Financially where do you draw the line?

[Michael Biando]

$200 a month on average for coral frags, saltwater, filter socks, food and an occasional fish

 

[hart24601]

I'm sure in the past I bought reef items with CC to pay off down the road. However I was younger and made a lot less money too. Not rich now but comfortable. Wife and I have a joint account t for bills. Mortgage, utilities and such that we contribute amounts based off how much we make/vs our bills so we both contribute the same % of our income. That account never gets touched except those bills or other things we talk about like dog surgery recently.

Everything else goes in my personal checking and savings of which I can spend however much I want. I don't touch the savings unless it's maybe a new tank. However with no car payment or student loans it helps. Plus a moderate sized system. It would be harder if was a 600g acro reef.

 

[Wicky48]

I spent more on two lights then my mortgage payment. Things this year since doing the new reef tank build, https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/building-a-135-reef.372459/#post-5999915 things have been tight but I have a lot of the material for the build so I spent all my time building. Yes I have spent on my reef and gone without paying a bill till the next month but I seem to manage it. My advice, save where you can and if not then go for it just have a roof over your head and food and gas and some spending money.

 

[madweazl]

I do what I want! Sometimes that means I don't do what I want the week after...

 

[scattered]

I don’t have a real hard line on individual purchase costs but at this point my tank is stocked and there is minimal equipment expenditures. I might spend another $500 on auto water changing and a stand to accommodate it or not. If I do I am probably at about my hard limit on a nano budget. I can not justify hitting 5 grand, 4 grand should be the ceiling, and I am between high 2 and low 3 now. It is a bite going from zero to clean up crew but from there on it is not too bad if you don’t chase things. I spent right around 2K by the time I started my cycle on a 13.5G but I was rebuying absolutely everything from testing equipment to epoxy to tubing. I know where not to cut corners. I have spent $7-800 on livestock and setting up a pod grow out tank that will probably be retired. I did get a ~$400 extra shipment of pods grow out supplies, sea lettuce and an extra Biota Mandarin (I was freaking out trying to place the fish, I know one reef person and 1 LFS in a 200 mile radius) but I think I wasn’t charged.

$5-600 a year is about what I expect to spend on RODI supplies, salt, food, supplements, and equipment replacement annually.

 

[Scorpius]

Guys I work with are alcoholics who waste vast amounts of money on alcohol. Not to mention all the brain and liver damage they're causing themselves and family issues. I'll stick to spending money on coral thanks.

 

[Rukk]

No... I don’t have any credit cards for this reason. I’ve made it so far debt free.

When the wife and I were young, yea we had credit cards and learned our lesson. Now no credit cards, except for one. We funnel all the bills thru it and pay it off every month, we never carry a balance and rack up SkyMiles like crazy. Flying for free is pretty sweet.

 

[samnaz]

When the wife and I were young, yea we had credit cards and learned our lesson. Now no credit cards, except for one. We funnel all the bills thru it and pay it off every month, we never carry a balance and rack up SkyMiles like crazy. Flying for free is pretty sweet.

Yeah I need to look into that. My mom has been trying to talk to me into it for a while. Besides not wanting to be in any debt, I also have a problem with giving the banks any amount of my hard earned money, no matter how small lol.

 

[mattzang]

i basically have a limit of no more than $50 for any fish or coral and i've only broken the rule once on a flame angel ($70, pricey but it was "qted"). i think i'm fairly lucky to be in socal so if i'm willing to drive i can find mostly anything and don't have to pay shipping and prices don't seem too absurd. there's also local reefers that sell frags for pretty cheap all things considered, but dealing with craigslist/offerup type people is always weird.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

I have just the basic bills mortgage, car insurance, phone and utilities, food, savings. (Work pays my medical and I match my retirement). My work paid off what little I had in student loans (but mostly because I was on scholarships).

With that said I won the award for being yelled at for not cashing, or aka depositing my pay checks and they expired after 90 days. So I don’t spend much unless it’s my normal bills. With that said, I know always take 200 out of each check and it goes into a special ceramic fish for my tank emergencies, and (I have no idea how much is in there). But back to the question of where do I draw the line, well that’s simple. I have always wanted to be the underdog reefer, the one who didn’t go with the best lights or, pumps or tank etc. I wanted to inspire people that you can have an amazing reef that is gorgeous with very little money. It made me sad when people say wow so beautiful I have always wanted one but to bloody expensive. It doesn’t have to be.

Even though I could probably afford pretty much whatever I want to I don’t. For example my tank has actually become cheaper as it has aged. Now that my corals grow faster than I have room for, I frag them fairly often. I take them into my lfs shop and I get store credit. I can use it to get more coral, or supplies that I need etc. Before this took place and my tank is maybe 17.5 months old I spent 150 on supplies but that lasts a good 3-6 months on average. Now that it’s consuming more it’s more like every 3 months but that’s still under 100 a month.

I also have this phobia lol I bought most of the fish I have always wanted (2 still remain). Yet I have been blessed with no fish issues or disease. I won’t add any new fish to my tank in fear of adding something to my tank, or disrupting the ranks. (Exception I added a goby three times, two jumped out and the third is still doing great). I still want either a powder blue, sohal, or Achilles tang, but it scares me to add anything.

In terms of coral I enjoy fragging my corals now and getting new unknown corals from my lfs. I still want to get some more Acro frag packs probably this summer, but even then I stay or try to stay under 250 for a frag pack.

 

[PaulPerger]

Defining "Beyond my Means" as spending more than I intended to, I voted "Yes". If I define it as "Not meeting other financial obligations", then I would change my vote to "No".

Just last week I saw an Acan that I wanted. I had already spent my budget for the month, so i dipped into my lunch budget. I've been eating PB&J, Apples and yogurt for lunch the past week and will next week...

I have been building a system and I want to do it right, so my budget has taken a hit or two along the way in the past six months, but I am finally going to get the tank wet this weekend, so I am very excited.

 

[Paul B]

I built this to help me out.



I guess the picture is too big.

 

[Adele]

I voted "No" because I have not jeopardized a living expense over the Reef. But I have had a few "you only live once!" clicks of the mouse that made me both cringe and feel elated. I suspect I will have a similar moment when Trident is released.

 

[MrsBugmaster]

I guess I am in a little different position than most. I am fortune enough that my husbands income allows me to be a stay at home mom. And I have my own disposable income from my own business. (Dog sitting in my home through rover.com) Our agreement is that all of the money I make from my business goes to my fish hobby and he does not care what I spend then. We also have an agreement that I will not have any more than 2 dogs here at one time. (3 counting our dog) Anymore than that drives him crazy, and honestly me too. (We also have the agreement that I can not go any bigger than my current 180 gal.) But if I don't have enough money in my fish account for something I want or need then I will save up until I do. I have been dog sitting for 5 years now, but have been in the hobby for 11 years. So before that I would spend only what the budget allowed. We have always lived financially responsible. We have always "paid ourselves first", meaning money is first put in retirement fund, and an emergency fund for household/ family or whatever true emergency may arise, college fund(which was started the day child was born), as well as regular household expenses. And we always donate a certain amount to charity. What was left was divided up between my tank fund and his single malt scotch fund. I am the one that pays the bills so I could easily skim some off the top for my tank, but that does not make for a good marriage. We put everything on a credit card, with frequent flyer miles, but pay the balance off monthly. The only debt we have is house and car payments. I would never consider buying fish related stuff on credit! My own disposable income does allow me to buy fish and equipment I would not normally buy otherwise if living on just my husbands income. Do I sometimes spend large amounts of money on a single fish or equipment? Yes! Am I spending beyond my means? No!

 

[Saveafish]

I'd say simple beyond your means would be if something failed or a problem occurred, you can't afford to fix it. Or save fish or melds. Than your past your means. Its like any thing if you want it you will adjust to get it. But if you can't keep maintenance on it due to the cost. Than your past your means.

 

[Michael Gilbreath]

Im single so after bills are paid and all other expenses for month are paid whats left is budget for tanks.

 

[Vanquishxxx]

I don’t think most reefers have a line. The addiction is strong

 

[WVNed]

as long as I can afford the cat tuna and some ramen

 

[drstardust]

After you life needs are met, what is money for but to spend on things you enjoy?

 

[RichReef]

It was probably inaccurate to say I'll never buy new.

Sometimes, it pays to get what you want

Buying used doesn't mean not getting what you want.

maybe buying used does make sense.

There hasn't been a time in the last 41 years that I didn't have some sort of multiple fish tanks. Never less than 2.

I'm in the middle of a new build now, getting what I want. It's a 48x24x30 150 Gallon. Nice and deep. Perfect for me and where I want it. Paid 250 for the tank and a 30 inch stand only 2 years old. I will probably build over the stand for a more classy look.

Current tank is a 55 gallon to house my livestock from my 90 gallon 36x24x24, which I paid 200 for and sold for 300 to buy the 150 which netted +50.

55 was free.
Maxspect 15k Razor used and updated. 200
2x Maxspect XF 150. Bought both for 325. Had to replace 1 motor due to human error which was new.
Precision Marine skimmer rated for 200 gallons. Came with the 150.
Eshopps sump. Came with the 90. The 150 came with a wet dry. Not sure on brand.
Heaters came with the setups I bought.
Mag 950, and 2 1800. Came with the tanks I bought.
Coralife skimmer came with the tanks.
Current Marine 4 bulb T5 fixture, over frag tank came with tanks I bought.
40 breeder frag tank ($40)
I have at least 10 powerheads that came with those 2 tanks.

That just scratches the surface of the extra equipment I have. Scrapers. Mag floats. Air pumps. HOB filters. Fluval 5 canister. Magnum canister. All with those 2 tanks. I keep thinking of more but I'm sure you get the drift.

So my current build with out plumbing will cost me 475 + the 250 I just spent on a Halmilton MH, T5 hybrid, used.

All those setups also came with rock. I have an entire 50 gallon tub of Fiji live rock that's been cooking for a year which was included in those purchases. There is also a bunch more that's in the 55 and my frag tank right now. My new build refugium will be a 75 gallon which was free. Lighted by the Razor.

Yup. 475 and my wow factor will be just as good as anyone else's.

I do plan on splurging for the plumbing and overflow though. I want it neat and clean looking. I'll probably splurge on the pump(s) also considering the setup will be in the basement for the display. But I've seen some good pumps for used prices but I want to keep a back up. So I'll probably have to go new.

I rather spend the bulk of my expendable money on drag racing and my 89 MPH jet ski.