Author Topic: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?  (Read 4167 times)

max9505672

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Hi everyone!

I've always been pretty mustachian in my life, even before learning about this forum, but have always struggled between what interests me in life (potential hobbies) and saving/spending money.

For example, I like mechanical stuff like cars, motorcycles. A couple years ago, I even bought a little track car a and began recreational lapping days. But needless to say that this one of the most expensive hobby you can choose.. and I ended up selling it due to high maintenance fees, parts, race track costs, etc that I couldn't justify if I wanted to grow a 'stache.. 

Obviously, this is all relative. You could buy a less expensive car, less expensive parts, a kart, a motorcycle, basically there's a large spectrum of variables and it's probably the case for most hobbies examples.

But I would still feel like my hobby is playing against my medium-term FIRE goal. I guess I'm more of a ''all or nothing'' guy and maybe that's part of my problem.. A balance between the FIRE goal and the present hobbies would probably be the best.

Any of you dealing with the same issues (same or different hobbies such as travels or any other expensive material goods)? How do you cope with this and find a balance between mustachianism and hobbies?

moonpalace

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Re: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?
« Reply #1 on: June 29, 2017, 12:39:00 PM »
I think you're right on with the idea of seeking a balance.

Hobbies are fun! And basically all of them cost *something*.

I'm a rock climber. I could (and have in the past) let it cost thousands of dollars a year. Climbing gym membership for the whole family ($1200), multiple pairs of climbing shoes at $145/pair full retail, plane flights to cool climbing spots, new shiny equipment whenever it comes out, etc.

Now I built a humble bouldering wall in my garage for a few hundred bucks, just have one pair of shoes, dropped the gym membership, get my shoes resoled for $37 instead of buying new ones, don't fly anywhere to climb, etc.

The trick for me was figuring out the real core elements of why I love climbing. Turns out it's community/friends and exercise. I'm getting more of those with the current setup than I was before, and it's basically free now that the wall's built. I still spend some money on the hobby, but it's probably 10% of what it was before.

What's the core appeal of the track-car thing for you? Are there other ways to get it?

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2017, 12:47:24 PM »
Maybe get a Miata and get really good at Autocross?

marielle

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Re: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?
« Reply #3 on: June 29, 2017, 12:52:32 PM »
Maybe get a Miata and get really good at Autocross?

I second this. I knew a guy who autocrossed a lot in college, but didn't have much money. Drove a $1200 Honda. But he was really good at it so other drivers let him drive their cars (some VERY expensive) because they would win stuff if their car did well. When he graduated he finally got his own (used) race car but still commutes with the cheap honda. A miata is a happy medium, a very popular autocross car! I see a lot of race-ready miatas for sale, but even a stock one would be great and easily under $5k on Craigslist. Plus it's the most popular roadster so parts and the after market for it are plenty.

Car Jack

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Re: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?
« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2017, 12:59:29 PM »
I got good enough at both autocross and track that I became an instructor.  Track became free.  I ran a former SCCA IT car that was very cheap to run.  All the money was in the tow vehicle and trailer.  Eventually I burned out from hopping in/out of student's cars all day and gave it up.  Sold the garage full of parts, the racecar, the trailer, the tow vehicle.  I'm now considering selling the lift as I could live without it.

So I guess my answer was to use sweat to pay for track and run a cheap-to-run racecar.  Now the answer is to get out of it.

gggggg

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Re: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?
« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2017, 01:07:33 PM »
My friends used to call me the "hobby king". I was constantly moving from one expensive hobby to another. Honestly, I've given up most of them. I've simplified greatly, and just concentrate on a few cheap/free hobbies.

DragonSlayer

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Re: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?
« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2017, 01:33:46 PM »
My hobbies aren't as expensive as cars, but I'm heavily into Lego and board games. Given that a lot of games trend $50+ (we're talking Eurogames here, not Monopoly and LIFE) and Lego is, well, Lego, it's very easy to spiral out of control. I deal by making sure I thoroughly research purchases (no impulse buys), buy used when I can find stuff in good shape, hunt for deals, etc. I also make sure my other hobbies don't cost much, if anything. (For example, I'm a big reader but all books come from the library.)

Basically, I try to be a smart hobbyist and buy only what I know I'll enjoy and get the best price I can on it. I also cut expenses in areas I don't care about to fund the hobby thing. No TV, cheap phone, etc.

It's worth noting that I turned the board game thing into a side hustle by writing reviews. So I sometimes get review copies of games which helps a lot.

Maybe look into seeing if there's a way to monetize the hobby, even if just a little bit. You don't want to kill your joy by turning it into a job, but maybe there's some way, like working on other people's cars or, as pp mentioned, teaching. Or, heck, working at the track in the food stand (if they have those).

TartanTallulah

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Re: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2017, 01:49:40 PM »

How do you cope with this and find a balance between mustachianism and hobbies?

Delicately scratches head.

The whole point of this mustachianism malarkey is to allow me to have the time and money to play at my expensive hobbies ;-)

Actually, one expensive hobby. My husband and I ride bikes, and not in the way that MMM recommends. Our bikes are playthings, not means of transport - in fact, our motoring costs are influenced by the need to be able to transport the bikes to places where we want to play on them, though fortunately we live in a place where it's easy to go out road or off-road biking from home. We've had to find the right balance for us between, "Oooh, shiny, we really NEED that," and, "If we buy that NOW, it'll set our retirement back by X months and we won't have time to play on it because we'll be spending too much time at work." And between, "Wouldn't it be fun to do that event," and, "If we put the cost of that event aside now, we'll enjoy it more in X years' time when we've retired and can train properly for it and spend as long as we like exploring the area afterwards."

Mustachianism isn't a full-on ascetic thing. I see it as being about making wise financial (and other) decisions in order to allow us to do more of the things we enjoy and less of the things we don't enjoy.

Besides, when we've retired, bikepacking at home or abroad is likely to give us more smiles per unit cost than going on cruise holidays.


sokoloff

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Re: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2017, 01:57:45 PM »
I've been a private pilot for 20-odd years. It's not cheap (though perhaps not as expensive as you might imagine; annual expenditures are all over the map depending on plane, usage, location, etc), but it's a tremendous source of challenge and enjoyment for me and incidentally covers most of our family's domestic travel (that which is confined to "east of the Mississippi" is for the most part in our airplane).

How do I cope? By realizing that my retirement is delayed a bit and that my primary goal in life is not to amass a pile of gold coins that would make a dragon blush/jealous. I'm fortunate to have a life situation where airplanes are an affordable and enjoyable part of our life, so I spend money and time on them as my primary hobby. If that stopped being true, I could pretty easily stop and

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2017, 04:51:01 PM »
I've been a private pilot for 20-odd years. It's not cheap (though perhaps not as expensive as you might imagine; annual expenditures are all over the map depending on plane, usage, location, etc), but it's a tremendous source of challenge and enjoyment for me and incidentally covers most of our family's domestic travel (that which is confined to "east of the Mississippi" is for the most part in our airplane).

How do I cope? By realizing that my retirement is delayed a bit and that my primary goal in life is not to amass a pile of gold coins that would make a dragon blush/jealous. I'm fortunate to have a life situation where airplanes are an affordable and enjoyable part of our life, so I spend money and time on them as my primary hobby. If that stopped being true, I could pretty easily stop and....

.....finish your thought :D

sokoloff

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Re: Mustachianism and expensive hobbies - How do you cope with it?
« Reply #10 on: June 29, 2017, 06:13:37 PM »
.....finish your thought :D
Evidently not. :D

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!