Finances and Tec Diving

[rob.mwpropane]

You’ve got four kids. When do you start paying for college?

I do circus tricks on the side

When you have kids you just manage. You do whatever it takes.

I'm with @formernuke, we have zero dept except mortgage. The house will be paid off by the time I'm 43-44 in 6-7 years. We make double / triple payments every month.

None of my gear purchases have been impulsive. 90% of my gear was used. I don't pay for fills, I don't pay for nitrox. Hell even the diesel used to run the compressor is reclaimed heating oil from people's houses. I am super cheap. I'll do backflips if I think it'll save me money. I am my own mechanic, my own accountant, my own landscaper, my own pool boy. It's not hard to save when you don't pay anyone else to fix or maintain your stuff.

 

[Degenerate]

A combination of a decent job and not having kids.

And also massive debt, of course.

 

[rddvet]

A combination of a decent job and not having kids.

And also massive debt, of course.

Exactly this. Unfortunately I have multiple expensive hobbies, so the debt is hard to avoid

 

[jlcnuke]

#1. Having a better than average income job. Needless to say, this is probably the most obvious way to have more disposable income by simply having more income.
#2. Don't be "house-poor". I was fortunate enough to not be one of the people constantly chasing "bigger" and "fancier" homes throughout life. So my housing costs are significantly lower than most of my peers at work.
#3. No kids. Obviously the choice to have kids or not shouldn't be a financial one (though adequate financial capacity should be in place before having any imo), but if you're like me and don't want kids, that's a significant financial savings over the years.
#4. No high interest debt - high interest debt kills your cash-flow.
#5. Even with all that, find ways to save money on diving when you can - buy used tanks, service your own equipment, use points for hotel stays (ideally earned from the day-job etc., but lots of other travel-hacking possibilities to help as well).

A typical weekend trip to cave country for me consists of:
2.5-3 tanks of gas (12 gallon fill-ups in my SUV) (varies by gas cost, currently $125+ but the previous few years was much lower)
1 average meal at a sit-down restaurant ($25-40)
1 12" subway sub (~$8) split for two lunches
Breakfast sometimes (2 for $4 at BK).
Use free annual pass (disabled vet) for free entrance to state parks
Fill tanks at home for savings on fills initially, then one set of fills in cave country (~$35)
Hotel stay on pts ($0)
Bring drinks down with me.

As such, I can do a weekend cave diving trip for ~$200. If I carpool with a friend (which I do about 1/2 the time) then the gas is split and it's closer to $140-150 for the trip. Let gas come back down to $2/gallon, and the trip with a buddy is only about $100 for the whole weekend of nitrox cave diving.

 

[Lorenzoid]

The dilemma my wife and I are in right now is that we have gotten into cave diving and yet are not letting go of tropical vacation diving. I like both.

 

[Marie13]

The dilemma my wife and I are in right now is that we have gotten into cave diving and yet are not letting go of tropical vacation diving. I like both.

Well the cave diving is closer, isn’t it? Hop in tjhe car and off you go?

 

[formernuke]

I when I do local diving or hotel stuff I pack stoves and cook my own meals. Much cheaper than eating out.

 

[ccrprospect]

My helium bills are gargantuan. An average hypoxic trimix dive costs somewhere between 300 to 400 dollars (including guide fees).

 

[Gone for diving]

I am impress how many people,
Seem to have healthy priorities,
Financial and time, and family wise...

I have only once traveled ( like flying) specifically for diving... but that was because we had a place to stay, a vehicle to drive, and tanks, all for free,

The other few places I went diving was because I was going anyways...

I do alot of local diving,
And once or twice a year maybe. Like few hrs driving away trips.....

My compressor definitely saves me money and lots of time, and VIP and hydros.

I do have alot of gear,
(I can outfit 5 or6 divers no problem, and lots of tanks and spares etc)

But other than my first and half set of gear. ( Pre kjiji)
It's all used, and bought at a deal,
I love tinkering with vintage stuff.
Hopefully the vintage stuff will keep some of it value...

 

[boulderjohn]

My wife and I are retired with pensions and some investments. Our children are in comfortable situations and do not need any financial assistance from us. We do not lead extravagant lifestyles and are generally content with modest pleasures. We avoid the common money traps--for example, being good cooks, we do not waste money on inferior food in everyday restaurants and instead dine out when and where it will be worth the effort and cost. We own a coffee maker and know how to use it, so we don't throw our retirement savings at Starbucks.

In summary, we have a stable, reliable income and know how much money we can afford to spend on life's pleasures. When it comes to making decisions on things like dive trips and gear, I use a simple mathematical formula to ascertain the true cost of the expense in light of our lifestyle. I amortize the cost by dividing the true cost by the number of years I expect to be dead.