Nearholmer Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Moving away from the evasive / joke replies I gave earlier, and thinking about this slightly seriously: I've been "into" various branches of the hobby from "toy train set on the floor" age onwards, always with at least one project on the go, sometimes two or more in parallel, and spending has been a function of three things: - how much discretionary spending I could afford, which has gone up, down (to zero sometimes), and sideways, at various stages of life, for the usual reasons: housing, age of children, changes of job etc. - how much free time I've had, which again has pinged around a lot, with bursts of education, the demands of work, and age of children being big influences. Looking back, it's sometimes when I've had least free time that I've spent more money, simply because there has been no time to build from scratch or kits. - where I am in any given project. The "start up cost" when changing scales or area of interest can be pretty large, and I could have saved myself a good deal over the years if I had arrived at a theme when I was, say, fifteen, and stuck with it ever since, instead of going sequentially 009, American H0, 7mm narrow gauge, 16mm garden railway, Retro-0, incurring "restart costs" at each change. The way this has all panned out in spending terms has been that some years I've spent very little (the scratch building years) and some years where it would be best not to enquire too closely (buying track in the larger scales is a wallet-killer). K Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Clive Mortimore Posted June 9, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 9, 2016 I spend as much as I do, no more or no less. Other words ain't got a (please insert your own non RMweb word) clue and I don't want to know. What price is there on enjoyment? Once the bills have been paid and the taxman has had his cut the rest is mine, so off to John Dutfield's Model Railways to see what Heather has to sell me. She says she doesn't sell me anything, it is me who buys things. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted June 9, 2016 Share Posted June 9, 2016 Do we include the side hobby (beer) in our calcs? Well, it is an alternative method of p***ing money away, but you won't have much to show for it (except maybe a belly). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dava Posted June 9, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 9, 2016 How much spending is driven by the pre-batch production ordering and 'buy when its there/won't be around long' marketing models? I do think this gets people to spend more than they otherwise would on stuff they may not actually want that much. Then there's buying kits you think you will build one day.... Dava Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I was planning to buy a set of the forthcoming ex-SECR Birdcage coaches but Hornby's rebuilt LSWR coaches will be more in line with my interests and have displaced them from my shopping list. John Come on........you know that your going to buy both........... Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted June 10, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 10, 2016 Come on........you know that your going to buy both........... Stephen I've actually cancelled my pre-order. Along with the Kernow Models Gate set, the Hornby coaches more or less complete my required fleet of passenger stock (apart from an 'Ironclad' p/p set and some Maunsell and/or Bulleid catering vehicles). The Birdcage stock (so far as I can make out) never penetrated into the West Country so I would have to invoke Rule One anyway ( though the emergence of dated photographs indicating otherwise would change my stance). I had, similarly, intended to buy a Bachmann C to use as a plausible substitute for a Black Motor - but then Hornby announced the real thing. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Before everyone one gets too defensive about their spending it's worth considering a couple of things I just looked at randomly. A Golf Club Memebership of around £650 per annum, plus the costs of getting there, G&T's clothing and equipment. A football season ticket between £500 and £2000, plus the costs of getting there, parking, pies, Sky Sports,and shoddy replica kit' It's a hobby, and as long as it's giving pleasure, and not taking bread out of the rest of the families' mouths, there's nothing wrong with that. Most sensibly cut their cloth according to their means, I have a mate who tends to buy Masterpeice Models loco's at around £3k a pop, or live steam R/C 16mm NG, while I will go for Dapol Terriers and scratchbuilding, but generally there's no elitism in the hobby, people are judged on finished results and skill. There's still some value left in your assets, which is more than with many hobbies. Just add up how much you spend on food or cars it will put it into perspective. Peter (Spending way too much - but remembering there aren't that many years left!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 A football season ticket between £500 and £2000, plus the costs of getting there, parking, pies, Sky Sports,and shoddy replica kit' Indeed. A learned friend sent me this last night: Club Cheapest Most expensive Arsenal £1,014.00 £2,013.00 Aston Villa £335.00 £615.00 Bournemouth £550.00 £760.00 Chelsea £750.00 £1,250.00 C Palace £420.00 £680.00 Everton £444.00 £719.00 Leicester £365.00 £730.00 Liverpool £710.00 £869.00 Man City £299.00 £900.00 Man Utd £532.00 £950.00 Newcastle £475.00 £710.00 Norwich £499.50 £646.00 Southampton £541.00 £853.00 Stoke City £294.00 £609.00 Sunderland £370.00 £525.00 Swansea*-- Tottenham £765.00 £1,895.00 Watford £385.00 £650.00 West Brom £399.00 £509.00 West Ham £617.50 £955.00 Source: BBC Price of Football survey *Swansea declined to take part in the BBC's survey He also sent me some local golf club membership fees; maybe he's telling me I should change hobbies? Although my pre-survey guesswork wasn't too far out I'm surprised how many people site in the centre groups around the average. I would have expected a few more having, or wanting, to be constrained at the budget end. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Quite a lot in recent years, but the invoice from EDM for converting the two MMI locos to DCC (when it arrives) will pretty much be the end if it until my long-deferred semi-retirement; and even then, I've probably now got all the stock I will ever want. Or to put it in a different light, I'm sure most of my stock could be disposed of by me, or my executors for a fair proportion of what I paid for it, so the whole-life spend would be much less than the purchase cost. Some years ago I paid £800 for a banjo, enjoyed it quite a lot, and eventually sold it for the original price. I'm sure I could recover my outlay on the present ones, and I KNOW I could recover my outlay on my bikes, other than upkeep over the years. I've got a set of racing leathers made for me in the 1970s, retailored in the 90s when I was vintage racing, and I suppose I'll eventually sell them (or my sons will) for a moderate sum.. not bad for what amounts to a lifetime investment. "How much" isn't the half of it; "what do you spend it on" is at least as important Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fender Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Interesting that most people say they spent more than last year and yet confidently predict they will spend less next year! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium HillsideDepot Posted June 10, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 10, 2016 Interesting that most people say they spent more than last year and yet confidently predict they will spend less next year! Which is very worrying if you're a manufacturer or retailer. Except, they probably know how to get the money out of us much better than we know how to keep it in our pocket! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted June 10, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 10, 2016 Interesting that most people say they spent more than last year and yet confidently predict they will spend less next year! I think the discrepancy is largely down to the timing of releases. Hornby have released a number of locos on my long-awaited wishlist over the past 12 months. However, I based my original estimates for total 2016 expenditure (this calendar year) and that I anticipate for 2017 on my own educated guesses as to delivery dates. Any widespread divergence from what I consider likely could easily throw the figures out by getting on for 50%. Hornby's deferral of several 2016 releases into 2017 has significantly changed my expectations already. With 2016 only half gone it seems more sensible to base my figures on June-May rather than January-December and the result came out different (depressing "this year" and inflating "next year"), so I amended my vote. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Technically my spend is negative as the asset appreciation of the investment in a place to put the model railway far exceeds the cash that goes across the counter for the models and layout building bits and bobs. So that's alright then. "Dearest, my hobby is in profit". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Before everyone one gets too defensive about their spending it's worth considering a couple of things I just looked at randomly. A Golf Club Memebership of around £650 per annum, plus the costs of getting there, G&T's clothing and equipment. A football season ticket between £500 and £2000, plus the costs of getting there, parking, pies, Sky Sports,and shoddy replica kit' It's a hobby, and as long as it's giving pleasure, and not taking bread out of the rest of the families' mouths, there's nothing wrong with that. ... I'm not even going to try to calculate 28 years' (and counting) expenditure on horses.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Which is very worrying if you're a manufacturer or retailer. Except, they probably know how to get the money out of us much better than we know how to keep it in our pocket! Why is that a problem? If "this year" is always the highest of the three, and you are always trading in the current year, you are ahead of the game! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted June 10, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 10, 2016 Before everyone one gets too defensive about their spending it's worth considering a couple of things I just looked at randomly. Peter Why is there any need to get defensive? I can't see one at all because my hobby spending is my money which would otherwise be frittered on days out and meals out or sit in the bank earning next to no interest. By spending it on my hobby I am contributing to providing income for a couple of small businesses (my 'local' modelshops), helping to keep manufacturers large and small in business by providing them with a contribution to their revenue stream, encouraging publishers to continue providing good quality books on various railway related subjects, helping to swell attendance numbers at exhibitions, helping to increase sales and catering revenue at exhibitions, and possibly even contributing a tiny amount of my BRM subscription to helping to keep RMweb going. Therefore my hobby spending (somewhere in that middle 'bulge' of the survey) is performing a business and social service as well as occupying my time and keeping my mind active (reportedly a health benefit for us older folk). And like many other people my spending will vary year-on-year depending on what is available to buy and what I chose to buy - taking the year which ended on the date of the survey appearing I happened to have spent £300 on Hornby products, that is unlikely in the coming year as those products have now been acquired. I also spent c.£100 on wheels, motor, gears and a chassis kit for another loco - again that won't repeat in the coming year (I expect). So costs can easily vary from year to year but also what I plan for the coming 12 months might well be different from the reduction in spending I anticipate, only the progress of the year will tell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JohnR Posted June 10, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 10, 2016 I see someone has voted for the "More than £10,000" option. I doff my cap! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45568 Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 I see someone has voted for the "More than £10,000" option. I doff my cap! Didn't realise Mr. Waterman was a member here? Cheers from Oz, Peter C. ( in the middle bracket and falling!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Moore Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Far to much. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Far to much. That reminds me: what actually is the distance between "far" and "much"? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Waterman......... Thousands?? come on!!......methinks more like millions...... Stephen. That reminds me: what actually is the distance between "far" and "much"? Real life and the Bailiffs? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 If I likes it, or fancies building it.....I buys it. I once said to Mrs BR, well I don't smoke, drink or gamble, she replies to the effect that if I didn't spend money on trains I could afford to do all 3 lol. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
caradoc Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Re the comparison with Golf club fees, at the nearest club to me the annual fee is £775 ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Far vs too much? A friend who is into collecting pre-war trains always uses the phrase "penury and the workhouse" to describe the state which one might teeter close-to when collecting, but must always carefully avoid. K Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium newbryford Posted June 10, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 10, 2016 I see someone has voted for the "More than £10,000" option. I doff my cap! They must have bought the Hornby/Drax hoppers............. Cheers, Mick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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