Question (OT)...do you keep a record of what you have spent

[david lazarus]

The "driver V's trailer queen" thread got me wondering. When repairing my '38 I decided not to keep a tally of the cost...cause I would have probably chickened out when I saw the $ going west. Yet another guy I met new down to THE LAST CENT:eek: how much his car had cost him !!

So guy's, generally are we penny watchers or do we prefer blissful ignorance ????

[Normspeed]

I keep the major receipts, more for a history of the car than for budgeting. But I don't keep every receipt. I track my service and repair work for each of my vehicles using excel spreadsheets. That allows me to keep track of tire rotations, oil changes and stuff like that, in miles and time frame.

[JIPJOBXX]

I keep it rounded oft to the nearest thousand dollar bill. No I really just keep a track in my head and I know I have nearly 7,500 dollars in my 42. Not bad as I know lots of people who have tens of thousands of dollars in there toys.

Why would you want to keep every penny counted anyway? Its a hobby and who cares? Maybe the wife might mind but then if you wrote it all down and she found out boy you might just be in the dog house.

[JIPJOBXX]

As far as oil changes all I haft to look up in the front window and there a sticker up there to let me know when to change oil. "I LIKE LIFE SIMPLE AND MAYBE THAT'S WHY I'M SUCH A SIMPLETEN"

[Young Ed]

I keep the major ones. More for part #s etc then total cost. For my truck I started out keeping everything. When I had spent over $50 just on nuts and bolts I decided I didn't want to know and I threw them all out.

[greg g]

I have reciepts for major stuff but I never totaled them and haven;t looked at them for years,

[Don Coatney]

Lisa thinks my car is a money pit. I dont need no dam paper trail to let her know she is right:rolleyes:

[Plymouthy Adams]

I can ball park it...as a matter of fact I keep a list of items purchased...except for a nut or bolt here or there...I figure if charged with a major crime this would back-up my insanity defense...

[John Mulders]

Lisa thinks my car is a money pit. I dont need no dam paper trail to let her know she is right:rolleyes:

Exactly my thought Don , before you know it the Mrs. will spend an equal amount on other stuff.....

Reminds me of 500$ I won in a pool , so I spent 500 and my wife too....

John

[buds truck]

Exactly my thought Don , before you know it the Mrs. will spend an equal amount on other stuff.....

Reminds me of 500$ I won in a pool , so I spent 500 and my wife too....

John

WHILE BUILDING MY 49 PLYMOUTH, I PUT EVERY RECEIPT IN A DRAWER IN MY SHOP. AFTER 13 YEARS OF BUILDING IT I ACTUALLY DID ADD UP THE RECEIPTS, CAME IN AT JUST OVER 6 GRAND INCLUDING THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THE CAR, BUT I BARTERED SO MANY THINGS (ENGINE PARTS, MACHINE WORK, ECT) FOR BODYWORK THAT IF I ADDED MY BARTERING LABOR INTO IT, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ASTRONOMICAL. SOME THINGS YA JUST CAN'T ADD UP. BUD

[windsor8]

I keep a running total along with the help of microsoft excel.

[tonygray]

Are you kidding? My wife might see it!!!

[Dennis_MN]

complained about the $150 that I spent on it but I assured her that it would surly appreciate over time.

So I kept every reciept for parts from a place called "little Dearborn" and JC Whitney, just piled them into a drawer. I also kept track of the swap meet stuff and other cash and trades.

7 Years after building it up again I wanted a convertable. My wife said these things aren't postage stamps, sell the "A" So I did for $2800. Then she asked if I totaled up the reciepts yet and I said, no need, I got more for it than I paid for it and thats all I need to know.

The next one was a '70 Dodge Challenger and the same story.

Dennis

[steveplym]

Exactly my thought Don , before you know it the Mrs. will spend an equal amount on other stuff.....

Reminds me of 500$ I won in a pool , so I spent 500 and my wife too....

John

I'm with you guys. If the wife knew how much I spent on the car that would cause problems. Not that I'm keeping it from her, but she doesn't tell me the truth about what she spent when she comes back from the mall.

[Niel Hoback]

I don't know what I've spent, I don't wanna know what I spent, I don't care what I spent. I just enjoy having what I spent it on.

[martybose]

I'm with you guys. If the wife knew how much I spent on the car that would cause problems. Not that I'm keeping it from her, but she doesn't tell me the truth about what she spent when she comes back from the mall.

I used to have this problem, until my wife bought her horse. If you think our toys are expensive, you haven't been around any thousand pound 4 legged hobbies! WOW!! At least with my 47, I can let it sit for a while if I'm cash poor or mad at it, not so with a horse. It eats and needs horseshoes, vet work, etc. no matter what.

Funny, but my wife never says a thing about how much I'm spending on my car anymore!

Marty

[woodie49]

I think it really depands on your intent. I'm reading here that a lot of guys don't care to know what they spent because they are happy with what they have.

There are a lot of dollars that I spend and don't keep track of, but I look at my bigger ticket items as somewhat of an investment (maybe not a wise one), beleiving that someday I will want to sell them, or whoever is left after me will.

It is a lot easier to sell an older car if you have the receipts to show that you have made it roadworthy, that it is reliable and that it has been well taken care of. So, I keep a big file for each of my cares (old and new) and throw all the receipts for work done, parts bought, etc. into the folders. I don't think it would make me feel really good to add up the receipts, so I don't bother, but at least I have them for when it becomes time to sell. But look - I am an accountant and don't think I could sleep at night if I did not have at least a minimal mechanism to measure my investment at some point.

[david lazarus]

Ha ha some of you guys crack me up !!

Some years ago at the start of my project my wife said it was a waste of money and that she did not approve of it.

Well my new wife LOVES the car, see's it as a great de-stresser for me.

Maybe I have to add the cost of settlement with my first wife to the total cost of the car....which makes it the most expensive '38 on the planet !!!!. But still worth it !!!

[49plymouthdotcom]

I made a database type thing that I use as a contact tracker. I enter the company or person I got a part from (free, trade, auction, cash, whatever). I also add their address, phone number, email address, web site, ebay ID, etc. I also include refunds and if I sell a part. I have a space where I put in notes about other items the contact has or if the part didn't work, things like that. There is a section where I can see the running total cost if I want to. My plan was once I have the car together and running I would send a photo and a thanks to those who helped me out, and when asked where I found a part or who I would reccommend for something, I would be able to answer.

[daddyo23]

I don't know what I've spent, I don't wanna know what I spent, I don't care what I spent. I just enjoy having what I spent it on.

I'm with Niel. Have a rough idea, but I don't care. I do as much as I can myself, pay to have done what I can't or don't have the time and equipment to do. Nowhere near done, but she's runnin and going on a 500 mile trip Saturday. Not like some did recently, but it'll be a good run on the ol' motor.

Wayne P.

[TodFitch]

Lisa thinks my car is a money pit. I dont need no dam paper trail to let her know she is right:rolleyes:

Too true.

And I don't really want to know either.So even though I am compulsive about tracking all expenses on everything (been using Quicken for over 10 years and have paper records before that) I have not run a report on "Plymouth" nor do I intend to.

[mackster]

I haven't spent any money on my car! I live off of left overs, free parts, plus whatever I can barter and minimal cash spent on beers..I am light drinker....(cuz I'm cheap!)

Just kidding, I am under a grand and hope to get it moving before I hit two thousand...

[IanT_Qld]

I must be one of the anal ones:rolleyes: , my Land Drover Discovery Tdi costs me $0.41 per Km, thats fuel rego insurance and maintance and depreciation. My Falcon cost $0.27/km but 8 years ago fuel was much cheeper.

I have a saving fund for the dodge and as long as there is money there then thats is OK.

[BobT-47P15]

I don't really keep track of the expenses. I have receipts for some things

and some ebay purchases.....if I can only find where I put them. Started

out using a little notebook and listing things, but kind of got away from that

somewhere along the line. I'm sure I've spent more than I realize, but so

what. Maybe someday I'll add that stuff up. Or maybe not.

[james curl]

I figure that I have roughly $6000.00 in parts,and machine work that I could not do plus the original $2500.00 I paid for the car 21 years ago. I look up the price of a #4 48 Plymouth Special Delux 4 door sedan and it is now valued at $3050.00 21 years after I bought it, so much for an investment. I still need to spend about $6000.00 more for paint and upholstery with me doing all of the paint prep work to bring it up to #3 standards.