I don’t know if you’re close enough, but you might check out Community Boating in Boston. A year’s membership is about $300.00 (a bit more expensive than I remembered), but you get to sail on the Charles all you want and they do teach sailing. (I don’t think they’re red hot on horse riding lessons, but based on my memories of riding, if you like not being in pain, then that’s probably a good thing.)
Yeah, you learn to find cheap sources pretty quickly. There’s a cabinet place here where you can buy short chunks for next to nothing. A whole scrap bin of the stuff would likely go for $50. There’s also a reclaimed Northwest wood place that is not only comparatively cheap for rough cut stuff like 8/4 and slabs, but also has madrone, redwood, blue pine and myrtlewood.
I made the cutting board out of some scraps of walnut and maple, and only because they’re nice people who don’t have a lot of discretionary cash. I’m a prince, don’t you know.
Hmmm. I don’t have one I can put under my thumb at the moment, but I spent a bunch on travel last year. Even though I get to travel with work, I always take my own time and money to do something I want to do after the work is through (wherever it is).
Historically, motorcycles have been at the top of my list. I raced them for about 10 years which burned many dollars. Now I’ve a stable full of dirtbikes that trickles dollars each month. But I don’t consider it a “pit” really.
I also flew (GA) for a few years until I was medically grounded for being knocked unconscious in a motorcycle crash. Though it (physically) hurt like hell and disappointed me for months, it may have been the best thing to happen to my bank account.
Music.
My avocation is singing jazz: I spend thousands of dollars every year on workshops, master classes, performances, festivals, sheet music, MP3s (the ones specifically related to songs I’m learning; I don’t count the others), etc. I’m never going to come anywhere close to breaking even, at least not while I have a day job, but it’s my “thing.” My big retirement dream is to be able to cover my music-related expenses with my singing.
Guitars for me too. I started playing late, around age 28, and I’m not particularly talented music wise. I started in the late eighties around the peak of what was called “Strat-mania”. I love Stratocasters! Fender makes a lot of great Strats but I had a very narrow definition of what I considered to be the perfect Strat and Fender wasn’t making precisely what I craved. Being a fairly handy person I soon got into building my own using Fender and aftermarket parts and tailoring them to my preferences. This is a very expensive way to go and none of the “masterpieces” I’ve created would recoup the cost of what I’ve got in them. In the marketplace, people generally want stock, unmolested guitars as produced by Fender. What I’ve built are known as Parts-o-casters and usually sell for much less than “stock” models. The only way to make back what I’ve got in them would be to sell them the way I got them…piece by piece. I can’t bear the thought of doing that to my babies so I end up sitting on a bunch of guitars that I have way too much invested in.
You’re certified. Get more experience before worrying about advanced training. Experience is your best training right now. You’ll appreciate advanced instruction more when you can identify your own shortcomings. I was talking to a dive instructor on my last trip about getting AOW certified on my first trip. I was hard sold into Advanced Open Water certification by threat that I would be limited to dives of 60’ with only Open Water.
Her thought was that OW certification is like getting a drivers license. You don’t try to teach advanced driving skills to new drivers for the same reasons you don’t try to teach advanced diving skills to new divers. I though that was pretty insightful. I would have been much better served doing my AOW after 30-40 dives. You will not be restricted to 60’ with an OW cert on a recreational dive boat. Technically, that’s the limit but I’ve never seen it enforced. I didn’t even present my AOW card for three years, because I thought I would be doing myself a disservice by overstating my skills.
For gear, put off the expensive parts (BC and reg) until later, possibly forever. I’m in my sixth year and I’m going to buy a BC before my next trip, but I’m still on the fence for a regulator. They require regular maintenance and if you research and find a good dive operation, they’ll have good gear for rent at reasonable prices, especially if you’re booking a package.
Research dive operations! This is huge. Last summer, I met a couple in St. Lucia who decided to wing it for finding a dive shop and diving was their main purpose for the trip. They were dealing with a guy who couldn’t even tell them if he was diving the next day because he wasn’t sure if he had enough paying customers. Meanwhile, I had just dived with an operator who took out me and one other diver on a 46’ dive boat with a three man crew. (Dive Saint Lucia, I honestly can’t recommend them highly enough.) We spent the rest of the week together and all had a great trip.
Mostly though, a dive trip doesn’t have to be only about diving. Two-tank AM dives for 3-5 days and afternoons and non-dive days with the whole family. There’s plenty of time in a full day with no work to do. A lot of dive shops offer free shuttles too, so you probably don’t have to strand the rest of the family by taking the car if you’re within reasonable distance.
This is understandable. I’m single and live in an apartment by choice, but I understand your concerns. I could be doing more for my retirement but if I ever have to experience frugal living, I’d rather do it when I’m old. As you point out in your previous post, the golden years aren’t always so awesome. I’m not unreasonable in regards to savings, but I would rather err on the side of today than tomorrow.
Maybe you should consider skipping the next trip in favor of a vacation fund, just to get ahead of the cycle. Start a savings account just for vacations. Personally, my ideal situation is paying for as much as possible months before I go. All inclusive is great for this, but it’s not always an option and possibly not your preference. I love it. You can certainly prepay accommodation and airline tickets (bulk of your expenses) months in advance regardless of where you stay. Just a thought. I find that I enjoy a trip much more when I pay for most of it up front and minimize the bills afterwards. Paying in advance and anticipating what I’ve paid for works a lot better for me (mentally) than having a really great vacation and paying for it after the fact.
Most importantly, I’ll repeat what I said before. Don’t regret money spent in the pursuit of happiness if it truly makes you happy. Be reasonable, but have fun and enjoy life. What that means financially will vary from person to person, but money is of no use if you don’t spend it.
And you better goddamn-well do some diving in Hawaii! Have a great time.
Another interesting diving experience is in Missouri where you dive in an abandoned mine.
Have you ever dived there? Seems kind of boring to me, but I’m open to having my mind changed.
Some divers just dig being underwater. I met a guy in Curacao a few years ago who dived an abandoned quarry in Pennsylvania in the winter, in 34°F temps in a dry suit, just to get underwater. He did this on a regular basis, not just something to do to say you’ve done it. He was a nice enough guy, but I honestly questioned his sanity.
I dive reefs to see what’s living down there. I love seeing sharks, turtles and rays as much as I like seeing seeing smaller fish, eels, squid, octopus, lobster, crabs and even tiny little fish, shrimps and other tiny life forms that you have to get within a foot or so to even see. The coral that supports this entire ecosystem is amazing to look at. Hard coral, sponges (that aren’t usually very spongy) soft coral that look like plants, are all really amazing to see up close.
I’ve only dived tropical waters so far. I would consider strapping on a dry suit to dive the kelp forests of California (50°F) or maybe even really nut-up and dive the Greenland Sea (30°F) but I can’t really see myself spending time in an abandoned mine or quarry, devoid of any significant or interesting life. If you’ve actually dived in this mine, I’d be interested in your thoughts.
Was it interesting in any way other than a maze you had to navigate in order to not die? That sounds adversarial, but it’s not intended to be. In many ways, cave diving is pretty close to that, but cave diving doesn’t appeal to me either. Obviously, it does to many other divers. I’m just interested in your motivation and if diving this site was rewarding to you.
No, never done it myself. Although I hear its just a cool experience going thru the tunnels and seeing the abandoned mining gear. I’ve only done scuba in a pool. One time we were on vacation in the bahamas and I got to snorkel and see starfish.
Plus we are here in the midwest and are miles away from the coasts so we dont have much choice on diving locations.
Speaking of which another thing to spend money on in diving is a prescription diving mask in case you wear glasses. What good is going down if you cant see.
My money pit: Paying the rent each month.
You would find that owning a home often isnt much better. But hey at least you own it.
Thanks, Finagle! I’m also looking into some other lesson options closer (I’m nearer to Lowell than Boston), but it’s a good idea. Weekends it’s quick to get from Lowell into Boston on 93.
Same here. A 7 year old mare, a 20 year paint, and a daughter with an account at the Dover Saddlery in Charlottesville, VA.
As for me it is a fondness for single malt whisky.
Son’s college debt. It’s more than our house is worth right now, coming due starting around Xmas time
ETA : At least he’s got a job.
Dang. Those are both things I’d like to hear more about. I don’t think I have a money pit in operation. But the house definitely could be if I started updating things.
Thanks for the advice, Jake Jones! We are indeed planning to dive in Hawaii. I was planning dives in Oahu, the Big Island, and Maui. I’m a little concerned about Maui…from what I’ve read, it appears to be infested with tiger sharks. :eek:
I’m actually planning to try to get used to contact lenses (again) for this very reason.
The one time I went diving in Hawaii I rented a prescription diving mask.
Back to the OP, if your a smoker that really is a money pit anymore with it cost around $5-$6 a pack.
But then they are doing a great service to the community because cigarette taxes pay for alot of things.
B m w
Do children count?
Aren’t girls usually about done growing but the time they hit 18?
I just got done buying the third wardrobe in 6 months. 