Budgeting??? Uh-oh...

Jaebster · Jan 7, 2020

I'm rapidly going over budget on my reef tank build. My wife is gonna kill me! How many of you are under budget, hit your budget, or over budget in your build without any livestock?

24/7ReeFTime · Jan 7, 2020

It’s common. Part of the hobby. Happens to the best of us.

X-37B · Jan 7, 2020

Took me 1 year to get everthing I need. Never really had a budget but new how much it would cost to do it right. My 4k 120 lol.

jace · Jan 7, 2020

Way over budget but the joy is priceless

4067steve · Jan 7, 2020

I use overtime at work to afford my hobby

sp1187 · Jan 7, 2020

I made a list of what I wanted.
worked a lot of OT.
purchased stuff monthly until I had all of it.
glass box delivered September 2017.
water added May 2018.
so I guess I stuck to my budget.

Bassman · Jan 7, 2020

What’s a budget?

Jaebster · Jan 7, 2020

So I I purchased what I thought was 1/2 of the equipment over black friday/cyber monday. Wife saw the credit card statement and asked if I purchased everything I need. Lol. I told her it was a little less than half of how much more I need to spend. Now,it seems like it will be about 170% of my original budget.

Jaebster · Jan 7, 2020

Oh, and I also need to hire an electrician. Anyone know a cheap electrcian? Lol.

X-37B · Jan 7, 2020

Jaebster said:
Oh, and I also need to hire an electrician. Anyone know a cheap electrcian? Lol.

Nothing in this hobby is cheap! Especially electricians lol.

Fishingandreefing · Jan 7, 2020

Few things I learned in this hobby are:
No budget, you will over spent.
Patient
This hobby is not for fainted heart, things do die and tank does crash, so embrace it!

Fishingandreefing · Jan 7, 2020

4067steve said:
I use overtime at work to afford my hobby

Every time I signed up for OT, I would think what I could buy in this hobby!

JoshH · Jan 7, 2020

Jaebster said:
Oh, and I also need to hire an electrician. Anyone know a cheap electrcian? Lol.

You could do it yourself if you're handy atall, as long as you purchase a local code book and have the city inspect it you're good to go. If you're comfortable with it that is. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea lol I'm running all my electrical to my panel and I'll bring in an electrician to hook up to the panel, pull the permits and pass my work for me. A good compromise that saves spending hundreds of dollars paying for someone to run wires;Bored

My budget flew out the window when I decided to go the fish room route and VERY custom sump. My choices but it basically quadrupled my "Budget"

ccombs · Jan 7, 2020

I typically hit pretty close to my budget. My current rebuild will only be slightly over, but still over. My budget even had a contingency lol. Blew right through it.

Terri Caton · Jan 8, 2020

I just got a big bonus check at work and it literally took me 1 minute to spend it on my tank. lol

eggplantparrot · Jan 8, 2020

what is this witchcraft 'budget' you speak of?

does it taste good? cause all I'm eating for lunch is bread slices.

Jaebster · Jan 8, 2020

JoshH said:
You could do it yourself if you're handy atall, as long as you purchase a local code book and have the city inspect it you're good to go. If you're comfortable with it that is. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea lol I'm running all my electrical to my panel and I'll bring in an electrician to hook up to the panel, pull the permits and pass my work for me. A good compromise that saves spending hundreds of dollars paying for someone to run wires;Bored

My budget flew out the window when I decided to go the fish room route and VERY custom sump. My choices but it basically quadrupled my "Budget"

Plumbing I can deal with... Electrical, forget it. Not worth my house burning down, and the lives of my wife, dog and my own.

Jaebster · Jan 8, 2020

ccombs said:
I typically hit pretty close to my budget. My current rebuild will only be slightly over, but still over. My budget even had a contingency lol. Blew right through it.

What was the "contingency"?

JoshH · Jan 8, 2020

Jaebster said:
Plumbing I can deal with... Electrical, forget it. Not worth my house burning down, and the lives of my wife, dog and my own.

Atleast you know your limits, Electrical really isn't that difficult as long as you can read. But, it's certainly not something to play with if you're not atleast a little confident in your ability to work with it.

The inspector will always keep you in check, even more so than they would an actual electrician.