Where do you spend most of your Money?

I'm a postwar/postwar style operator and I buy cheap and fix stuff up either to keep or resell.  many times I've bought lots or small collections, kept a few items for myself and sell the rest; usually making a small profit.  That being said, a good portion of what I spend probably goes to parts.  But overall, I'd say recently I've been focusing my purchases on operating accessories.  there were some particular ones I always wanted as a kid and now I can actually afford (I'm 25 in my first job out of college), specifically the 282R magnetic gantry crane and the 264 forklift platform were both recent purchases.  I also have been without a layout for 7 years now, so my purchases are few and far between.

Wife and kids.

Motive power first, rolling stock to include both freight and passenger cars second, transformers, track and switches come in third, operating accessories fourth while buildings, structures and scenery would be last on my list of financial outlays. 

Most of our money goes to property taxes and food, in order to support/maintaing the layout upstairs.

Food, utilities, gasoline, taxes and everything else that comes before model trains....

Mostly motive power in O, G, HO and N (90% steam).

 

I have more passenger cars than freight cars

Not on toy trains

I'm assuming the question refers to money spent on model train related things.

For me, it's hard to say as very little of what I have, per item, was ever all that costly. I have paid as much as about $150 for a structure, and around $175-200 each for the four Bachmann ten-wheelers I have. The rolling stock, I was smart enough to get those back when you could still get them for around the $20-ish range. I'd have had problems buying all the freight cars I now have if I'd waited to the current price ranges. The most I've paid for a car is about $100 for a AMS coach, and about $85 for a laser kit of a caboose.

Many of the structures I have are scratchbuilt, and a few of those I bought second-hand off eBay and did paint/detail work on a few of them for really good prices. Haven't seen any good deals like that in a while. Again, I picked the right times to go looking for those.

lumber was a few hundred bucks, as I bought good lumber and didn't scrimp or save there.

The funny thing is the one item on the entire layout I like the most, was a present from my Dad. My father, a wizard with casting and lathe work, heard me say I was thinking of building a scale 'Civil War' memorial, and he volunteered to make a scale cannon barrel. Soon, I got a tiny little package with a perfectly scaled 12-pounder 'Napoleon' barrel made from brass!

 

A great deal of stuff was bought off eBay, and a lesser amount at a hobby shop in Tacoma I like going to, all bought over a 2+ year period while I was planning what the layout would be like, getting a turnout or freight car pretty much every time I walked in the place. It really evened the cost out over time that way (I was smart enough o do all the detail/paint/decal/weathering work as I bought each car, so once the layout was ready for trains, I just had to pull them out of the boxes, mount brake wheels, and put them on the tracks ready to go).

The key here is that I only bought stuff I thought I'd use on the layout and exercise a reasonable amount of restraint against buying too much excess stuff.

Sure I bought stuff I wound up not using, but there wasn't very much and anything that has value, I can probably sell once the scenery is done and I know for sure what I need to keep or get rid of.

But in the end, I'd say the locomotives were the greatest single cost if you count them all together (even though I bought them over a 4-year period):

I think your question depends on what stage you are in the hobby. If your layout is basically complete, then my guess would be the majority of expenditures are for equipment to run on the layout. If you are in the building stages, it is very easy to use available train money for materials.

 

Our layouts are done, so it would be equipment for us.

I use it to support the world economy and local, state and federal governments.   

I spend my money on lots of things. But for trains, engines and cars are equal. Then track and scenery

I spend about 140% of my annual toy train budget on Premier, Legacy, Vision, or 3rd Rail locos. Maybe a small amount of non-scale locos, but not much.

About half that - say 70% of the budget - on die-cast cars, trucks, and buses, and 'Streets.

Another 60% or so on rolling stock.

Roughly an equal amount on buildings, etc.

Maybe half that on other stuff - tools, etc. 

 

And I never overspend a year's annual budget.  I just move on to the next year.  I'm somewhere around 2025 now.

 

On house and automobile...On trains, I might spend more if there was anything interesting available. Now I am just spending money on kitbashing: loco, and buildings,

material, and on building kits if something interestng pops up.

Where do you spend most of your Money?

 

Let me ask my wife...

So far this year I purchased one MTH engine, four misc. freight cars, two accessories, a bunch of scenery and materials. My purchase percentages are always changing from year to year and like most I am never quite done with purchases and projects.

Buying gas to drive to train shows, train rides or train stores on the weekend.

For train money, since I re-started in the hobby from scratch in 2011, probably the most has gone to engines. Not far behind would be about an even split of the rest between layout, track, power & control systems and rolling stock. I'm getting caught up on engines and rolling stock now, so more will be going toward expanding the layout and adding track, buildings, accessories, signals, etc.

 

 

I'm with you, Gary. It's been so long ...I can't remember who's picture is on a dime.

Hobby money.  Most of Mine is split between buying second hand from forum members and new from forum sponsors.  Since I am building a layout, money is spent on all aspects of the hobby.

Rent and truck eats up the bulk of my money

Traveling and playing golf.

If I find a good deal on a engine I will buy it , but right now I spend mostly on scenery for the layout.

Being retired I need to spend my money wisely. After taxes, gas, food, utilities, drugs and whatever I may have some leftover for TMCC engines and selected rolling stock all purchased used and from forum members.

Attaboy, Andre!!!

Restaurants and bars!!

Since I don't have a layout and if I do not get one built I am just gonna add to the collection of trains. I will buy anything that I think will go along with anything I have already. Lately I have been receiving a lot of stuff for free from a member in my Live Steam club and the guy spent numerous hours making his own Billboard Reefers after buying undecorated Reefers from KMT. I plan to save alot of money to Buy a Bunch of ES44ACs and probably a MTH Premier Big Boy.

College Tuition.

 

But when I splurge on trains its most likely a command control Steam Engine.

Train related expenses: I'm just about done buying track and switches, construction materials, and locomotives. The one thing I have kept buying is rolling stock, though I've even slowed down there.

 Locomotives get the bulk of my train money hands down. And I've only had one brand new sealed in a box engine, in half a century. And even that was a gift.

  I like used because the bugs have usually worked themselves out of the picture, are so bad its obvious, and are at least know about if the seller has any class. It also keeps me from having to be "too careful", fun can run rampant and there is seldom much pouting about scratches, or imperfections.    

   

 

Most of my take home pay is put into real estate,savings and investments.

 

As far as O gauge trains go,nearly all the train fund is spent on scale steam engines.

 

 

 

+1 (and how). But she puts up with my trains very nobly.

 

 

If only.

 

But when buying train stuff, priority is as follows:

 

1.  Motive power, mostly diesel but haven't resisted really nice steamers like Lionel's UP 844 and the MTH Erie Triplex (PS2).

 

2.  Passenger cars (with small persons inside)

 

3.  Operating/novelty units - the TMCC crane and boom set is the best

 

4.  Freight cars come last I fear and the best I have are K-Line and Weaver.

I'll give you an example of how I buy things; I see a few beautiful European French or German passenger sets from MTH for around $400-$500, then I see an MTH 4-8-4 or larger Steam engine PS2/3 for around $550-$650 NIB or almost new and in perfect shape, so even though I need some cars, I'd buy the steamer first....I can have a few cars but almost never have enough locos....To each his addiction, right?

 

BTW, many great and funny funny comment, keep it coming.

Yes indeed even though my wife and daughter both make more money than me.

The United States Treasury gets more of my money than any other single payee.  Some years the amount exceeds the total spent on trains over my lifetime, and I'm not even a 1%'er.

 

 

 

 

What, me worry?

Train money mostly scenery, especially tall tall trees  

Lately, Menard's and their great "O" scale items with unbelivable prices.

St. Mary's College of Maryland (a Maryland public honors college) where my daughter goes to school.  Good news is that tuition & room/board is only about $25,000 a year.  The bad news is that, like her old man, our daughter is on the five year plan!

 

Train-wise, for the last couple of years it seems like most of my money goes to Sunset/3rd Rail/GGD.  First came the B&O T3, then the Columbian, and lastly the Train of Tomorrow. 

 

Jim

I spend most of my time and money on trains...the rest I just wasted.

 

Actually, though I have a few locomotives on order this year, I've been focusing more on layout component parts -- a few building kits (probably more than I'll use), track, a little lumber, and a few rolling stock items.

I'm supposed to be building a layout.  I have all of the track, power and a handful of buildings.  Unfortunately, I cannot quit buying diesels.