just setting up my new hobby since last january has run me 15000 dollars and the bad part is i spent some of it on junk equipment so i am slowly upgrading everything to the highest quality i learned that more money spent today will save you more tommorow ie: a skimmer for 100 dollars will soon be replaced by a 1300 dollar model so now it has cost you 1400 for a skimmer the sad part is i only have 5 pairs of pants and do my shopping in the frozen section of walmart so i can fund my hobby but who dosent like to have a living breathing ocean in their house:mrgreen:

Keri, you've got to look at the baby as a future investment. Babies become kids, and kids become great little tank maintenance workers who can do the water changes, algae scraping, etc. And kids become teens who can test and dose and watch your tank while your vacationing in Hawaii.

dont forget kids make great snowblowers and dishwashers too!:lol:

edited for drunken rambling reasons.

Ok, but now I'm curious!

Oh yes, he believes me. He knows that I know that all those parcels that come in the mail/Fedex are toys for his Harley. In fact, every time one comes in now, I say "ooooh, I see a trip to the LFS this weekend" - LOL

Sounds like competitive spending to me ;)

I look at it this way the guys from work go to the bar at least twice a week after work and I can tell you from experience they spend more then I do on my tank. And I just dropped 400+ on Zeo additives just to stock up.

Not really competitive - just plain fun :) When the kids were little our money went on shoes, clothes, snow pants, mittens, more shoes, more mittens, etc. Now that they are old enough to buy their own clothes (and they no longer outgrow them - LOL), we are spending it on ourselves :) Neither of us have been to a bar in many, many years (I don't drink at all, actually), so this is how we amuse ourselves. Once the grandchildren start coming along, we may spend our money on them ;)

I never thought much about spending on the aquarium until this year. We have had to cut back a bit on spending on not only the hobby but just in general. I took a $20,000 pay cut this year :neutral: because of the Canadian dollar reaching par with the US dollar (I get paid in USD and based on US economy).

We were just talking the other night though and think its been good...for one year :mrgreen: Even with a decent amount of my salary missing, we live very comfortably and buy all kind of luxury items which made us realize how much money we wasted the past few years...expensive dinners, nights out, trips, ridiculously expensive furniture, ect. Oh and the aquarium :)

We finally USE our kitchen!

I am trying to buy used stuff now and am not really adding anymore livestock to the tank.

The economy both helped and hindered us this year. The other half buys properties and will either flip them or rent them out. He's been doing this for the last 5 years, so it wasn't a "oh, the markets up let's do this". But when the market did go high, it was great. Houses that we bought for 350,000.00 we were now selling for nearly double sometimes more. We sold our house on the lake in Auburn Bay for 1.2 mil. We've owned the property that we currently call home for 4 years and will keep it as our main house..but we do normally travel in the winter to our house in Surprise, Arizona and usually head down to Mexico for a month or so. Its nice.

Having said that. We don't spend our money like it's going out of style. Keep in mind that even though we currently have 5 houses under our name here in Alberta, 2 of them are being renovated, one is ours and 2 of them have been rented by the same people for the last three years. So it's a steady cashflow, but we also are paying for the renos, paying our utilities etc. Same with the house in Arizona. When we are not there it is rented out ... although the realestate market in the US isn't the greatest, the rental market is. We bought the house (1800 sqft bungalow with pool in back yard) for 185,000 USD when the dollar was par and now rent it out for 950USD a month including utilities based on a 6 month contract.

Wow...Ramble

Bottom line...we live well, we spend wisely and we always are saving for a rainy day. Right now not many people are getting tattooed, so that extra cash isn't coming in, but we're alright

Rbacchiega-

My uncle flips homes down in LA and actually had one of his best years ever this year despite the economy and housing collapse. He does high end stuff though. I doubt he would love me sharing this info and I am not even suppose to know this but he made just under 3 mil this year flipping homes (my mom has a big mouth :D ).

I was lucky enough to have parents who paid for their kids mortgage down payments, so my monthly payments are very low. That helps out a lot. My parents figured they may as well spend some money on us while they are around to see us enjoy it rather than leave it all to us when they are gone.

Oh and I lived in Arizona for a year--Scottsdale. I miss it! Actually I miss Miami more (5 years) but I am happy to be in Canada right now!

The biggest flips we've done have actually been buildings and the like. A couple properties we've sold in Calgary have earned us over 2 mil this year alone, so it's nice.

I enjoy Scotsdale, love the art district there. Surprise is nice because it's close enough to Pheonix but not Pheonix...mind you it seems like it could be soon LOL. Miami is good for visiting I think. Same with LA. I've spent some time down there visiting tattoo buddies, but don't know if I could ever live there. Same goes for Detroit LOL.

Real Estate is a nice way for us to make money but it's neither of our passions really. Mine is tattooing/art obviously. The other half...likes his cars. In our quanset we've got a 2002 Vette convertable, 1992 Jag XJS v12 (last year they made it as far as I know), 66 Post Caddy, 56 Crown Vic with moon roof (his dream car)...and my summer baby, 51 Merc.

In the winter I've got my Jetta and he's got his truck

Hmmm, sounds like an idea for a new thread - who's in the market for one, who has 'em, who always wanted one? LOL

P.S. I have 2...

I find that the reason i spend money on fish stuff rather than other things, its because i only get so much money to spend on myself, and because this is my main hobby which i enjoy, i have the choose, between getting a tim hortons coffee x30 or a new fish that will last longer than all of those coffees. im only given so much money and want to save the rest so i have to pick a choose what i spend it on. but everyone in a while i will splurge and so will my wife.

I dont even think of how much we spent... maybe $5000, or more already. I block out the total or I would throw up in my mouth just a little bit. I try to get deals if possible when I can, but if we need something essential for the tank build we buy it right away. Things like UV or phosban reactors I waited for deals on. I have been lucky the last couple of weeks for some stuff from Canreefers. God bless these people and when I need to sell something I will pass on the savings on Canreefers as well.

I look at equipment as a life saving and enhancing items for my livestock. Without it, they would all die or not have the quality of life they deserve. Spending the money on livestock is the reward for spending money on unfun equipment. Without one you cannot have the other.

I need clothing, shoes and other items. However I know I can make due without them. When it comes to my pets, both the dogs and the aquatic life I keep, they come first. I chose to bring them here and they get first priority of anything after bills. There have been times I set bills aside to put my pets first. With renos on this house, it is a hard decision to put aside the renos for fish stuff. However we do it. I probably would never embarked on this journey if I really had a clue of the price. I always thought the tank was the big expense... who knew rock would cost so much money.

I`m sure when things are done (if it is ever done), I will be much more frugal with funds. I am just so glad I don`t have children.

My2rotties, we should be best friends because every word you said above is exactly what I thought but just can not express clearly like you.

Well thank you so much. How can you tell I am broke, since I am at home with my hubby, and furry & aquatic pets for New Years eve.:lol: Why spend money on booze when I have three Canreefers to meet in the next couple days. I find buying livestock and equipment from Canreefers to be the most exciting since the knowledge they pass on is priceless.

Happy new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR My2rotties !

Money well saved...

Our New years cost like $400 (most of which my make up artist fiance made yesterday making people pretty but still :neutral: ) and I feel like crap today. I could have spent that at J&L this weekend instead and enjoyed a few fish for the next several new years!

I always regret spending so much on New Years and then seem to do it again the next year. So dumb.

I live out in the sticks now. I moved here a year ago. To haul myself out to the city for anything it had better be work, or fish related. Plus, I cannot even imagine how much a cab ride would cost to get out here from the city. The only time I have a bender these days is if my tank is crashing like my 55g did a month ago... I don't care to say how much rum I drank... it was bountiful.:wink:

mmmm rum. And Jack, and sour puss, and tequilla....

No wonder I didn't wake up until noon..and then wasted the day on the couch LOL

Yeah last night was all about Patron Tequila...which is why the cost added up fast :neutral:

Its great stuff but man the bottles are overpriced.

That's not the stuff you drink with salt and lemon.:wink: