H1212 I was away from cars altogether while my wife and I started working and raising a daughter. Man, I remember the days of daycare, diapers, and formula. I thought hot rods were expensive, try raising a kid nowadays. Fortunately, I was not tuned into any car activities at all. I had just finished helping my dad with a lot of roundee round racing and had a bad taste in my mouth about the time spent with nothing to show my family. Ironically, my dad introduced me to my current hot rod friends during the time my expenses with the household and daughter leveled off. This was good timing because I would have really been frustrated trying to raise a new family and participate in the hot rod hobby without time or $. Like most of us at some point in time, I was a bench warner and attending shows and swap meets without a car for a few years before purchasing my first project. Yes, I was rodless. Don't be fooled about some of the cars. My friends and I have had projects for several years before the cars saw pavement for the first time. It my be discouraging to see a project in your garage for long periods of time, for some of us, maybe even get buyer's remorse, but keep wrenching and you'll get that thing running before you know it. Don't get caught in the instant gratification pitfall. Try to get the best price for your project or parts every time to make this as affordable as possible and without compromising the family budget. Find a way to make some extra bucks if the time permits, and always keep family commitments as priority. Hope this helps. - RGV
ask Opra just dream it and then it will appear because its what you really want..BE PATIENT if you just want a old car for a few days a month rather than build a rod or invest in time and tools . GO find a neat ol fordoor mild custumize it and try trading up ..once your doing , crusin and hanging you will see that it aint to hard really quoting opra ON HERE .... OH I AM SO ASHAMED
yes and so you should be....Opra...if you get a few billion for just talking 'pop' **** on TV you can say stuff like that but there is only one way to get ahead and that is to work hard. No other way around it. or you could beconme a psuedo Christian like Benny Hinn and **** dollars from the desperate and gullible.
Most people's vanity and ego are their downfall. All the people I personally know who cry about their finances make plenty of money but piss it away as if they hate it and want it gone. No one needs a $5 starbucks and $12 lunch everyday, an I pod, the fancy phone of the month, 200 cd's and 100 DVD's, a 50" TV, digital cable in every room and then they cry about the fact they have to both work to pay for the Suburban and the Lexus, but you "know, we have it so hard these days " My parents lived in a one room apartment with a hot plate and card board boxes with a sheet over it for a dining table. I'm not some grumpy old man. I'm 40 and have 2 kids too. But for the most part when I hear people crying, I tell them "shut up, *****". They have all the money they need, they just don't seem to want to keep any.
Go get a job in the oil patch. It's booming all across the country right now, I know Penn. has a huge gas play ramping up. The starting pay is high, even entry level, and the sky is the limit as far as advancement and income are concerned. My swampers are pulling down 4k per month, that's entry level! Even if you only do it a couple years, you can rathole an ***load of $. A couple caveats: I work 70-90 hours a week, I am on call 24/7 for 12 days, then off 2 (if I'm not on a job). The oil industry has the most notorious "boom and bust" cycle; If you get in, be wise with your $ Bonus:You'll be happy about high gas prices!!!!
boy is my writing skills ****py, so ill try to rewrite to make more sense ---------------------------------- Forget The Side Jobs And Under The Table Money Its A Fools Paradise, Go Legit, Form A Llc Corp. run the Biz Part Time But, Make it Legal And with Formal Accounting Rules , and Bookeeping Declare All Your 2nd Biz Income, If The Biz Is Auto Related Or Related To Your Mechanics Job You Can Deducted All Your Expenese, even a computor repair biz is allowed to dedcut tools for vechile maintence. The Feds Will Lets Write Off Your Tools, Welders, Parts, Turn Your Hot Rod Is Advertsing. A New Truck Can Be Written Of For 100% Of The Value In One Year My 2007 Silverado Only Cost My Company $9000 After Dedcutions. ($188/mo/48mo) intrest deductable to! You Need To Learn How To Play Them Game Like The Big Boys. Its Not That Hard. Cell Phone Paid By Company, Rods Runs Are A Biz Expenses. And Since I Resell Parts As A Llc I Get A State Sales Tax Exception. (no Sales Tax) But I Do Have To Collect When I Sell ( This Is Not Hard) Credit Card Intrest Deductable. Now The Wife Even Has A Company Car. I Am Working On Getting My 4 Year old Into The Company Pension Plan. this is a little tricky And Its All Legal. And That Idea You Have For Something Really Cool Is A R&d Expense. In Short Your Not Playing The Game Right . primary residence biz- deductions are very tricky, but i think that is going to far. i started when i bought my first duplex house rented it out, did all repairs myself, bougth more houses, learned how to run a small biz took alot of time but it grew. got fired from general motors 15 years ago (never could hold a job) have not looked back.
Best advice on here. Do track your monthly spending, but nothing you ever own will beat the time and rewards of those boys.
You have to do a budget! Buy rentals. I bought 13 properties over the years and am working for me now because of it. It is suprising how much money you can keep once you get them paid for. It ls also suprising how fast you can pay them off. After that it is all down hill. You want more money? Do like the owners of big companies do, Have some one else do the work. Im telling you,,,you will make money in rental properties.
5.10 per day for smokes =35.70 per week = 1856.40 per year, quit smoking and became a millionaire and maybe live longer to enjoy my rides. so look at your life style and see if you have a open drain like i did.
Wives and Kids have a way of knowing when there's any extra money floating around. When your raising a family there is always something they need. Get them all involved in your hobby and maybe the next time they sence the extra cash one of them will say, hey lets buy something for the Hotrod!
second job is the best way, it's painful though.... and don't live in SoCal where a house costs $5k/month.
It would be interesting to do a poll of the house hold family income of our HAMB members. The great thing about a poll is it is anonamous. House Hold Income 0 to 20000 20000 to 40000 40000 to 60000 60000 to 80000 80000 to 100000 100000 and above Gary
Do a little maths and work out where you spend the money then. Simplest way is to write down all your expenses. My wife and I earned the same as you, except we have a $1200 a month mortgage to pay. We have one daughter, and my mom in law living with us. We have two family cars, one hot rod on the road, and one I'm building. And we live in the UK where gas is like $30 a gallon, or so it seems when I fill the tank on any of our vehicles I thought America was supposed to be cheaper for EVERYTHING compared to the UK. it certainly is for hot rod stuff, and there's no crate motors in the UK, for a couple of grand.
I don't make anywhere near what some of you guys say you do. I have a wife and 3 kids. I am a truck driver. I drive a dump truck for an asphalt company so I get laid off in the winter. It really stinks....I have a 51 ford that I have been working on for what seems like years. When ever I get a few bucks extra (and the family doesn't need it) I spend it on the 51. It may take me 6 monthes to buy 1 part but I get it piece by piece. and I scrounge around to find the best deals I can. Right now I found the wheels I want I will buy them 1 at a time (although they offer a considerable savings if you buy all at once I cannot do that) Yoiu just have to keep your priorites staight. Family always comes first.... You'll see it may take a lot longer than you expect but you can do it one piece at a time. I am now in a position where I have gathered all the major parts I need so I can really get moving on the project...now it's just finding time...lol....
My credit card company LOVES me. Every year I have always realized that as long as my car is on the road, Ill spend a minimum of $1200 on it to keep it going... If the whole family is into it, make it part of your entertainment budget and build it up slowly- I dotn think ANYONE has disposable income any longer- alhtough owning a shop - I d like to think they do.... And just for the record, since my shop is still considered in the start up stages , I dont even HAVE A paycheck- we live on Dana's middle management ca$H- thanks goodness for that as anything I have extra right now goes back into the business.
The simplest (but not the easiest) way forward is to increase your disposable income. One of the problems with this is that your other expenses tend to rise too - leaving you with the same problem ;-)
I'm in the same boat as these two.... I work 60+ per week for a major Aircraft supplier and my wife works for Wright Patterson AFB. We keep the bills to a minumum and I save like crazy for what I want. I feel for you guys who have kids....I'd probably never be able to do it!!!
I'd have to disagree. It will keep the stress and fighting over money to a minimum. ....nothing worse that going to spend money that the "other half" just spent.
My method works great for me: 1. No credit card debt. 2. No car payments. 3. I'm cheap, so I don't buy on impulse. 4. I save and buy with cash, even the big stuff. 5. When I find something I really, really want "right now", I refer to rule #1. It really makes me sad to see so many guys working just to pay down credit cards. They make in excess of $60-75k yr and can't afford **** unless they put it on a card. Mortgages and utilities I can understand, but some of the guys I know are buried under thousands of dollars per month of revolving debt. It's unbelievable how they get ****ed in. One of the best books to read on how to escape is by Dave Ramsey.
I hear ya on that one. With owning your own shop comes more debt than I ever imagined and sometimes more than I anticipated. My suggestion is take your time. My 56 Chevy took about 10 years to get to the point it is now- working on it a little at a time...Im lucky- my wife supports the hobby so she would rather do something with the cars than something for a girly thing anyday... (or at least that is what she says)
buy everything you can afford that is a deal... even parts you cant use... sell what you dont need, use what you need.. and dont be afraid to sell cool parts.. best deal i EVER got was on a 57 barriatz caddy, took out a loan to buy it, but sold it for a 750% profit 2 months later.. i dont do that lots, but when i do it helps.. get a good grasp on whats worth money EVERYWHERE.. watch s**** like the local paper cl***ifieds, craigslist, local rummage sales.. if you learn enough, you see antiques, motorcycle parts, all kinds of ****, SOMEONE COLLECTS EVERYTHING... i have bought pez dispensers at a rummage sale cause i knew enough to know they were from the 40s based on the serial numbers.. 75 cents turns into $250 in a 5 day ebay auction... bought a Judson supercharger for a MG for $60 off of craigslist that sold for $700 on ebay in 2 days on a buy it now... i just try to know as MUCH as i can that is worth money, and i take risks sometimes.. i also save $ this way instead of the bank... i just bought some spindle mount wheels i got a deal on, 12 spoke magnesiums.. having old parts is like money in the bank but can multiply faster... for what i paid for these, i expect the value on them to be 125% of what i paid in only a year.. (i got a deal, paid les than worth, plus they will appreciate a lil) old cars and parts APPRECIATE in value most times.. if you cant afford a model A body now, get the drivetrain when you find a deal, get brakes off a friend, get a part here and there until you fnd a good deal on the body... MARATHON is the best advice here
Move to Canada - you don't have to worry about disposable income since the government takes 2/3 of your money and spends it like they see fit? - so if you're a white middlecl*** male you're ****ed. ..Seriously, I'm make good money but still struggle with a hefty mortgage, one small car payment, a kid and a wife working part time. I find it's all relative to where you live. The cost of living here is very expensive and the taxes are astronomical. A 2 bdrm apartment is $1,400-1,600 in a decent area. The biggest mistake I find is people gauge their spending based on what they make GROSS, not NET income after tax. I complicate the issue by adding sales taxes (also hidden on sticker prices) and property tax. So up here, any income over $60K attracts 46% tax, plus a $900 health tax plus 14% combined sales tax and 1.2-1.5% tax on the value of your house and pretty soon your combined tax rate is 60%++. That leaves you 40% to spend. Yes, penny pinching helps, but look at your biggest expenses. It's not fast food, coffee or the occasional case of beer. It's tax. Find a way to make a little money under the table flogging your time or flipping parts you see a deal on and see how you can reduce you taxes.
you gata remeber to build a quality ride it takes time. so yeah some cars cost a **** load to build but only the real lucky ones get to do it start to finish real fast...most of us normal folk gata save up an buy parts here an there and work on it when you find the time!. just keep your head be positive an take care of your fam
I work at a night club 5 nights a week,plow snow with my truck(truck has to earn its keep) ,plus property management.The money I make at the club goes towards the hotrod fund,The rest of the $$ I don't even see as the wife takes care of the bills. Dont have any credit cards,no car payments,just the mortgage to pay each month. The old saying 'Dont live beyond your means' always applies and don't try to keep up with the Jone's. Tim
I retired from the Navy in '91, got to spend 8 years at a high-end resto shop and play in a gig band before my wife retired from the fire dept. I went to work for a Fortune 100 company in 99. Between 2 retirements and my job, we make about $9k a month before taxes, but exactly one third of that (before taxes) goes to the ranch mortgage, and a big chunk of what's left goes to property taxes, maintenance, insurance, feed, vets, utilities, tractor upkeep and the like. The income to outgo is all relative. Years ago, when we were making $4000 a month combined we had a $950 mortgage. Percentage-wise, about the same as now. And as I recall, just as scary (again relatively speaking...) We have a very modest savings, and no IRA . But no car or credit card payments either. Last new car was a 74 Monte Carlo, and before that, a big block four speed '68 Cougar. Since then, I don't think we've ever had a car that wasn't at least 10 years old... My car and shop "fun-d" is financed with occ***ional side work using the tractor, and doing restoration work for a local interior decorator and a salvage dealer - stripping antique light fixtures, door knobs, hinges, cabinet pulls, etc, and restoring to new or laying down a nice even patina depending on what they want. It's not a whole lot of money, but it's easy and mostly clean work compared to greasy-*** car parts, and I do it watching Speedvision in the shop... A quarter of the profits go to shop improvement, half goes to the cars and whatever is left over goes to pay a local kid $10 an hour to do the minimum wage chores that I couldn't do because I was wasting time trying to finance my hobby....
One issue I ran across is: the IRS's definition of hobby, vs. business You will need to be showing some serious income in order to claim deductions against it. They may still call a financial "wash" a hobby. MOST OF THE BIG STREET ROD COMPANIES STARTED AS A HOBBY BIZ, BUT THE BIZ DOES NOT HAVE TO HOT ROD RELATED, A PLUMBER CAN HAVE A COOL HOT ROD 50'S PANEL TRUCK WITH ADVERTISNG ON THE SIDE , BUT YUOR ARE RIGHT IF YOUR NOT SERIOUS ABOUT RUNNING THE BIZ IT WILL COME BACK TO HIT YOU. THE BIG PIONT I AM TRYING TO MAKE IS WHAT EVER YOU YOU GET VERY SERIOUS ABOUT AND LEARN THE RULES
The Jalopy Journal
