https://www.miataturbo.net/showthrea...ghlight=salary

I was reading this old thread and feeling pretty good on how I have managed to stay on track on staying debt free. I do feel like i am getting less bang for my buck as the economy has taken a downturn since then combined that with the fact that I (and many others) have not gotten a raise in several years while the price of commodities continues to increase. Plus I have been spending money on my masters for the last several years and do not see a big return on the investment coming as being a teacher I will be lucky to make even $1000k extra with that.


I am getting married in a few months so how my funds are to be distributed will change, thankfully my fiance is on board with saving, spending as needed, and living below her means, unlike my previous GF (who seemed to be following her parents poor choices).

How do you guys find the time to budget "racing" into your plans. The older I get, the more frugal I get, thus the more trouble I have committing to turboing this car or other future cars (unlike my previous cars/miata). I know "upgrading" a car is money losing investment but how do you keep your passion for speed balanced with saving for the future/family/etc.

Just pondering what others do.

 

I think of tracking my car etc. as a hobby that I dump money into. Money I enjoy. Money I expect not to ever get back. I think it helps that I don't really have any other hobbies that cost a lot of money. It's not very hard for me to justify fun.

I save what I can just to keep a safety cushion if I ever lose my job/other unexpected situations/emergencies. I have enough money to build a full on track beast, but I won't because I have self control and a small sense of responsibility.

 

I drive a car everyday which is nearly free to own, I don't have a dumb mortgage for a house I can't afford, I eat cheap ethnic food because I prefer it over most fancy restaurants. Most people I know spend $500-900 per month on a car with insurance, I spend $43/month to drive and insure my daily.

 

My miata is a toy. Money spent on it is viewed in the same light as money spent on beer, or shooting skeet, or skiing, or vacations - there is no material return on investment. The experiences and the memories are what you are paying for.

That being said, my sum total spent on this car, including my track days to date, is less than the purchase price of the car new. The insurance is low (being married helps here like you wouldn't believe) and the consumables (brake stuff, tires, etc) are inexpensive compared to virtually any other commonly tracked car.

So budget what you can, and don't suffer angst over it. Save over time and buy your parts with cash. Incur no debt for your toy.

 

I live at home, go to school, and work full time.

Living at home means I can build a small cusion while playing with cars, horses, tractors, and diesels.

 

When I built my lightweight Miata, budget was a primary goal. I wanted the car as fast/light as I could without braking the bank. I never put her on the track (too expensive as far as I was concerned - might as well start snorting coke instead) but I did some autox and drag racing. I think one of the major things you have to consider (speaking only of building the car here, not of track expenses) is getting a good deal up front so you don't have a lot of money into it. I spent around $10K on the lightweight car and sold it for $5K. Much better than spending $25K and selling for $5K.

 

This is more of the response I was looking for. I was looking at my post tax, post retirment saving, post insurance fee's, post everthing and I felt bit poorer that I though I was when I get my check. I'm just bummed because I'm feeling like I can not graduate from autox to that next level (track racing) if I want to stay within my comforte budget level. And now that my car's been in an accident (not at fault and repaired really well) i'm sure there is no resale value it in. But most of the used cars I like/want are not in the budget anyway.

I mean I look at how much I spent on turboing my first car, and think of how much it would cost in just parts to do this car right way.

 

Keep your car, buy brake pads, go to the track. The increased cost of fuel is really killing me considering I'm spending about $450-550/month on fuel driving from DFW to Houston to see my GF in addition to my daily commute. Telework two days per week helps with that, it's ~85m less to drive per week. .

 

I personally wish I had never been introduced to project cars, handling events and motorsports in general. I consider it only slightly worse than coke and -----s.


I would see if you can find something in between a "proper" road course and an autocross. In central Florida, we have the Gainesville test course which is a nice in-between: no walls and extremely limited ways to wreck your car, faster than an autocross with multiple laps per session, no cones to fetch, Vmax roughly equivalent to the car's 1320 trap speed, etc.