do you have to justify spending big bucks on your ride?

[CB]

I see lots of people taking their time (2-3-4 even +5 years) to complete a resto or building the car he/she wants.
Most likely it is normal you can't spend every penny on you project even though you want to have it on the road before next cruise season.

How do you budget your resto$ or do you have good tips to share?

Locking up the wife so she can't spend the money on cloths and manicure doesn't count 

[Shakey]

It is better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission!   

[venom94558]

I just try to schedule projects to be done... then allocate the money for that, and leave a little a side for unforseen problems... It will take longer, however, you will get what you want and each season you will get closer to having the car finished... or to where you would like it to be.

[4402tuff4u]

Prior to me purchasing my 68 R/T my wife said she did'nt have a problem with that but she was not going to allow me to use our daily/weekly/monthly household operating budget. She thought the subject was going to be dropped by me and skip the car, but she under estimated my desire to have a true Charger R/T. So, I told her that I really did not have a problem with that, so I got a second job. So far the second job has paid for the ongoing restoration job on the Charger - I actually had to save 6 months of salary on second job before dropping off the Charger. Any how, the other day (on a Saturday) it worked out perfect. I went to my body guy with the wife to look at the progress on the Charger. Kevin the body guy showed us the progress, his upcoming work on the car, told me I needed the lower hinge on the passenger side, etc.... He then finished by telling me that a car collector that drops his cars to the shop where my Charger is being done is interested in my Charger and left his phone number for me to call him. At that point, including the trip to Carlisle, I think my wife has realized that these cars are worth something and are downright desireable. It kind of made my day because I least she heard it from another source and No! I'm not calling Jeff   "the collector car guy" because it's not for sale.

[hemi68charger]

Never......  I have a VERY understanding wife and someone who supports my hobby. Of course, I don't complain when she wants something for the house either.....  But sometimes, a restoration bargain creates a situation out of your control.....   

Troy

[694spdRT]

A lot of this will depend on a person's income and other expenses of course. I don't have any kids yet and I have been saving and buying parts since 1991 to do my car like I wanted. The other thing is my wife was very understanding and knew that I really wanted to finally finish the '69 after all those years.

After my truck and my wife's car were paid off 2 1/2 years ago I took that money and set it aside or spent it on my Charger to finish it up. I figured it was a car payment that may actually make sense. You will need to budget out what items you will need and be able to afford in order to keep the project rolling or it will end up sitting. I also did most of the work myself so finding time to work on it was almost as big an issue as money for me.

[greenpigs]

  I never had to, as the car was "done" when I met the wife, after we were married I never really bought much. The most I spent at one time was about $700 for a new dash & rear light wire harness and some smaller stuff.
    Now I don't have the wife so a house is next...and the charger sits yet again.

[triple_green]

Wife and 4 kids. I have to be careful. Wife is very understanding. Restoration of the 68 happened over 5 years. My brother-in-law and I painted the car.

Initial money was from overtime worked supporting the Boeing/Rockwell/McDonnell Douglas mergers.

3X

[Pistolpete]

I guess I'm one of the lucky one's guys, my wife is behind this resto 100%, she loves the car (or at least the pics of what I tell her it will look like when its finished)
She's even put in a couple of attempts to have me finish it as a General Lee (veto'd that) anyway, as far as budgeting I've been pretty lucky as well, I have my own business and have been able to funnel some of the costs through there which helps. Otherwise as long as the bills are paid, the wife gets her toys, I pretty much have carte blanche......

[CB]

the wife gets her toys

what toys ,,,? 

[BigBlockSam]

my wife fuels my insanity. we've jugled bills, ran up credit cards. we've traveled all over the us picking up cars and parts but it's only me and her and BO (dog). no children to worry about. we try to finds parts over the winter months. so when the wether breaks, we can get to work on the cars. as long as the bills are paid ,i can spend what ever i need or we have for parts. Rene

[bull]

At the moment I don't have to justify the purchases to myself or anyone because I have a good-sized amount of money set aside for the Charger from working a 2nd job. Once the paint job is done and paid for and the Charger fund has been reduced to almost nothing it won't be as easy to spend big money on big parts. I just wrote one guy a check for more than $700 for a dash pad, an HP manifold and some other stuff and I didn't even notice it because it's only like 6% or 7% of what I have saved. The money's gone but so is the concern about where and when I'm going to get those particular parts and I won't be seeing a Visa bill. It will take me a month to have that cash repaid to my account and then I'll probably buy something else. I think the amount you have to "justify" spending totally depends on your financial situation and how much you can divert to your hobby without feeling it elsewhere.

[BigBlockSam]

you know what else, try to stick to one car at a time. thats hard enough but I'm doing 2 cars. the money seems to just disappear sometimes. Rene

[RTPTRON]

My wife and I made a deal way back.  I get a small percentage of my income to deposit in a Hobby Account.  The rule is if the money is in the account I can use it anyway I want for Hobbies without having to to ask for permission or begging forgiveness.  The problem is that the account goes dry from time to time.  Especially this year with the paint job.

[Lowprofile]

I've owned my Charger for over 12 years now, and I've only just started buying parts for it. Hopefully, the resto will start this Spring.

[TruckDriver]

I don't have to. Women tend to stay clear of us fat guys which makes me still single

[greenpigs]

I don't have to. Women tend to stay clear of us fat guys which makes me still single

She is out there, consider yourself lucky you haven't found her yet.

[TruckDriver]

I don't have to. Women tend to stay clear of us fat guys which makes me still single

She is out there, consider yourself lucky you haven't found her yet.

Good one! 

[Spartan]

wife thinks everything costs too much.  It is a constant battle.  Basically I take my expense checks from work to finance the small stuff.  She lets me do a big project a year.  I am sort of doing the resto backwards because I want to drive it while some stuff gets done.  I have learned to do a lot more myself to save $$ too.  I have 2 girls too so I am in an estregen rich environement.....The car is the only man project in the house, lol.

[GTX]

I have too many hobbies. I have a full arcade in the garage, a drive in - well sit in - in the back yard, I play with home automation and have two Mopars and we are considering another.  My problem is budgeting for everything in stages and being careful not to hit her with too many sudden expenses.
I'm always either buying 35mm films or car parts and she is usually pretty much behind me on all of them. Usually I buy films in the cold months for the following season and in the warm months I buy most of my car parts. I then use the films in the warm months and tend to do the most work on the cars in the cold months. (Gee, that's stupid!!)
The Charger is actually for her to drive so except 99% of my expenditures are fine with her.


She did get a little irritated when she realized that I had nearly 100 arcade games!
She made me sell off many.

[41husk]

My wife and I made a deal way back.   I get a small percentage of my income to deposit in a Hobby Account.   The rule is if the money is in the account I can use it anyway I want for Hobbies without having to to ask for permission or begging forgiveness.   The problem is that the account goes dry from time to time.   Especially this year with the paint job.

My wife and I also made a deal, I do what ever the hell I want, and she will not like it regaurdless of what it is.  Oh wait, she wasn't let in on that deal.

[andy74]

my wife gets a little upset on occasion,but she doesnt have any money management skills what so ever,which she finally realizes,so i keep tabs on our cash  flow.i set 25 bucks a week into a seperate account,sometimes more if I have it,that goes for charger stuff.the money for paint and body work i had saved before we met,so that was never much of an issue.the only big expense i should have left is interior,which she agrees i can spend out of our tax return.

or she can  take her shit and leave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RD]

It is better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission!     

AMEN!@!!!!@@!#!@#!#@#


I love that phrase

[Old Moparz]

I don't really justify it because it's something I've always done whether it's a hobby car or daily driver. Fortunately I'm in a postion financially where I can get things I need without going into serious debt. That didn't happen overnight though, & my wife isn't a control freak who embezzles my paycheck. The only thing I can't justify is the prices of certain things. I'd never spend sick money, like $3500 for a Cuda grille, when I only spent $500 more than that for the actual car. The repro grille that was $599 will be good enough, & still not 35 year old, dried up plastic that will crack if you stare at it too long. I'm still part of the era from when you can buy a running & driving car for a $150, use it for a few months, strip the stuff you need, sell the stuff you don't, & scrap the rest.

Any justification on spending for a high dollar item is thought through before I buy. I do consider the investment part of it, even though I'm not in the hobby as an investor. You'd have to be an idiot not to consider it, in case you ever found yourself in a position where you had to sell the car to buy food, pay rent or medical bills. About 12 years ago when my Scamp needed body & paint work, it was very minor compared to a lot of other cars. I found a shop that did beautiful work, but wanted $5000 to do the car. I couldn't justify that because a Scamp in mint condition back then, would never get more than $4000 if it was sold. I actually considered selling it or just driving it to it's grave.

One thing I've learned recently, like in the last 2 or 3 years, is that I have to justify a purchase based on the space I have for it. Or better yet, the lack of space.

[twilt]

My wife and i made a deal a couple years ago. She gets my paycheck, i get to keep any $$ from side jobs and selling parts. Despite this agreement, she still attempts to exert control and judgement over what i buy. She got real pissed when i spent $900 on an extra set of 72 Rallye doors that i didn`t really NEED.  i hadn`t said a word about it to her and had already gotten them picked up and stowed them away at home, but she happened to listen to my cell phone messages (doesnt normally do that) and heard the week old  one from greyhound stating that i had two packages that needed to be picked up in Atlanta.  To get her to shut up, i paid her brother $300 to put new tile down in our kitchen and laundry room. (she paid for the tile out of the household money) Our worst arguements result when she tries to act like she has a clue as to a used parts current market value. When i snag a great deal on something and tell her about it, she automatically ASSumes that i should re-sell the part for profit. example.... picked up (5) 15 inch Rallye wheels at a local junkyard for $55. Being estatic about the deal, i told her about it and told her that they would have set me back at least $300 plus shipping otherwise. 1 week later she asks why i haven`t put them on ebay yet?
bottom line, yes i do have to justify to some extent, usually in bribes.     i do try to hide most of my larger $$  purchases from her these days. next step..... have been thinking of having items that i get off of ebay sent to my job instead of my house. she gripes when i hide purchases
from her (trust issue), she gripes when i dont (foolish spending on things i dont really need) 
On the positive side, she has been fairly supportive when i get the urge to pick up a parts car to dismantle.