How do YOU afford this hobby?

Shift518 Automotive Shift518 Off Topic
1

The purpose of this thread is to see what people on here do to afford this hobby / sickness.

I know there are a lot of younger guys on the board pushing nice rides, some are in school, some employed, some caught a bad break and are out of work… There are also some older guys who have been in the game for awhile too, so I figure this would add up to some good responses…

I’m curious as to how we somehow or another manage to scrounge up funds to buy parts, etc. But given that this is Shift518, let’s see how many threads it takes before it turns into straight up bashing… Hopefully it won’t get there though…

Guess I’ll start-

First off, I’m extremely cheap. So it doesn’t take a lot of scratch to maintain and/or modify my car ('93 Miata). I take pride in buying a $30 set of rotors, $40 snow tires, finding free $hit, etc.

I’ll buy as much quality as I can afford for the “important” stuff (i.e suspension parts, street tires), but only when I can afford it. Still, I find myself buying used parts, but always in cash and when it’s really a good deal and not too out of the way.

Let’s just say I enjoy cars / modding / technology etc but not to the point where I’m in credit card debt or neglecting other things. I’ve sacrificed much more in the past to buy “cool” cars but realize that at the end of the day, it’s just a big money pit.

Would I love to have brand new 370Z? Of course. It just kind of scares me how much it would cost to mod the bad boy though. Well, I’m an old man now and having family shifts priorities- so that’s just my take.

As for work, I am a turbine engineer and technical liaison for a large Japanese company- the industry being power generation (specifically, large steam turbines).

One last thing about going cheap- there’s a lot of security in knowing that if something happened to my car I could go out and do the whole thing again the next day without it affecting my life much.

Discuss.

2

Working bull shit jobs and saving money. Once I’m out of school I will buy a house and a nice car to drive every day and then worry about building some thing cool. I know that is kind of what deadbeat on here did except he has always had cool cars.

3

I’m a full time HS student, soon to be a full time college student at Fordham or Northeastern, so I work 3 part time jobs and 45+ hours a week in the summer. That’s how I afford it :slight_smile:

4

My school is completely paid for by the army, since I’m army my school covers my apartment, army also covers books and monthly spending money.

I live in a tiny apartment, don’t buy books, and use my spending money all on my car.

I also take every advantage of used parts and good deals. If I find a good deal on something I don’t really need right now then I will buy it and casually sell it waiting for someone who comes along who really wants it and will pay for it. Along these same line I bought a parts car and completely stripped it, I also “invested” in another car in hopes of profiting enough to cover a few track days over the summer.

5

Prostitute myself :frowning:

6

pizza delivery+ classic valet and hustle snowblowers.

7

im a used parts whore i guess ya could say that and workin like 80-100 hrs a week also helps ,but the kids and a cunt wife spend it mostly

8

to what crackhead blind negros ,or transexual nazi eskimo,s

9

I work 2 jobs, one job full-time/part-time working 30-38 hours when school is not in session and 15-22 when school is in session(during school) and one job is seasonal from November-April. I usually do all my spending in the off season, rarely do I buy parts for my cars mid-season unless it’s a necessity. I’ll also sell parts I don’t need anymore in order to get cash for other things as well as little minor jobs/working opportunities that provide money in return for my labor/work/time.

Like the OP said, I usually try to find deals on parts I need/want and usually don’t buy it until I find that deal. I have other things as well to pay for other than my car(s) so I try to balance things out and watch my funds so I don’t wind up in a hole of debt.

10

Same here!

11

Only way to do it!

12

I work full time, take out loans and use my credit card. Im ordering parts right now.

13

My cars are mostly stock nowadays, in the past i would buy whatever i wanted, whenever i wanted. Things have changed big time for me, cars are on the very back burner and now i’m focusing on saving for a house and getting ready to start a family with my wife. After the dust of all of that settles maybe i’ll get something fun again.

14

I have a house, i mod it. I hate my life. Live with your parents for as long as you can and live like a baller.

15

well until i got layed off recently i worked alot of hours, saved alot of money, looked for deals, dont spend any money you dont have to.

16

Damn, so you have a 03 cobra and don’t have any payments on it? and don’t have to worry about insurance??? when i was your age i payed a shitload for insurance and i didn’t even have a fast car.

17

I look for deals alot.Married,no kids yet but am saving for a house and few other things for my truck…

18

I have a house, I have done alot to / with said house. Don’t regret it at all, because at the end of the day I have 4 garage stalls i can fill up and not worry about leaving a car outside to be destroyed by weather EVER again. I usually buy 1 to 2 project cars a year, as well as go through a few daily’s. I have one full time job, I’d like to do part-time somewhere but I want to have flexibility and something interesting to do, especially since its not a necessity i want to enjoy it.

19

i spend more on hookers and blow.

20

I don’t mod my cars anymore either. I’ve been modding my house. Maybe once that all finally settles down i’ll get something again.