A while back we had a poll about the average age of folks here. Here is my follow up related question- how tight is your hobby budget compared to your income? I am not asking for IRS type info, but just a rough idea.
Are you the sole supporter of a household (wife & kids)? Are you retired on a fixed income and having to watch your money carefully? Are you a young student, the proverbial starving college student? Are you financially secure and not having to worry about your hobby prices?
As for me, I fall in the first category- my budget these days is dictated by whatever extra cash I can squirrel away after household and family needs are met.
We are pretty fortunate here in that my wife and I both are working and making good money. We like to think that we are financially responsible and try to keep our debt much much lower than the amount of money coming in. That frees up a good bit every month for things like groceries, gas, and whatnot. We do have 6 children which can get pretty expensive[:P]. That being said, there really isn’t a budget for my hobby. I dont buy if we dont have the money and family comes first. When all the bills are paid, books are gotten for school, and food is in the cupboard, I pretty much buy whatever I want/need. Of course larger purchases are discussed with the misses as I would asssume most relationships work that way for the best, but she rarely has an issue with them. She has said before, better that I know your downstairs in the mancave building than out in some bar drinking!!
I’ve managed to build a stash of around 200 kits over the years. I’ve really got a nice mix of mostly WWII aircraft. I still do look for great buys, especially on ebay. My wife’s company recently closed their doors and I still have a son in college. So, I would feel guilty spending very much on plastic right now. I’ll spend on paint and aftermarket sales these days, especially those purdy Eduard Zoom cockpit sets. So, I’d say right now my modeling budget is below $30 a month right now. I even backed away from a Trumpeter 1/350 Lexington for $57 at Hobby Lobby this week. But look out when the Revell Ventura hits the shelves. Rick.
I’m about dirtbag poor, especially in winter(exagerating, just a little). A bagel and glass of choco milk for breakfast and I kill my own dinner. The only real debt is to my parents for flight school. No risk of losing the house, bills paid, bellies full, including the horse, wood chopped for the fireplace! My budget is pocket change…literally. I dump my change into a jar, cash it in for contest vendor tables. About $150-$200 per year, plus a few bucks here and there for paint and whatnot.
I don’t really have a “hobby budget”,the stash is big enough, lotsa paints, etc.
So all I really buy anymore are any new releases that may replace some of the older kits in the stash. Before I do any of that though, I talk it over with SWMBO, explaining how the new kits fit into the collection and what they replace.
One Big exception, though,she is a bargain hunter,so, we go to the model shows together, and I buy or politely turn down anything that catches her eye. I’ve already scoured the tables looking for the old elusive kits I might need.
We eat at home, don’t go out to movies much, so the shows and hobby shopping together are our forms of “outside the house” entertainment.
She likes the idea that me being chained to the stash and building is my main past time.
I have a good job which pays well, no wife/kids/pets to look after, and am able to spend whatever I like on the hobby. My stash is 325 kits, mostly 1/48 and 1/32 WWII and modern AC. I probably spend about $2k a year on kits, parts, and tools.
Just me and my wife.No budget,I usually get what I need and want,but I am on the conservative side,my stash is about 20,never more then that.I mean if bills are heavy one week or if an emergency expense comes up then the big purchase will wait.
I set $50 per month as a maximum budget. Some months I spend it, other times I don’t. If I see something for $150 that I desperately need, then I buy it and hold off for a few months before buying anything else. I’m not concerned about the cost of the hobby, as it is quite likely the cheapest one around. It’s certainly cheaper than golf, and a lot less frustrating.
You HAVE to bring that up dont you manny? For me its $20 a week into savings which i use on anything i require. Modeling stuff. Extra money for the week. Dinner out etc. Its my little “spend on whatever” pile. The rest usually goes into bills, gas, bus money, day to day expenditures etc. Whatever i have left on payday usually goes in there too.
Whatever I can get… I’m a junior (HS) and no job… School is a full-time job already. One of the reasons I rarely if ever buy AM parts… scratchbuilding FTW! Usually I manage to milk out a few bucks from my parents every so often, but I don’t have a steady cash-flow. I probably spend $10 or so a month, usually on paint or tools. I’ve managed to stockpile up quite a collection of kits so my goal (until I get a job) is to make a dent in that.
My hobby budget is funded by the hobby itself. Every ‘full’ build I do where I try the best of by ability, I will do a couple ‘experimental builds’ that are straight forward with one or two experimentatal techniques. These I sell off and the income feeds into my hobby fund. The markup is approximately 3-6 x the kit/parts value. When a newer tool comes out I build the old one in the stash and use the proceeds to get the new tool [H] As my stash grew I no longer buy kits much as such, but mostly collecting reference books online.
I do one kit every two or three months and refuse to pay more than 40.00 dollars per. I love 1/72nd scale since they average less than15 bucks. In my opinion my results, while good, do not justify investing more.
Also having a “stash” of unbuilt kits makes no sense to me.
At retail, 100 kits at 30.00 dollars apiece equals 3,000.00 dollars.
Even with the poor performance of the market I guarantee I could find some place that money could be earning. (NO I’m not a broker and I’m NOT soliciting your business)
Once I get an airbrush, and get fairly proficient with it, I may increase my limit to 50.00.
Here is a good question, what is ther today for a kid your age to do to earn money? I used to have a paper route in high school and jr high, and would get paye dby my folks for doing our yardwork… no work, no money… But these days those jobs are done by adults…at least where I live.
Agreed not much left for teens today except the McD, etc route. Also did the local newspaper route, etc and those came with some fringe benefits.
But as I see the hobby what you put into it is what you get out, not many hobbies where you can spend lets say $20(just a figure) and can get XX hours of enjoyment out of it.
If you want a ton of models on the shelf in a short time it will become expensive, IMO.
George, one quick example will help explain having a stash
When you are building a collection to a theme, you just have to get kits when you see them
Otherwise, as in my case, if you get to VA-63’s plane, and don’t have a stash,you can’t get the Emhar FJ-4 or Hasegawa F9F-8,they’re OOP,but, I have them in the stash, so I won’t have to pay another guy his price to get them out of his stash,same deal with decals,when they’re gone, they’re really gone
even as it is, with a stash,I’m 3 Cougars short and will have to pick them up wherever I run into them, even if they are expensive when I see them
Honestly, all the unemployed adults are taking our jobs! Seriously though, there are jobs out there. I was going to apply for a library position, shelving books (and I was a shoe-in because I know the head-librarian and her son is my best friend) but I just couldn’t afford the time. I volunteer there at a kids group though. I tried getting a job at Hobby Town USA, but they wanted people with a lot of RC experience. I guess it’s just as well though. I’m homeschooled, and the curriculum I have is the equivalent of all AP courses. My friend goes to the public school and from what he tells me, I do 3-4 times the work he does. He is however, far saner than me.
I guess right now, not a lot. Since this economy is so bad, jobs for HS kids are rather limited. My area has a lower population, so there’s not as much competition for jobs, but not many places are hiring. Some of my friends still do the yardwork thing, but a LOT of people are doing it themselves to save money. If I have an opportunity to make some cash, I’ll jump on it. But honestly it’s virtually impossible. I don’t even get a cash allowance anymore, usually if I really need a tool or decal sheet or bottle of paint, my parents will pick up the tab. That’s about the only “sollid” source of income I have.
My hobby budget is tight. I’m married and have a 3 year old daughter and an 8 month old son. Since I’m the only one who works in the house, any spare cash goes to feeding and clothing them. Of course, then there are the bills, and the mortgage and the little expenses, like gas for the car and food for the cat. So, really, the last thing that gets attention is my hobby and the last thing to get fed is the carpet monster…which may not be a bad thing [:P] Most of my purchases come at a time where there is an excuse to make them, for instance, my birthday, father’s day, Christmas…I’m thinking of incorporating some other holidays into our household to supplement the growth of my stash. Its also during these occasions that I receive kits or other modeling goodies from others, like my parents. If I do drop coin on some items, its usually during shows and conventions, where vendor prices are more in line with my budget. A $5 Revell F-4 Phantom II can hardly be turned down, eh?
To my wife’s credit, there is no double standard in budgeting. She spends just as much, or as little I should say, as I do on her interests. There is no need to ask permission because I’m well aware that I’m not going to get it…and I’m OK with that considering there are more important things to do, and more important things to save money for, than modeling.
