Why is it that I get ticked off that I just had to spend $300 and 3 hours of my life buying and installing new KYBs in the Saab, but I won't even think twice about spending $2K on double adjustable shocks for the TR8. I'd drop $2K for a couple of sets of purple crack faster than I'd drop $500 for a decent set of tires on the daily driver. What does that say about me and the rest of the like minded people on this forum? Money that is spent to go fast almost doesn't even count. Money spent to keep a DD up and running is a major life expense.
You should hear my kids (and wife) when I try to justify generic cereal as a cost saving measure when I've got nine cars in the driveway.
No one ever said addictions were logical 
mazdeuce - Seth said:
You should hear my kids (and wife) when I try to justify generic cereal as a cost saving measure when I've got nine cars in the driveway.
I've broken it down to the wife that we need to stop spending money on stuff so I can spend it on my car. It hasn't worked so far.
The kids get malt o meal cereal and I don’t feel bad about it. Nothing wrong with some honey nut scooters. If i had an r63 and porsche they’d still be getting them.
it always feels bad spending money on the daily because it’s a need and not a want. Fulfilling needs is annoying, like buying $800 in tires for your work truck when that money can build 40% of a challenge car. Then you curse the automakers for not using 235/75r15 on trucks anymore because those are $40 each.
Some of this comes from living in a Lake/Island/Summer/Vacation sort of area....
I have contended for years that there are 2 kinds of money
- Vacation Money
- Everyday Money
When on vacation people will not bat an eye at a $5 Coke or other idiotic, overcharge type prices. I think the theory is some what, "this is the 2 weeks I saved for and I'm gonna live like a king (or richer than I am.)"
However, back at home, these are the same people who will buy generic Cola.
The expansion on this is that you are seeing there are reasoned and researched "daily purchases" on every day items (needs) and there is less scrutinized purchases on "splurge" items (wants).
mazdeuce - Seth said:
You should hear my kids (and wife) when I try to justify generic cereal as a cost saving measure when I've got nine cars in the driveway.
If you use coupons, the name brand cereal can be cheaper than generic. More money for racing and nobody is the wiser!
tomtomgt356 said:
mazdeuce - Seth said:
You should hear my kids (and wife) when I try to justify generic cereal as a cost saving measure when I've got nine cars in the driveway.
If you use coupons, the name brand cereal can be cheaper than generic. More money for racing and nobody is the wiser!
QFT! I can attest to this. It’s a pain with the coupons however it makes a huge difference for your taste buds to skip the generic brands unless you really know for a fact it’s the premium stuff for the store’s private label brands. Most cases it’s not and really becomes a waste of money when the family don’t like it.
"Because it doesn't make the race car faster."
I just bought $85/ea tires for my bicycle.
$60/ea rear struts for my daily driver? That'll have to wait until I have some extra money.
Cactus
Reader
6/9/18 10:04 a.m.
I didn't mind spending money on my daily while it was an e28, but since I bought a Honda, I can't bring myself to do any more than the bare minimum maintenance.
And that’s you, a “car guy” talking.
Imagine non car-guys (car-persons?) attitude toward their appliances. If car-guys barely do maintenance on their daily drivers, just think what normal people (don’t) do to keep up their car.
Think about that next time you buy a generic car for a family member!
I wear a $700 watch and a different pair of Nikes every day and get my jeans from goodwill and shirts for free from work. My wedding ring is a $15 tungsten band from Amazon and the little lady's engagement ring cost a down payment on a nice house in the suburbs. Do what makes you happy. As long as you are not racking up CC bills for frivolous things, you can't take it with you.
Cotton
PowerDork
6/9/18 4:47 p.m.
I tried to tell my wife we need to use some of the funds from selling our house on my need for an SLS AMG. She didn’t go for it.
This is why my daily has used tires. Luckily I only drive 1k miles or so a year and can get away with that. I'll spend money on my bicycles or car without issue but hat3 spending it on household projects.
ebonyandivory said:
And that’s you, a “car guy” talking.
Imagine non car-guys (car-persons?) attitude toward their appliances. If car-guys barely do maintenance on their daily drivers, just think what normal people (don’t) do to keep up their car.
Think about that next time you buy a generic car for a family member!
Fortunately a lot of non-car people don't have an idea how far they can press something that needs work/replacement, so tend to follow the recommendations of their mechanics. Not all of them, obviously, but a lot of them.
When I started racing way back in the dark ages, whenever my wife/pit crew asked me what some part or improvement to the car cost, the answer was always "Arond $50" (this was back when all the parts for a routine engine rebuild cost about $100)
"How much were those Webers?" "Oh, they were pretty expensivem around $50 each but it was worth it...."
I continue to apply the same principal to the wine cellar - "Oh that was good, how much was it?" "Oh, around around $20 (added sotto voce - per glass....)"
The 996 needs rear tires soon but I'm putting high comp pistons in the 900ss.
My DD work truck is about due for front brakes, like very due. So I spent part of the day swapping the rear axle in the Cherokee.
I despise working on or spending money on the daily drivers. They are appliances. They should run forever and never need any additional money spent on them, much like the washer and dryer.
Ian F
MegaDork
6/9/18 9:13 p.m.
Why will I easily spend over $800 on a pair of mountain bike wheels and around $150 on a pair of tires, yet I still hesitate on spending $400 on 4 wheels and a few more on tires for one of my Triumphs?
I once replaced a burned-out headlamp with a used headlamp in my daily. Right around the same time I dropped ~$400 on a set of pistons for a project car.
Let that sink in for a minute...I not only installed a used headlamp in the car that I drive every day....but I had, at one point, removed that headlamp from something else, and saved it for some period of time, figuring (correctly, as it turns out) I'd need it some day.
That used headlamp lasted the rest of the time I owned that car.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
Your shop must look much like mine, but more organized.
The truly amazing part of that story is you could actually find the headlamp. I would have searched in vain for days, bought another, and only then found the one I had saved. Which I would promptly throw it away, only to need it the next week when the other lamp on the car popped.
I’ve been struggling to spend money on my vehicles at all. All of my projects need more money than I want to spend on them and it doesn’t seem to end. It’s hard to spend money on toys when I’m trying to save for a house though.
Sometimes I wish I liked cheaper hobbies. It’s kind of stupid to spend so much money to cars that fall apart and rot in the sun.
No offense to anyone. I hope I’m not alone here ha
To be human is to be a walking paradox.
I met a Brazilian girl and took a liking to caipirinha's, the national cocktail of Brazil. $60/bottle of cachaça? I'll take two, knowing they'll be gone in some limited amount of time and contribute nothing to my lasting well being. $10 on a mortar and pestle that will last forever and be useful for other drinks and food? I couldn't do it. The girl I met ended up buying one for me after something like a year of me being a fool.
