Who has money for other stuff

[SkiDork]

Seeing the Blue Man thread reminded me of our situation... Wondering if anyone else is where we are.. Wife (Ty) has been out of work for almost a year, and I'm not making what I used to.. So we find ourselves having to curtail almost every other form of entertainment except for skiing. Anyone else in that boat?

 

[bigbog]

....

SkiDork,
Pretty much same here...I'm another PartTimer, but things will change... With Boyne's cheapest Pass to the weekends starting @$649 (with usual blackouts), there usually is a Maine(locals) Day during the week for ~$30 (@Loaf), which if weekdays become accessible...I'll do. I think I'll be using my Trekkers to access some BC along with my dedicated BC setup for both "Local Forest" and other terrain. Will access Saddleback's pricing too....
When you finally own without the monthly mortgage payment to the beloved financial system, working on the house becomes more enjoyable, thus it becomes another hobby/activity.

$.01,
SteveD

 

[deadheadskier]

As my handle would imply.....I have two deep passions....skiing and music. I pretty much divide my extra money equally between going to see shows and music festivals and skiing.

It's always tight though. Both our incomes put together would put us in probably the low/middle end of 'middle class'. We're only inching ahead each month with our finances in terms of saving for the future and paying down debts. Tough economy. Even though I make 40% more than I did 4 years ago, it feels more like 20%, if that.

....Oh and SkiDork, I know times are tough, but don't forget to put aside that little extra for your sponsorship of me joining your son in Whistler next summer. kay thnx

 

[kingslug]

Hopefully in 2 months................this won't be a problem.

 

[dmc]

I do... but i don't have kids..
And i finally have a good income for what i do... In a great nitch...

if you'd asked me that question in 2001 - i would've answered differently...

 

[RootDKJ]

I kinda do. I'm very cheap with day-to-day life. We could do a lot more when we lived in our apartment, but since we bought our house last year, we haven't been out to dinner or the movies in ages. We also don't have kids, so that helps. I also use a budget at home, and if we increase spending in a necessary category, I find a way to limit discretionary spending in another category, so my monthly targets are not exceeded. The only category that has an unlimited budget is of course, skiing.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

We slashed and burned some expenses over the past few years out of choice so it wouldn't be out of necessity. Inflation is going to gather some serious steam going into next year after this award winning week that unfolded, imo. I'm positioning myself for things to get worse before things might get better.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I have money for other stuff but not everything. Recently a friend asked me if I wanted to buy some rums for my car...there is no way I want to spend money on that but if I really wanted steezy spinners or rims I could buy them. I don't spend money on fancy electronics. I have a $150 TV and a $500 laptop. My clothes are from Kohls and I have decade old golfclubs. Some people have $2,000 beds..I don't..I don't have a Rolex or icy gold chains if I didn't ski..I could afford some serious Bling. I don't take many trips to non-skiing destinations unless it's a family thing where it's not on my dime. If I wanted to I could but it would come at the expense of vacation time that I would rather go on a ski trip for. If I didn't spend so much on skiing..I would find other ways to spend that $$$$..or have way more money in the bank.

 

[hardline]

i consider myself pretty lucky. i make more money than i could have ever imagined. the problem that i have is getting time to spend the money i make.

 

[Trekchick]

Times are tough all around me, and we're preparing ourselves for a very lean winter, because we anticipate that two of the factories that we snow plow, will shut down, but for now, our business is booming and we're Making Hay While the Sun Shines.
Yea, I can afford more than skiing, but I am well aware that all that could change with the tick of the first domino.

 

[Hawkshot99]

i consider myself pretty lucky. i make more money than i could have ever imagined. the problem that i have is getting time to spend the money i make.

I'll help you out in that horrible situation. I will PM you my address to send the checks!:grin:

 

[mondeo]

i consider myself pretty lucky. i make more money than i could have ever imagined. the problem that i have is getting time to spend the money i make.

Then how about donating it to a worthy cause? Like the Buy Mondeo a House Fund?

I'm in pretty good shape, being an engineer with no kids and no college loans. Extra money spent is more of a long term thing to me, delaying a house purchase (therefore more being thrown down the drain in terms of rent) and not being saved for retirement.

I also cut corners where I can, waiting for stuff to go on sale, eating a lot of pasta, etc.

 

[Moe Ghoul]

Then how about donating it to a worthy cause? Like the Buy Mondeo a House Fund?

I'm in pretty good shape, being an engineer with no kids and no college loans. Extra money spent is more of a long term thing to me, delaying a house purchase (therefore more being thrown down the drain in terms of rent) and not being saved for retirement.

I also cut corners where I can, waiting for stuff to go on sale, eating a lot of pasta, etc.

Smart money has been renting, you'll be happy you waited to buy a house as the rent/own ratio comes into parity with declining home values.

 

[RootDKJ]

My clothes are from Kohls and I have decade old golfclubs.

I get clothes at Marshells, you can find some amazing stuff there sometimes.

 

[skibum9995]

Money? What's that. I don't even have enough to satisfy my skiing needs. I probably won't be getting a pass this year. The six months without a paycheck is taking it's toll.

 

[Warp Daddy]

We"re fine,LIFE is Good, both retired educators , HAVE lived debt free for many years ,

Here's how :

As a young economist i understood the miracle of compounding coupled with slow steady CONSERVATIVE investing and LIVING beneath one's means . SO we developed a life plan at 25 years of age , invested early , lived within my income. saved significant % my mine and ALL of hers and ALL of MY additional consulting income. Also as part of one of my courses I used to teach this stuff to my students at the college before i went into administration ----------- then i shared it with colleagues .

Today i often get calls and cards of thanks from former students who took the ole man's advice. - It makes me feel pretty good to know in some small way we helped someone get on the path to FI

Bought my house when i was 26, paid it off in 20 yrs and still live in it

.Paid Cash for all cars every 3/4 years , paid cash ( beyond any scholarships) for our two kids college education and my graduate degrees, and damn near everything . Took very nice family vacations3 weeks EVERY year and enjoyed my life BUT UNDERSTOOD credit debt overload issues

-- My dad was a credit/debt specialist and when i was growing up he often cited examples of many who were ruined from over-expansion of credit coupled with living beyond one;s means


In spite of the current the Bush era depression and all that has happened I sleep well at nite and have a VERY minimal amt of investment at risk at this point in life. Inflation is a concern but at this point the major concern is to maintain our health .

All these years our investment strategy always made us money. Some years our % increase in Net worth was modest BUT it was always POSITIVE. IT takes DISCIPLINE both in expenditure control and aggressive savings ---its a LIFESTYLE choice .

SO yes we can afford to live and do those things that are within our priorities AND skiing is one of those areas

 

[andyzee]

I got money, I got debt(which is the only thing I hope to leave when I die), I got no kids or house and do my best to enjoy life to make up for all the strife.

 

[ERJ-145CA]

Right now I have extra money and am working on paying back credit card debt with the excess, skiing is pretty much my only activity that costs money. This could very well change in the months ahead because I have another child due in February and the industry that I work in is rapidly self-destructing (airline). I just stay positive and hope for the best. As long as I have my family and our health, and I can ski a bit I'll be happy.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Good Advice Warp Daddy,

I feel guilty when I blow money at the bars or a poker tournement. I'm in good shape and have never had any debt but I could/should be saving way more. Earlier my Mom was grilling me about when I'll buy a house and talking about a 180k fixer upper in my neighborhood...I don't want to spend more $$$ per month on mortgage payments/taxes/yardwork...I can get a condo but then there's an association fee for maintenence..I like spending extra money on going to the bars and going to nice restaurants..

I'll own a home someday..when I meet that special girl...who hopefully makes over 60k a year and has lots of money in the bank..lol..and is a skier-chick..then we can buy a 400k McMansion in the burbs and live happily ever after..lol

 

[JasonE]

This year we are definitely having fits over where to come up with the money even for skiing. The WaWa passes are a given, but we haven't figured out how to pay for any day trips out of town. We're hoping to pick up some good bargains from the ski expo in November - other than that, who knows. Plus, my wife desperately needs new boots (and I had wanted new boots and new skis, too, but will have to suffer through another year with mine unless I can pick up something decent at WaWa's ski swap).

We're on 2 incomes, but with oil so high we expect our heating bill to be more than twice what it was last year. The landlord had promised to have new insulation blown into the walls by winter, but here it is mid-September and there's no sign of that yet so I'm not holding my breath. My wife's in grad school, and I've gone back to finish my degree, so we've got two tuition payments on top of it all.

So... as with most people these days, money is definitely tight.