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It has been a mixed bag lately... I would say most of it in the last year has gone into beefing up the rolling stock fleet. I've always had plenty of power, but nothing to pull behind it! I've recently cut back on that and have been spending more on building a layout finally and my "train room" part of the basement.

There is a list that easily uses $3,000 per month.  Large items are Medical insurance, utilities and food, including the transportation/car expense.  First SS deposit was March of this year. 

I had done the college expense for (4) wonderful children many years ago.  At the time it was insane.  Today I consider it the best money I ever spent.   I recently got a refresher on college expense, I was helping a deserving nephew with some of his Penn State burden. 

 

I have been gifted to be able to play with such insanity as model trains.  Hopefully this summer a trip to the Grand Tetons, and Glacier National Park. 

Last edited by Mike CT
Originally Posted by Mike CT:

There is a list that easily uses $3,000 per month.  Large items are Medical insurance, utilities and food, including the transportation/car expense.  First SS deposit was March of this year. 

I had done the college expense for (4) wonderful children many years ago.  At the time it was insane.  Today I consider it the best money I ever spent.   I recently got a refresher on college expense, I was helping a deserving nephew with some of his Penn State burden. 

 

I have been gifted to be able to play with such insanity as model trains.

 

Are you form Central PA? I usually go to Neely's Train Shop in Altoona to spend all of my money.  However; it was nice to have a few options in the area.  It's a bummer the train shop in State College closed.   The shop in Johnstown closed as well.  

Originally Posted by Panther97:
Originally Posted by Mike CT:

There is a list that easily uses $3,000 per month.  Large items are Medical insurance, utilities and food, including the transportation/car expense.  First SS deposit was March of this year. 

I had done the college expense for (4) wonderful children many years ago.  At the time it was insane.  Today I consider it the best money I ever spent.   I recently got a refresher on college expense, I was helping a deserving nephew with some of his Penn State burden. 

 

I have been gifted to be able to play with such insanity as model trains.

 

Are you form Central PA? Western PA.  I usually go to Neely's Train Shop in Altoona to spend all of my money.  However; it was nice to have a few options in the area.  It's a bummer the train shop in State College closed.  (2) out of four of the college degrees are Penn State, (1) Grove City, (1) Geneva.   The shop in Johnstown closed as well.  

 

Last edited by Mike CT
Originally Posted by Mike CT:
Originally Posted by Panther97:
Originally Posted by Mike CT:

There is a list that easily uses $3,000 per month.  Large items are Medical insurance, utilities and food, including the transportation/car expense.  First SS deposit was March of this year. 

I had done the college expense for (4) wonderful children many years ago.  At the time it was insane.  Today I consider it the best money I ever spent.   I recently got a refresher on college expense, I was helping a deserving nephew with some of his Penn State burden. 

 

I have been gifted to be able to play with such insanity as model trains.

 

Are you form Central PA? Western PA.  I usually go to Neely's Train Shop in Altoona to spend all of my money.  However; it was nice to have a few options in the area.  It's a bummer the train shop in State College closed.  (2) out of four of the college degrees are Penn State, (1) Grove City, (1) Geneva.   The shop in Johnstown closed as well.  

 

 

Excellent.  My family is from Western PA.  I always like to stop at Brady's Train Outlet when I'm in town.

I just spent all my money on replacing the heating, air conditioning, and hot water systems in my house. The house has two-zone HVAC, so two of everything except the water heater. Ouch! A rather large multiple of my train budget. I also spent much of the weekend clearing away the underbrush around the A/C compressors so the installers would have an easier time of it. However, not having to call the A/C repairman on a 110-degree weekend is priceless!

 

When I do have money for trains, it mostly goes for anything Milwaukee Road. I'm not buying much lately, because I have almost everything Milwaukee Road that's available. I kind of wish I'd expanded the train/workshop building before I started on the layout, but to do that now would cost a bundle and involve temporarily removing about half the layout, so it's not going to happen.

 
 
Last edited by Southwest Hiawatha
Originally Posted by Bob Severin:
Originally Posted by Putnam Division:

Up until last Monday, college tuition!    I'm done!

 

Peter

When it comes to children, you're never quite done.  Once you have them, they are yours for life, and the beat goes on.  Bob S.

And then along comes the grand children. They are more fun though. You can legally spoil them and when they wear you out you can just send them back home.

I've had a pretty complete collection of PW Lionel for a few years now...at least the stuff I really want.  Lately, I'm into passenger cars, in both HO and O scales.  O scale was preferred until recently because of the interior possibilities.  Now that Walthers is going nuts on "Name Trains", HO is getting the edge !  

1.  School tuition/camps/after-school activities;

2.  Taxes (federal, state, and local);

3.  Savings (before and after-tax, including college savings);

4.  Mortgage and home-improvement expenses (our house is at the age where everything ages out);

5.  Groceries;

6.  Automobile related expenses (insurance, fuel, repairs --cars are paid for but when they break they are expensive);

7.  Household services (cleaning, landscaping, etc.); and

8.  Clothes (kids again mostly).

 

As to the trains, I have two boys, they enjoy the hobby but we have too much stuff already and I don't want the O gauge hobby, for them, to become equated with constant consumption.  I want it to be about building things with their own hands, learning how to repair and service machines, learning about electricity, and taking pride in the result of your efforts.  These are all things that I learned as a kid and they have helped me in adulthood as I, like a lot of the folks here, can resolve a lot of household type issues without resorting to a repairman.  I also want them to respect these pieces and the family history that goes along with them -- many of them, for example, were purchased by my grandfather for my dad when he was a kid.  So we've basically stopped buying locomotives and rolling stock.  If they get bored with one of their (formerly my) older MPC or Williams locomotives, I will upgrade it for them so that it is more interesting and they can use the various remotes to run it.  We'll also spend on repair and restoration for an older piece (including accessories) if it is required for it to be enjoyable to use.  These types of things are generally not that expensive, so it means our budget is reasonable and under control.

 

 

Last edited by Ray Lombardo
Originally Posted by Alfred E Neuman:

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?

Rumor has it, that those 1% folks don't pay taxes anyway.  It's the rest of us, carrying the weight.

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