The hobby budget. . .

Beg the ol' lady

Have my monthly allowance .... right now I think I'm 3 months in arrears

plastic, title pawn, second mortgage, what ever it takes!!!

I try not to go nuts really though.

Eric

Since the doctors put me on the wagon, I can go nuts at the hobby shop or at some of the mail order sites, and still be ahead when compared to some of the bar tabs I used to have at the club!!

It's varied over the years. I'm not married so that helps. When I was young and without any responsibilities I amassed a huge collection of kits, a large portion of which has been sold or used very shrewdly over the years as trade bait.

I got into consistent buying and selling at an early age and continue to do so today. And It really helps to know a fella who changes modeling interests with the frequency of a cheap HAM radio and who sells off his collection regularly at ludicrous prices. I'd buy his collections, keep what I wanted for my personal stash and use the rest as trade bait and table filler at shows.

Commission building jobs and selling my artwork also helps here and there.

So that's how I support the habit.


Fade to Black...

Since I build patterns for a number of people, that's where I get the money for my kits, books, mags, materials and tools. It has allowed me to get stuff, mostly tools and books that I would otherwise never have bought. In terms of kits, I mostly do smaller scales and even for my own pleasure, a lot of scratchbuild, so my expenses there are quite reasonable really. I also get 'free' access to my customers' catalogues and I therefore have a lot of kits coming from there.
I very rarely buy conversion kits in resin or PE sets. There's more pleasure and challenge in doing that myself. This saves me a lot of dosh. I do buy decals, though, mostly for airliners. When I think of it, I actualy may spend more on kits for pen-pals than for myself...

1. monthly allowance
2. Beg the wife
3. Getting into building for others
Lee

My hobby budget consists of spending as much as I can without the wife noticing anything unusual. Can I help it if some of the shopping bags go straight to the shop with out the wife seeing them? All transactions are strictly in cash! Wouldn't want to leave a pesky paper trail. Never announce that you are making a trip to the hobby shop, that will only get her attention and invite questions about your purchases later. Always "SWING" by the hobby shop on your way home from somewhere.

Sometimes I think shes on too me and lets me think she doesn't know. As long as she says nothing, I'm not saying a word .

Darren

Buy, sell, trade mostly. If I want to buy something though, it's not a problem. My wife incourages my hobby so I guess I'm in good shape. I stopped vendoring at shows a number of years ago and my wife (who helps at my tables) keeps asking to start up again. Boy do I love that woman! ! !

Hey the wife gets a new pair of shoes, so I get a new model. Seriously, if that were the case my hobbyroom would be flooded with unbuilt kits. I try not to stockpile too many kits, because I just can't build them fast enough, so the occassional birthday gift or Christmas gift is one way I amass. Lately I'm buying them if I can get them on sale, such as my recent Panther with p/e parts. Usually the money I have hidden away from wife is the preferred method of payment.

Got a monthly budget, which I usually exceed. I also gunsmith on the side and prep rifles and shotguns for friends for the various hunting and shooting seasons. Occasionally rebuild match rifles for friends. Hope for a winning lottery ticket! :) :) :) !

Ed you ever build any 1911's

I used the same method Tigerman used. I bought my wife a horse.
No questions asked.....

Mike

Woody, the answer is yes. I have two Match grade Colt Gov't models that I built, as well as a Springfield Armory Match grade. I've built or customized a few for friends. I do it as a hobby, not as a profession. Used to do it in the Army, but I didn't choose it as a career.

I spend like a drunken sailor, I have no wife so I go nuts and buy anything at that I like, I figure you only live once....besides having a huge stock pile brings me infinite pleesure, just sit and stare.Looking forward to getting the huge Revell Germany B-1b( any opinions on this kit?)
Sad but true

How much do you guys spend on the hobby anyway? let's say per month/ per year... To be honest the modeling hobby doesn't take a lot of money...compared to many other things to do in the spare time. You spend a couple of hundred on a compressor, an airbrush, some paints, and rest is just kits...which is on average 30-40 bucks each. Once in awhile you get a big scale Tamiya kit which would be 90-100 bucks on Ebay. Or you might throw in some miscellaneous such as modeling books or magazines, but still...for a family with even average salary, those money are pretty much negligible. Assuming you don't buy a new kit everyday...

I'm saying that because even a spoiled kid's video game collection takes more money than this hobby.

WHAT BUDGET?!?!?!?
Let's see; $45 for Tamiya 1/350 USS Missouri, then $36 for the GMM PE set, and another $40 for the resin 40mm pom-poms. Add in about $5 for paint, $4-5 for anchor chain, and about $10-25 for other things (rigging line, super glue, styrene glue, sheet styrene, paint brushes, etc.) and I realize I"M SICK!! I NEED HELP!! I need MA (Modeler's Anonymous). No wonder the wife has been screaming about the balance on the credit card!
Gip Winecoff

There really is no argument in my house about any of my purchases. She gets her nails done and buys countless clothes and accessories that she doesn't need, and modeling supplies and kits are my counterattack. Alls well with the world.

Who needs clothes? I don;t go anywhere but work, and they jsut gave me a set of uniforms. I buy what I want when I think the price is reasonable. My wife says nothing as I don't say anything about her spending. I'm just a collector at heart.

QUOTE: Originally posted by hou_ge2000 To be honest the modeling hobby doesn't take a lot of money... Assuming you don't buy a new kit everyday...

The amount of money one spends on this hobby is dependant upon how seriously one pursues it and what their tastes and preferences are. Everyone's different.

Your average Joe Modeler most likely spends more than one would think, it's the casual modeler that doesn't usually spend an awful lot.

On the other hand, you've got really serious builders who've got more tied up in this "hobby" than most people spend to buy a couple cars these days. I definately fall into that category, and what's more; I'm a self-made historian so my reference resources far outnumber & out weigh, financially, the kits & fixins.

To all but the casual builder this hobby, in and of itself, can be expensive. (Depending on what your idea of expensive is, of course.) But, like with anything, it can be really expensive if you make it so.


Fade to Black...

Beg, beg, beg. No not really, wife is ok with it and usually pick up one to two models every two weeks. She is kind of baffled though, she keeps wondering why I have so many models that are still in boxes.

Mine comes from the fact that, fanboy stuff aside, I'm not that materialistic. A car just needs to be reasonably safe and get me where I need to go, it doesn't need to be a showpiece. I need just enough clothes to use in 10 days before doing the laundry with just enough extras to account for different weather. Basic electronics are good enough for entertainment ( $3000 for a ^%$@% TV?! Really, why? ).

That leaves plenty for most of the kits I'd want. The occasional exception ( Perfect-Grade Evangelion, anyone? ) does come along now and then, though, and I patiently save and wait until I have enough. Even so, my wife and I each have a walk-in closet in the master bedroom. Hers has been filled with clothes since we bought the house, mine has been filled with kits since almost all my clothes fit in the drawers!

As far as the grumbling from my better half, I told her I'd stop buying kits when she curbed her voracious appetite for novels, or was at least willing to read some of them a second time before buying more. Marriage should be based on agreement and compromise, right?

I really don't have a specific budget for the hobby but I do have freedom in spending money as long as all the bills are being paid and all house expenses are covered. My wife doesn't really mind as I also allow her to spend for her hobby. Besides she likes the idea of me spending more time in the house.

The kits are not really very expensive now here in Manila especially after Tamiya put up a plant somewhere in the south. And DML is coming in (from Hongkong) at very good prices also. 1/35 armor kits usually sells for about 10 to 20 dollars while 1/72 planes for about 8 to 15 dollars each. Paints (mostly Tamiya) sells for about 2 dollars each.

On the average, I spend about 20 to 25 dollars a month for kits and paints. Probably not a big amount for you bigshots outthere but here, it's already quite a sum.

Buy the kit and worry about the bills later

<<That leaves plenty for most of the kits I'd want. The occasional exception ( Perfect-Grade Evangelion, anyone? )>>


I love Evangelion! I have a Nerv sticker on my puter right beside me as I type this. Great stuff that. My all time favorite has got to be Nausicaa though. I can't wait until they re-dub it full legnth.

madda

My wife quilts and I build scale models, but we don’t keep score. She did however just get a new sewing machine so I think I see a new air compressor in my near future. I will also sell some of my old “toys” for new ones occasionally. Been stocking up for the coming fall/winter, have the wife convinced that collecting a closet full of unopened kits is part of the hobby.

actually doin models in my house keeps peace. keeps the ole lady happy that i am home and not runnin. i would spend just as much or alot more goin out to bars and everything else.

Having really just started in the hobby I spent a ton of money on supplies/tools etc (and still dont have a compressor). I only have 4 unbuilt kits in the closet and HOPEFULLY wont get into the stockpiling thing for some time yet. My better half is an aspiring chef, so we typicly spend some one month for her hobby and the next month I get a little extra. I have spent a bit more than she has recently, but it seems that she may decide to atend Johnson and Wales (sp) when they open here in Charlotte. That should even things up some :) Joking aside, we dont really keep score, its more of a we have "this much" after bills are paid from this check spend as you like. We have pretty much gotten into an alternating mode from month to month though.

God Bless
Dave