open 24/7, if it ain't in stock, we'll find it.

 

I sell stuff on ebay or do side work.

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Sounds like you made out pretty good. That is totally against the law here. Raffles are only for charitable organizations. If the Washington State Gambling Commission found out you would be in very deep shit.

 

It's funny -- I normally HATE doing side work, but when I know it's going to be for my project, I don't mind so much.

 

Not sure what the laws are where you're at but that would be extremely illegal in Wisconsin, like federal prison time, because it's basically unlicensed gambling unless it's affiliated with a charity or another non-profit like a church.

 

Ok, so we have theft, illicit gambling schemes, or boring side work and ebay. Any other thoughts? Preferably legal.

 

I normally do log furniture, but being out of work and out of logs, it's going to be a while till I get working on something.

 

My projects come AFTER home and family needs. That's why my projects take a long, long time.

 

Well, I quit smoking, quit drinking (almost) and tossed the smart? phone. That puts at least $100 a month in my pocket

 

I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke anything, I don't gamble, (other than Ebay) and I don't cheat on my wife, so I have money for my one bad habit. My wife is so happy with my behavior that she kicks in what ever she can spare, so she can go on hot rod weekends with me.

 

Okay, somebody has to admit to it - prostitution helps to feed my habit. Off to the dark seedy section of street I work I go!

 

Ya gotta check out Squablow's thread.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=825604&highlight=hot+rod+for+dollar

 

Swapping stuff on craigslist. I had been looking for a new project but money is pretty tight now that I'm retired. Put a swap ad on craigslist looking for a new toy. Swapped an old 5x10 enclosed trailer I never use for a 56 Chevy pickup that was pretty much all stock & kinda rough but all there. The guy delivered the truck & hauled the trailer home. Needed a bunch of rust repaired so I swapped an old Turkish Mauser for a decent MIG welder with gas bottle & a new roll of wire. Sold some junk on Ebay to buy the patch panels. Rear fender were toast so I swapped a Chinese Type 56 rifle for 2 near mint fenders. Swapped a cheap 9mm pistol for 2 doors & 2 front fenders. (Still need better doors though). Did some more swapping through craigslist and ended up with a 327 engine, a nice Edelbrock carb & some chrome headers. Headers won't fit so yesterday I swapped those for another engine, a 350 this time, that's got a fresh .030 bore, like new pistons and rebuilt heads but the guy had the oil pump pickup fall into the pan & scored the crank when it lost oil pressure. Got a good crank from a neighbor up the road for putting his car up on my lift & doing some minor stuff to it. Had a good TH400 trans under the bench I've been saving so that's going in. Sold some other junk on Ebay and bought the tubular engine & trans crossmembers to do the V8 swap. So at this point I have the truck, most of the body parts, the cab is 90% repaired, a good used welder, 2 engines to choose from, the conversion mounts, and my total out of pocket expenses so far add up to a big fat ZERO.

 

I quit smoking about 2 months ago, so that's $100 a month for hot rodding.

 

When I saw the motor it was in a old chevy van kinda reminded me of a mystery machine it was even greenish. I almost shit myself when I opened the doors and saw it most everything in the van was stripped out and I guess the guy either got killed or thrown in prison before he could complete the work.

As for the legality of it Im not sure if it was illegal or not but I talked with the people in charge of the swap meet and they did not mind at all. Infact they thought it was a fantastic idea and the owner of the old drive in where it was at even bought a ticket. I dont think I broke the law but maybe i did but i did make some pretty good money and had a pretty good time.

 

I work a job where I get tips.. usually about 40 to 60 a day.. I take 10 to 20 bucks every day and set it aside.. it adds up fast.

 

Here's a thought. Is it a bad addiction, if you can afford it? Is it an addiction at that point or is that when it becomes a hobby?

 

Well for me I always make it a rule not to spend any actual money that comes from my paycheck. I've always bought things and resold on ebay to make money on the side, mostly guitars and antiques before getting into cars. I've always had a side hustle to make extra money for the fun stuff, and always kept that as cash on the side.

It started 3 years ago when I had a guitar amp I didn't want anymore because I changed bands and didn't need a monster amp anymore. I had been buying and selling guitar stuff for a while when the thought struck me that hey, maybe I should sell the amp and get into a car instead this time.

So I sold the amp, and bought a cheap rusty off-topic 70s BMW that I always wanted for fun. It ran and looked like crap. I spent a summer getting junkyard parts, cleaning, and just general maintenance and interior stuff to make it more presentable. I got it into decent shape and enjoyed it for a year. Then I wanted something else. I was able to sell the BMW for twice what I paid for it, and with the money bought my 64 Belair which was in good condition from Craigslist for a decent price.

The cycle repeated. Drove the Belair for a year and fixed up minor things and made it even better. It was a great car but I got bored again. I was then able to sell the Belair for double, and with the money ended up with my 50 ford this summer.

Now the story will probably end with the ford, because I really love it and plan to keep it. But I suppose I could continue the cycle again and again if I wanted to. Just goes to show that with some creative craigslisting, some work, and patience, I was able to turn a $1000 guitar amp into a pretty sweet shoebox.

(Oh and I forgot to mention that the original $1000 amp came from a few hustles prior to that on cheaper guitar stuff- just kept trading up to get that in the first place)

TL;DR: buy cheap on Craigslist and sell high on ebay. Research and know your stuff

 

my budget is mostly two fifths of f all, with two small kids an on a single income so i beg,borrow,pled,swap,fabricate and annoy, annoying old hotrodders is fun but can go ethier way so ya have to be carefull. annoying them with alcohol can work sometimes too, Used to be able to get away with all sorts of parts purchases before internet banking came along, now she see's everthing.

 

If we want it we find a way. Sometimes things do have to wait and we all hate when life gets in the way.

 

2 words, flip fund. Buy and flip for a profit. It doesn't have to be huge, just make 1 rule to yourself which is Always Black Ink at the end of the deal. I took $780 this summer and a dear and close friend matched it. We're somewhere near $6K in cash and "inventory" at break even pricing. Flip anything. Whole cars, parts, material, you name it. Estate sales are good to visit, so are resale shops. Sometimes they have big dollar air tools for as low as $5. Imagine buying a $700 Dotco grinder for $20. You can flip it for at least $100 or more very quickly, or if it's something you need in your shop nothing's better than dirt cheap but 1st rate tools. The danger is that flipping is nearly as habit forming as this hot rod shit.

And to answer the above question regarding habit/addiction, it's not an addiction. It's an affliction. You just have a need to have this old stuff around you. You're born with it or raised that way. Addictions are curable, afflictions can't be helped. Hey it's my story, I can tell it my way.

 

I do the same as Highlander: flip for profit. There's tons of great deals out there due to the economy. You just gotta be ready/willing to jump when those deals pop up. Then tack on your commission/markup and flip it. Works for me, and I plan to keep doing it after I retire from my day-day job.

 

I am going to try some out some of these ways to make extra cash, my wife is going to drive me into the poorhouse if she keeps buying old cars and stuff. Crap I can't keep up with her.

 

When my children were young I worked one full time job and 2 part time jobs.

The full time job paid most of the expenses but occasionally I did have to dip into hot rod kitty for unexpected bills.

I helped a friend in the construction business some afternoons and weekends,,and hung wallpaper nights and weekends,,my basic week was usually no less than 50-65 hours a week,,but in my 20's and 30's it was easy...there is no way I could do it now I'm in my 60's.

I can't think of any better way to finance your hobby,,whatever it is than another job to earn extra money to support it. HRP

 

hey hey , neighbor was scrapping a 12 ft aluminum loading ramp retails for 900.00 , i gave him 100.00 gonna sell it for 350.00. always a bargain some where to be found , sometimes next door....i also go out garbage night for shipping boxes , bubble wrap ..etc...thats shits expensive...not for me though