What Else Do You Spend Money on?

[czgunner]

Ham radio, reloading, Jeep.

[Kerbie]

Sports and music, but not necessarily in that order.

Originally Posted by AmericanEagle

Mortgage payments, bills, food, gas for car, heating oil for house.
Car repairs, home repairs, etc. Medical bills.

Where do you all get this disposable income??

My wife and I worked hard in school, worked hard on our careers, worked hard on our marriage and made some smart but not easy choices financially together so now we have some expendable income.

[Acousticado]

Mainly house projects, various sports/gear/apparel, snowbirding.

[Jeff Scott]

A variety of things, but these days, mostly stuff related to the Arts & Crafts era; books, magazines, lighting, furniture, pottery, etc.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by AmericanEagle

Mortgage payments, bills, food, gas for car, heating...for house....Car repairs, home repairs, etc. Medical bills.

Where do you all get this disposable income??

Pretty much the same routine, but fortunately my wife and I had two good jobs with decent pensions and as-yet untapped TDA's that allow us some wiggle room - nothing extravagant, but we were able to handle a three-day getaway to Lancaster County (PA) when things opened up a bit last year; hoping to make the NHRA Carolina Nationals @ zMax in September, with a couple of shopping stops along the way - also looking for new retirement quarters in location TBD, for reasons probably well-known to most...

[InsertNameHere]

I used to spend money on firearms but I hit the brakes once ammo went extinct. Nowadays I just run a few rounds occasionally and if I run out, I'll chuck these bad boys like tomahawks and ninja stars.

I really need to find a hobby that isn't so stupidly expensive. I got a few books I should start on, at least those aren't generally expensive.

[Cypress Knee]

I do not have a refined taste palate, but for some reason during the past year I decided to investigate single malt Scotch whisky. This is from a guy who can't tell Coke from Pepsi, Cabernet from Merlot and so forth.

There are over a hundred Scotch distilleries and I didn't go through all of them - or that many. I did figure out that while I may not be able to identify various brands from the Highlands and Speyside areas, and I couldn't specifically identify the island brands, I could definitely tell the difference between a Group A Island (Laphroig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Kilchoman) and a Group B Highland/Spey (Glenmorangie, Glenfiddich, GlenLivet, Macallan).

Robert Louis Stevens once wrote a poem in which he named Talisker,Isla, or Glenlivet as the king of drinks. Glenlivet happens to rhyme with "conceive it" in the poem, but one from Group A, one from Group B, and one from my Group C (Talisker, Bowmore, Highland Park) should pretty much cover the basic taste spectrum.

But what do I know?

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Cypress Knee

I do not have a refined taste palate, but for some reason during the past year I decided to investigate single malt Scotch whisky...while I may not be able to identify various brands from the Highlands and Speyside areas, and I couldn't specifically identify the island brands, I could definitely tell the difference between a Group A Island (Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, Kilchoman) and a Group B Highland/Spey (Glenmorangie, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, Macallan).

...one from Group A, one from Group B, and one from my Group C (Talisker, Bowmore, Highland Park) should pretty much cover the basic taste spectrum.

But what do I know?

More than you think - IMO you've got a pretty good starter collection as is. While I don't have a sommelier's palate I do "get it" when it comes to regional/distillery distinctives, and over the last 25 years I've preferred to organize my acquisitions by region - Highland, Speyside (which really is its own subgenre), Island/Coastal, and Islay (again, its own subgenre) - and keep a few representative samples of each on hand (I'm not a fan of Lowland malts), with varying textures/vintages to suit my mood of the moment...

[RRuskin]

Microphones. Ribbons, dynamics, solid state & tube condensers. I'm particularly fond of old Sonys & Sennheiser MKH's.

[rllink]

I don't spend that much money on guitars and music really. I mean, not as much as a lot of people do. I spend money on metal detecting, shooting, woodworking. But my biggest expense is travel and experiencing new things. Non tangible things. I guess we spend a lot of money on vehicles to road trip so that's tangible. I'm feeling that this morning as I write this because I bought a new one yesterday.

[KevWind]

Other money of any consequence
Owning horses ( a biggy)

Then things like
Motorcycle riding with my wife




Home recording gear



Fly fishing in various locations around the world

Kamchatka



Alaska




Yucatan



Bahamas



Scuba Diving/underwater photography in the tropics

[Street Glider]

Originally Posted by rllink

But my biggest expense is travel and experiencing new things.

A while back I read an article which explained why you should spend your money on experiences and not things. It never suggested that you couldn't have a nice watch or a fancy car, but rather hit on why it was important to find a balance between the tangible and non-tangible.

After reading that my brother and I took our Mom to Ireland in 2018. I went to Italy in April of 2019, and took my daughter to Scotland that following May. Next week I'm leaving on a six week road trip from Florida to Boston to Seattle to Portland and back to Boston, camera in tow.

I've seen a lot of this country, but I've also not seen a lot of this country.

I think it's time to do that...

[joe white]

It has been about ten years since I bought a guitar but I have been hankering for somethin new/different to try and "reboot" my interest, maybe a T5?

For many years, the thing I spent more money on than guitars was recording gear. Man, talk about a rabbit hole. Toward the end of all that I was mostly buying mics.

As far as spending goes now, I'd say that tools are the focus. I guess I am a tool junkie, been buying woodworking and guitar building tools and supplies for the last ten years with plans to create a comfortable and functional shop. Of all my tools though, this recent addition was the largest investment, especially when you start adding implements and accessories to put it to work. Gives me a big grin every time I fire it up. Here it is in summer and winter dress.

[LeDave]

Originally Posted by InsertNameHere

I used to spend money on firearms but I hit the brakes once ammo went extinct. Nowadays I just run a few rounds occasionally and if I run out, I'll chuck these bad boys like tomahawks and ninja stars.

I really need to find a hobby that isn't so stupidly expensive. I got a few books I should start on, at least those aren't generally expensive.

Wow! Beautiful.