# On Going costs of the hobby



## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

I was on ebay today, looking at a few bids, and took a look at my purchase history .. I have no local hobby shop, so ebay is my main choice...
over the last two years I found that i was buying about 125 bucks a month, less than what i had guessed at ... about half of that on loco's ..
what did surprise me was 480 dollars on trees , for 1250 of them, and i know that i had most of my trees before 2013, from old layout and previous purchases .. kind of surprised at that..i had tried making my own, but found that i'm not really very good at it, and buying seemed a better route...
in that 125 a month, there was basically no track parts , as i had accumulated a larger amount previously

it's about the same cost as an 18 can case of beer a week, and im good with that..


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## raleets (Jan 2, 2011)

A large percentage of my layout has come from eBay during the past 4 years.
Call me nuts, but I actually enjoy surfing eBay for bargains and the experience of comparing various items of interest that are available.
With over 950 eBay purchases, I can honestly state that I've only been "stung" one time, and that was on a $5 item. Not too shabby!
The trick is to 'think it through' and not get involved in bidding wars. Pay only the maximum you would pay if the item were in front of you in a retail store.
Good luck,
Bob


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

Yeah, evil-bay has pretty much been my main source of model railroad purchases in the past few years as well. I do have one small train shop here in this little mid-west TX town & Al is a good guy but, he's a little on the expensive side & I feel guilty when I don't buy from him but, the truth is I'm retired now (medical) & surviving on a pathetic fixed income so I have a very tight monthly budget in this hobby. When I was working & making the IRS rich, I didn't mind so much however, I was still somewhat frugal when it came to buying model railroading items unless there was something I truly wanted & then I broke all my own rules, lol.

I'm very "old school" myself & I love the Athearn "Blue Box" kits & I'm a huge Varney, AHM & Rivarossi fan. I love those old wood/metal kits & those sweet old Rivarossi 4-4-0 steam locos when I can find them. I've got a really older Rivarossi "Pocher" 4-4-0 loco w/tender that just flies around my DC layout & I've been running that old steam locomotive for a good twenty years or better now. It still runs like the day I bought it too.

Getting back to Al's train shop, he knows absolutely nothing about DCC so he is no help there at all to me in this new DCC hobby. I just got into the DCC thing back in June I think it was & I'm seriously not doing very well with understanding this operation. I've just never been very good at technology & once computers came on the scene, I might as well packed up & moved into a cave somewhere cuz I'm that bad with that stuff, lol. I don't mind saying it either. I fugure it's best to be honest with folks & not pretend to know what you're taking about when you don't have a clue! There's far too much of that today & I hate it especially when it comes to this hobby. OK, that's my two cents on the subject.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I put $50 out of every paycheck aside for hobby purposes. That's what I can afford, so that's what I spend. No cheating (or SWIMBO gets fired up).


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

i took a look around and have maybe 40 locos that don't fit, 10 or 12 new ones ,, plus a lot of rolling stock, if i can ebay them, that will give a little extra for the stuff that i do want..


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## MRLdave (Nov 1, 2011)

I put $50 a month aside for "play" money, which usually ends up on trains.......then I get to keep any overtime from work (wife has 2 jobs, a 40hr one and a part-time......she keeps her part-time checks for play). Overtime is mostly in winter for snow removal, and varies a lot, but I currently have about $1200 in my stash. In the end I probably average about $200 a month on train stuff. As hobbies go, that's not all that expensive.


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

quote from post one

it's about the same cost as an 18 can case of beer a week, and im good with that..


I wish I had your restraint!]


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## johnfl68 (Feb 1, 2015)

I know people that spend over $200 a month on cigarettes.
Spending that on Model Railroading is certainly a healthier hobby.

John


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

johnfl68 said:


> I know people that spend over $200 a month on cigarettes.
> Spending that on Model Railroading is certainly a healthier hobby.
> 
> John


Unfortunately for my financial situation, I've never smoked, don't drink, don't gamble, don't run around with women, don't drive much...there's nothing there where I could save money to spend on trains!! hwell:


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Surely you eat food.......cut down to half......there's a savings right there!


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

Fire21 ...
go and buy a pack of smokes and a box of beer ...
go home, look at them, and decide, nope ...i could have spent this on train stuff...every day!!
and there's your budget!! , ..
there are lots of creative ways to 'justify' this hobby, lol


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## Fire21 (Mar 9, 2014)

wvgca said:


> Fire21 ...
> go and buy a pack of smokes and a box of beer ...
> go home, look at them, and decide, nope ...i could have spent this on train stuff...every day!!
> and there's your budget!! , ..
> there are lots of creative ways to 'justify' this hobby, lol


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA :appl:


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

I'm kind of adapting the constraint that gun control advocates are pushing, but in buying locomotives. I'm keeping it to just one prime mover a month. Should keep me safe, right?


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

wvgca said:


> Fire21 ...
> go and buy a pack of smokes and a box of beer ...
> go home, look at them, and decide, nope ...i could have spent this on train stuff...every day!!
> and there's your budget!! , ..
> there are lots of creative ways to 'justify' this hobby, lol


Yeah, and then call me as I have a beer removal service (except Coors) that I provide free of charge. I'm highly trained with over 40 years of experience!


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

Bwells said:


> Yeah, and then call me as I have a beer removal service (except Coors) that I provide free of charge. I'm highly trained with over 40 years of experience!


That's excellent! Thanks for the great laugh cuz I needed that today after beating my brains out all night trying to learn CV programming, lol. I have two cases of beer & malt liquors that a neighbor left in my garage after closing down his bar last year & you're welcome to come after that! He told me to drink it or do what I want with it & since I don't drink it's still collecting dust in the garage.

I agree there are many ways of budgeting better for this hobby & I've been working on that constantly since I got into DCC because it's just too much fun not to. I now have a small budget of $300 per month & I do just fine with that. I have one neighbor who keeps suggesting that I get into weathering for other folks since I am so good at it (according to him) & therefore it would give me more funds for the hobby.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

figured that i would share this ..


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