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Hobby budget


maddmaxx

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All of us budget for our hobbies.  For some it's bicycles and parts.  I have to admit that I've spent little on my bike in the last couple of years.  My last big purchase was tires and that will probably be all for this year coming up (knock on wood).

It appears however that I've spent about 2 grand on RC drag cars however.  Some of that was offset with the sale of RC planes, drones and non drag racing cars and parts.  I'm sure that those cars have gotten me through the retired but can't do anything covid years though.

What are you doing?

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Gardening and woodworking have become my main hobbies I don’t have a budget  but I spend a lot of money on them.

Setting up a shop is expensive, gardening equipment is expensive, but once the big stuff is purchased the cost for materials should be reasonable 

This is another reason I didn’t retire this year 

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4 minutes ago, Further said:

once the big stuff is purchased the cost for materials should be reasonable 

Have lumber prices come down?  That seems to be something that is likely to only go up over time.

In a side note, I saw a news report on DW or BBC America a little while back about Chinese brokers coming in and buying up 95% of a timber harvest in places like Belgium.  Well managed old woods that traditionally went to small regional craft workers, now being bid up and taken off to China for use there.  When we were in NZ, it was amazing to see the cargo ships packed to the gills with timber headed off to China.

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I don’t really budget either.  I spend the most on bikes & riding stuff and a little on fishing gear.

My spending is usually in spurts.  I tend to get a lot of cash for my bday so I stock up on items I need.  Usually wear & tear items. I also bonus so depending on the amount I may buy a bike like last year or some splurge items like most years. 

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MY hobby?  LOL. 

We don't really budget for softball.  We buy her new bats when she needs one.  We pay for hotels when we need them.  We eat when we need to and fill up the tank when it's empty.  Tourneys are already paid for out of our team's funds.  

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22 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

Tourneys are already paid for out of our team's funds.  

Which you pay into.  Travel ball is expensive but I wouldn’t have changed a thing.  

We were lucky in that our son was a “PO” (pitcher only) so we didn’t spend as much on bats but he did blow through 2-3 cleats per year  with his toe drag and the pitching coaches..

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I have too many hobbies. 

Audio equipment; spent about $1800 last year. Offset from selling other equipment but swapping equipment is rarely a net profit for me.

Home lab equipment; last year only about $3-400 for some new NAS drives. I want to swap or expand equipment but putting a pin in that for awhile with the silicone shortages the cost of used enterprise equipment is kinda expensive.

3-D printing; actually that doesn't cost me too much. I bought a few rolls of filament so under $200?

Cycling; Since most of the year was a recovery from the accident I spent some money to fix the bike but beyond that not much, about $300?

So last year rough costs I spent about $2800 on the top end.

 

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So how important were your hobbies during the past couple of years.  I got interested in RC drag racing just at the beginning of 2020 and started racing about half way through the the year.  In 2020 I didn't ride at all after covid.  I went nowhere and didn't want to be around people.  I  raced a couple of times outdoors and still wore a mask all day.  21 was better as the vaccinations became available and I no longer wore a mask outside at the races.

I don't think I could have done without the racing and the secret lab.

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35 minutes ago, maddmaxx said:

So how important were your hobbies during the past couple of years.

I've always been a bit of an audiophile snob, but had mid-ranged equipment for multiple locations. Since I am now, mostly, WFH on a permanent basis. I consolidated and upgraded. Even when I built the office I made sure that there was a "critical listening" nook with nice chair and easy access to my setup.

For the Homelab, I very much doubled down on stuff. Since we're, again, home for the foreseeable future more often I used my home lab equipment to modernize, automate, smart-ify, and streamline every technology bit in the house. Once that was done, I find myself continually tinkering, loading different configurations and software. My music/media servers now support my whole family and several friends with content.

Cycling I doubled down as well, at least before the accident, and was getting higher numbers in mileage, increased athleticism than in almost a decade. 

 

For me all these hobbies help keep me sane, give me something other than Work and not-Work

 

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It's only cycling in last 2 yrs. during this pandemic of insanity,  which I only consider partially as interest..it is a transportation necessity for  me. So when I spend $300.00 last yr. for new wheel rim, then replaced my quick release levers to prevent theft, some lube, 2 prs. of shorts... to  me, it's like a car owner spending something on their vehicle just to get around the city, never mind cycle out of town. (which I haven't since dearie died).

Art...is partially my fault...I'm not doing anything for past few yrs. but if went into full swing with at least 1-2 courses  per year, sure that could be over $1,500 annually. It would be  money well-spent for brain/skill development I would enjoy continuously.  

Notice:  I haven't put in any annual fitness club membership fee into all this so far. I would take a course to learn skills to  carry on the exercise  on my own.

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2 hours ago, BR46 said:

I look at this picture of Mona from August and how sick she was and I see her now and how much energy she has after having a 7 pound tumor removed... It was well worth what we spent on vet bills. 

1204209515_Screenshot_20210827-072239_SamsungInternet.jpg.271d5ad0299ad621500d5b0d476c8831.jpg

Much happier now 

1298490591_Screenshot_20210827-071807_SamsungInternet.thumb.jpg.237d07865e3d725809cf1ce1536d781e.jpg

Seven pounds is a big tumor for anyone. 

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