We've been talking with our financial advisor about my impending retirement (which may, or may not happen, on Memorial Day now, but that's a different story), and we're setting up a budget/plan for some big ticket and/or recurring items in the future. For example:
* Summer of 2025: Insulate and build-out the shed/shop, $25k
* Winter of 2025/2026: Remodel master bath, $50k
* Summer of 2026: Replace siding and windows....(etc, etc)
One of our budget items is titled "Jim's Annual "Toy Car" Allowance", and we're budgeting $20k/year for engines, tools, paint & body, new cars, etc. I underlined the last one because my wife asked me some particulars about it ("You're not going to be buying a new engine every year, are you?"), so here's the idea with this one, once I get the new shop set-up:
* I've only purchased one new car in my life up here in MN, as not only are new vehicles outraegously expensive, in my opinion, but I don't like to think about the Depreciation that occurs the second you drive one off the lot.
* Used vehicles up here rust out within a year or two. (Exaggeration? Sure, but you get the idea.)
* All of my other vehicles have been used and/or "previously owned", and they have come from "elsewhere" (Oklahoma, California, Nebraska, Oregon, and Georgia, to name a few).
* I like to drive. Not fly, but drive, as in Road Trips.
* I've got a pretty good handle on some vehicle's worth, and I've never gotten screwed (knock on wood), but I'm not an expert by any means.
* I've flipped a couple vehicles in the past, but only because on both occasions someone gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. (Insert scene from The Godfather here!)
* Used, older vehicles (50-60 year old A-Bodies?) can be worth a heckuva lot more here than they are in, say, California or Texas...
So this $25k/year budget line item is for me to just "play" with cars: Find a used one out in, say, New Mexcio, or Washington, and bring it back here, do a spit and polish on it, and then either drive it for a while, or flip it. I'm not looking to make a living at this, nor do I want to do it so often that I have get a Dealers license (I've been looking into this as well). I just want to keep busy on my time, see the world, meet some interesting people, drive some back roads, and maybe make a buck or two on the side (for beer or bait money).
What say y'all?
Jim
* Summer of 2025: Insulate and build-out the shed/shop, $25k
* Winter of 2025/2026: Remodel master bath, $50k
* Summer of 2026: Replace siding and windows....(etc, etc)
One of our budget items is titled "Jim's Annual "Toy Car" Allowance", and we're budgeting $20k/year for engines, tools, paint & body, new cars, etc. I underlined the last one because my wife asked me some particulars about it ("You're not going to be buying a new engine every year, are you?"), so here's the idea with this one, once I get the new shop set-up:
* I've only purchased one new car in my life up here in MN, as not only are new vehicles outraegously expensive, in my opinion, but I don't like to think about the Depreciation that occurs the second you drive one off the lot.
* Used vehicles up here rust out within a year or two. (Exaggeration? Sure, but you get the idea.)
* All of my other vehicles have been used and/or "previously owned", and they have come from "elsewhere" (Oklahoma, California, Nebraska, Oregon, and Georgia, to name a few).
* I like to drive. Not fly, but drive, as in Road Trips.
* I've got a pretty good handle on some vehicle's worth, and I've never gotten screwed (knock on wood), but I'm not an expert by any means.
* I've flipped a couple vehicles in the past, but only because on both occasions someone gave me an offer I couldn't refuse. (Insert scene from The Godfather here!)
* Used, older vehicles (50-60 year old A-Bodies?) can be worth a heckuva lot more here than they are in, say, California or Texas...
So this $25k/year budget line item is for me to just "play" with cars: Find a used one out in, say, New Mexcio, or Washington, and bring it back here, do a spit and polish on it, and then either drive it for a while, or flip it. I'm not looking to make a living at this, nor do I want to do it so often that I have get a Dealers license (I've been looking into this as well). I just want to keep busy on my time, see the world, meet some interesting people, drive some back roads, and maybe make a buck or two on the side (for beer or bait money).
What say y'all?
Jim
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I met with him today to get an update since the election. All that is going great....and he asked me if I was doing ok with the amount of income they send us every month. I told him I had a new side gig that pays cash, and was doing great. He asked what I was doing. I told him (with a straight face) that when I see a 5 gallon plastic bucket or an empty plastic gas jug that has blown out of somebodies truck laying beside the interstate, I stop and pick them up to sell at the flea market. Told him I got $1 each for buckets and $5 or more out of gas jugs. He sat there for a few seconds, thinking about how many of those things one sees on the side of the interstates because some ding dong didn't tie them in, and wondering if it would really be profitable. I couldn't take it any longer and started laughing! I kinda dread seeing the fake financial report he makes up for me next time because I pulled that on him!
