This is a spin-off from the “shoesstring budget” topic…Aside from “shoestring”, the key word in the topic is “BUDGET”. I’m curious as to how people budget for their model railroading.
This should not turn into another gripe session about the cost of the hobby. With all the talk I began to wonder how many of us actually budget for the hobby. I personally found it to be a good way to adjust to the increased cost and still purchase what I need/want. I may not be able to splurge on impulse buys but it keeps my objectives focused. I sacrifice plenty of things I see in the hobby shop because even though it looks nice and love to have it, I know it won’t see much action on my layout if it doesn’t fit my focus.
I personally get enjoyment out of having a seperate budget for model railroading so that it doesn’t interfere with my daily household budget (it’s part of it but fortunately I’m not “robbing Peter to pay Paul”).
“Funding” for my model railroad comes from a number of different sources:
Annual appropriation from Tax return (a portion of the tax return goes to the hobby)
Wells Fargo Way2Save account (For every purchase you make with your card, a dollar is transfered to a savings account). It’s almost a way of taxing yourself a dollar for every purchase you make. That’s how taxes work anyway right? You don’t get more prototypical than that
Selling of old equipment
Saving coins
My main budget (I usually keep this to a minimum and usually I tap into that for odds and ends)
I then take the total funds and create a “wishlist” of things that I need/want and begin appropriating money towards those things. Many things will be partially or fully funded depending on costs and priorities.
Discipline plays a huge part in this being successful. The good thing is that this strategy doesn’t interfere with any of the strategies mentioned prior to my post. &n
Living in a DINK household (double income no kids) I don’t have a budget but at the same time I go willy nilly spending either. Some months I don’t by anything and others I might pop a $200 for a loco or two or some rolling stock but usually if I spend that much I run it by the wife first. I feel that the most I can spend without getting too much grief is $50 to $100 a month. But I am going to lay MRR spending for a while, we just bought a new car for me and I don’t want to rock boat [:D]
Nope, I don’t have a budget for model railroading. I’m kind of lucky that my wife and I both have good jobs and I have the ability to work overtime when ever I want to. That kind of keeps the wife quiet too, lol. Whenever I start putting in a extra 20 hours a week in she always asks me what I’m buying now. I would bet that 80% of my model railroad was payed for in OT. I usually work a Saturday and Sunday a week or two before a train show, that gives me an extra 600 bucks to spend and to enjoy myself at the show. Like I said, I’m kind of lucky.[B]
Great topic. I don’t really have a budget but my income is inconsistent depending on business conditions, competitors, etc. Last 3 years have been tough, so not that much spending. Over the years I would say I spend about on average per year–4 figures. I really need to sell some stuff and have started doing so also moving from plastic to brass somewhat.
Oh but wait, I have 2 kids and college expenses coming up while the economy is still bad–so this year and the next 8 I’ll be lucky to spend a couple hundred. Hard to buy brass with that.
I don’t have a hobby budget as such I find it doesn’t work well for me.
This pay I spent 80c on model material for a project Three pays ago I sent $50 for something, pays in between nothing spent on the hobby.
The costs are so variable depending on project I just get what I can when I can If I have to save for something thats what I do.
Having said that the priority costs are always dealt with first keeping the roof over my head and food on the table putting some away for that rainy day you know the boring domestic stuff
,Since retiring and living on a fixed income yes I have a hobby budget.
However…
I placed a price limit on what I’m willing to pay years ago when prices began to skyrocket and needless to say if the model I want is above that limit I wait till I find a used one and with this economy the use market is booming since most modelers panics and sell their models at the first sign of trouble water…
I do 90% of my shopping on line in order to buy more on my budget.
Do I go over budget?
Yup-more times then I care to admit and that’s mostly due to finding a good deals on e-Bay–and yes if you look and know your prices there are still good buys on e-Bay…
There is nothing the wife and I do that is not part of the budget. As for “Mad Money” we each get a small amount from each paycheck that we can spend on ourselves (without question) which is where the “Hobby” money for me comes from. We strive to not pay interest on anything so if it’s not in the budget it doesn’t get bought. When the unexpected happens it’s generally covered under the “Emergency Fund” part of the budget and if there is not enough there then money is taken out of another budget to cover the difference.
The professor took out a glass jar and filled it with several large rocks.
The class agreed that the jar was full, but the professor took out a bag of small stones and was able to several pounds of these stones.
The Class then agreed that the jar was full, but the professor took out a bag of sand and added even more to the jar.
Now the class was not sure what more the professor might try, but still agreed that the jar was full. Now the professor added some water to the jar, and asked what this experiment showed.
Many suggested that there was always room for more.
He replied, no, it means that you put the important things in first.
If the train is important you make it part of your budget, if you don’t have a budget, then you probably need one of those credit recovery companies that advertise on the talking radio.
My hobby budget is technically zero. There’s not enough to go around all the places we need (or want) it to go, so the trickle-down is all soaked up before it reaches the “fun and toys” level.
I think I may have spent somewhere around $30 so far this year on trains. Lucky for me I generated a nice backlog of projects when the streams flowed a little deeper in years past. [;)]
Since the OP did not give specific dollars, it might be wise to avoid talking about who spends how much, since things could deteriorate into typical flames about, ultimately, who’s (budget) is bigger. Nobody cares how much anybody else spends.
I don’t have a budget. I’m just careful how I spend. To me, a calculated budget implies a monthly amount of hobby spending. I spend sporadically, not evenly. I tend to be naturally thrifty, so I just figure that when I haven’t spent much on the hobby for a while, I can spend a little more this month, and visa versa. And I try to stay informed about products and their value and try to always find a good deal. I seem to stay out of trouble that way.
BTW- humor involves both: a little truth and a little exaggeration. I don’t see the need to take serious offense from the exaggeration of a point within a response that was obviously written with tongue in cheek. That’s generally how things deteriorate.
Even with our “Mad Money” budget we let them build month over month so if we want something that is “expensive” we just wait until the money is there or in some cases borrow from the future and repay the budget back buy not spending for awhile. But, to allow our “Mad Money” budgets go into the “Red” does take joint approval and the money has to be there to barrow from…
However, when I want to buy something, I most often find something else to sell on Ebay, so that in most cases, I’m not spending new cash out of my pocket.
Of course I lose some money selling/trading trains, but the reality is if I had an official budget, it would not be very much.
In order for me to have decent motive power, I usually have to sell something–and given the high price of freight cars, I have a few very nice ones (Tangent, Red Caboose, etc.) but just not many of them at all. As I’m adjusting to being a steam branchline (81 LF single track railroad) I’m finding I don’t need as many freight cars, but prefer illuminated passenger cars instead.
I have become very bargain conscious lately, buying recent locomotives for respectively: $67, $76 and $77 dollars in the last couple weeks after selling a beautiful EM-1 that I just really didn’t need to keep. The replacement engines are in order: a new Athearn Roundhouse 2-6-0, a new Intermountain LV F-7A, and a new old stock P2K LV PA-1.
I only have 7 engines, 7 freight cars, 2 cabooses, and 2 passenger cars at the present time.
The most expensive engines on hand are Bachmann Alco 2-6-0’s with sound and DCC.
