Views on money (fish/tank purchases vs other purchases)
 

With it being Christmas and all, I've been looking through fliers and thinking about how I view money. For example: I'd like a Wii but I wont pay $260 for one, I would also like a treadmill but I wont pay $400+ for one either.

However I just spent $1100 on a skimmer and didn't have any issues with paying that whatsoever, also I plan on buying a Tunze stream pump at about $400+ one, and again I have no problem spending that much money on an item I want for my tank.

Funny how that works eh? Anyone else notice this?

I spent $2800 on a treadmill I barely use and over $3000 on an empty 400 gallon in-wall I tore down when my wife wanted to move. That's something entirely different than what you're talking about but we can all use a good laugh =)

I have no issues in general spending on my aquariums and fish, but I tend to not spend any money on other things without alot of thought put in. When I spent 300 bucks on my TV it took me over a week to finally decide to buy it, yet I spent over 500 on impulse at a fish store when I decided I needed a new 40 gallon.

Bwahah I totally hear you on that. I spent $500+ on my aquatronica but didn't want to spend that much on a wedding dress. My sister-in-law-to-be was horrified that I wasn't immediately slapping my credit card down on THE dress (which was $800) yet I would spend big bucks on my fish tank.

I wouldn't spend $1100 on a skimmer (never say never :wink:), hell I wasn't even going to spend $450 on a chiller but I sucked it up on that one when my tank hit 92 one summer. Over the last few years my thoughts on the tank and the amount I spend on it certainly have changed. I like to think its my little piece of financial insanity that keeps me sane and sometimes drives me insane. That makes no sense, yet it does :razz:

I do this all the time. I won't buy home accesories. You know, prints for the wall, that nice vase with the bamboo, etc. Too much money. what?? !00 bucks for a picture of something? No way. but that pretty fish....hmm, only 100 you say?
I spent 3500 on one of my bikes. But try and catch me spending more than 50 on jeans!
It's funny what some things are worth to each individual....

Makes perfect sense to me. I needed a bigger skimmer to run my whole system which will be about 500g once everything is plumbed together. The one I bought should do the trick, it's rated for 700g. I actually went with the $1100 one instead of the $1600, the more expensive one might not of fit in the space I need it to go into, so the cheaper one won out.

So true, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Purchases made on our aquarium I justify as not spent on me but them (the inhabitants) ;)


And with that, I can rationalize anything...even going from an 8g to a 65g then a 120g...in just over a year lol

This is the exact reason why I'm having big doubts about setting another big tank to replace my 300g. I'm looking to cut back and spend my money elsewhere BUT....... then again another tank would be really nice........

people are interesting about their money, so much thought for materialistic items, yet when it comes to quality of life and retirement, not to many put the time or effort in.

I go shopping at Superstore or T&T for human food & usually spend $30-40. Pop in at an LFS & drop over a $100 if they just got in a nice shipment.

I spend at least $200 per month on my tanks, yet I spend at most $150 a year on clothing & that's only if what I normally wear is completely wearing out.

If a used tank system comes up for sale at a good price, I can easily justify dropping several hundred immediately, yet I spent about 8 months hemming & hawing before I finally upgraded my television set.

Seems like most of us are all in the same boat as far as our spending habits are concerned. Woohooo, Boxing Day sales coming up:biggrin:

Anthony

I think its because its something we are passionate about, and other things are just passing fancies. This hobby has me obsessed like nothing else I do.

I just spend for the fish.... and not actually for myself. Regards Ken

My car needs new headlight covers because my old ones are so discolored and yellowed I can hardly see when I drive at night. It would cost $400+ because I have to buy the whole damn units. Needless to say I wont spend the money.

On an unrelated note I just spent $900 last month for my new bluewave ballast and lumenmax pendants... :wink:

I try to look at the cost as an investment over time, I think if you break it down far enough over the 18 years I've been doing this it's only $0.16 an hour. Thats pretty cheap for a hobby these days right?

I suddenly feel really cheap....

I am starting to have a hard time spending a lot on my tank. I never spend on my tank though until all the bills are paid, and I've put my savings away. Although now its harder to spend the extra money I have. Its like the longer I've been in the hobby the cheaper I get. Last year I picked up the RKE without a thought, and this year, I would definitely think it over for a week or two.

Spend it... spend it all! You only live once.

That's seems to be my philisophy as of late. I used to be pretty tight with my smaller tanks, but I swore to myself I wasn't cheaping out on the big tank. The only problem is I have more then one expensive hobbie!

Actually I'm sort of with Michika on this. There was a time I wouldn't have batted an eye at some of things you can buy, now I measure every decision carefully. I still make mistake purchases too (the last $200 of SPS for example ... nicely converted into a collection of calcium reactor media now). And some of the costs of things nowadays compared to 5 years ago. Holy crap. There was a time that $800 gave you a high end skimmer to end all skimmer purchases. Not so anymore. With a family now my household net income is the same as what it's been for the last 8 years but now it's stretched out over 2 adults, 2 kids and the cost of everything during this time has not similarly stayed the same. I find the situation just brutal. Maybe if I didn't have kids I'd feel differently but personally I'm finding myself more and more shut out of the hobby as time goes on.

I'm a cheap bastard 90% of the time. Then I'll go and spend $2K in one week on camera equipment. Oops!

I can also spend some good money on this hobby, though I ALWAYS think long and hard before I do. What I cannot ever conceive buying is a fish over $200 (Black Tang, Gem Tang, Crosshatch Trigger, etc.), and spending $2K on a Clarion Angelfish is mind-bogglingly insane.

But you take some damned fine pictures :mrgreen:

Its one thing to spend money in this hobby and know how to use it and its another to have a tank of hair algae :razz:

Yeah, although I still spend a lot on this addiction, I don't buy unless its a good deal & I try to recycle the funds by selling/trading equipment, tanks, frags, etc. With a new baby this year and Irene without Mat. leave since she's considered "self-employed", mortgage & such, paying more bills than ever.

Trust me if I had kids I probably couldn't afford this hobby, at least not to the degree I spend on it now!

you are so right.

just a few weeks ago when i was making a big order from J&L i was like "i could buy an ipod touch, or spend that money on a part of my system" ofcourse i bought the fish stuff :p

i sorta have a plan for getting into fragging once my tanks are up.
You buy high-end beautiful frags and then they multiply so over time they pay for themselves.

e.g. 100$ 3 polyp zoanthus frag. 1 year later, your looking at bout 20 polyps (depending on the zoa). by then prices would have gone down to about 20$ a polyp. take 15 polyps, sell them, thats 300 dollars.minus maintenance and the original investment, you still made atleast 100 bucks.

its deffinatly hard to do on an allowance though:lol:

How bad is it that one of my major holdups on not having a baby yet is that I won't be able to also afford my SW hobby?

Kids help keep you in check, I have two kids and still manage 300 gallons, can't imagine how big I would have gone if the extra cash was there :wink:

Downsize the tank and upsize the family!

I can run my little nano for pennies and I probably get just as much enjoyment as the big reefers. I still fiddle and poke and make everything just right, I still shop around for livestock and add to my collections etc. It's the same hobby other than I am limited to the fish I can keep, but who isn't?
Keith

I haven't spent that much on my tank seeing it's only a 10 gallon and I don't want to go bigger until I have a more permanent place but my problem is that I try to have it all. Most people have their tank, or their cloths, or their car, but I try to have the tank and the nice jeans and the paintings on the wall and the turbo kit and the big tv

Hmmmmmmmmm. lets see with me, Since I have been back from Afghanistan,
new lighting 1400
Corals 300
Cal Reactor 400
Bubble king 1300
Frags 300
:lol:


and I have not got the misses her gift yet.. and Im looking at a 6100 transformer for my tunze and a multicontroller I can't speak.;

You'd better get out shopping for her and by the look of your list it looks like she deserves a big one.

Hey no one asked you, dont u have a tank to finish off:mrgreen:

The Misses doesn't want a 6100 transformer for X-mas? Weird..

well that is what i was hoping for i guess i will get her the front load washer and dryer.

asmodeus, why dont you just set up a pico in her favorite spot of the house?
like, she can enjoy the ocean, and you get another tank :lol:

I dont have any trouble spending money on my fish. But, dam my wife sure does!

There is a loop hole around this, which I have prepared for. My wife is self employed, and when we decide to have kids she will receive EI.

Trick to this is to own a company in your name, her contractors pay my company and I am the only shareholder. I pay her a salary, deduct taxes, EI premiums. This must be done for at least 6 months for her to go on EI leave.


Tada!

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

The hobby is a serious addiction, and it took me about ten years to figure out it wasn't much different than going to the casino.....:lol:

I know I spent upwards of $20k.

Never quite thought of it that way, but now that you mention it.... I'm sure I'm over the $20k mark as well. Just setting up our new 230g has cost us $3500.00 so far and we still need to buy a tunze stream and multi controller! That's just money we spent on the equipment, and LR, never mind the cost of the fish and corals that will be going into it! That is if it ever cycles :twised:

No, the difference is that reefing isn't addictive.... er...
No, the difference is that reefing isn't as ruinously expensive... er...
No, the difference is that it doesn't eat up all your time... er...
No, the difference is that ... um... the difference is... um... the diff.. hmmm.

More seriously, I make a point of never trying to figure out how much it all costs.

I can't bring myself to spend money on new clothes (I love Value Village!), but dropped $250 at the LFS today just picking up supplies (o.k., and LR for a 6th tank, which I dragged in outta the garage - LOL).

My hubby bought a Harley 2 years ago, and we're having fun spending money on our 'toys' now that our children are grown (our youngest turned 18 this summer). After setting up the 6th tank today, I told him I was now up to about a quarter of the Harley cost, and still had a ways to go :)

And he believed you??

Maybe I should try that :lol: