How much $$$ did you spend on gear?

[The Real MC]

I finished my inventory on excel last night... the total expenditure* came to over $71,000!!!

 

That's enough to buy a house.

 

I'm still renting.

 

uh... time for a serious change in priority.

[McHale]

I won't do all of my gear. Last year was $13,000+ alone though. And for some dumb reason, I'm looking at PolySix's and MonoPoly's again.

 

-Mc

[tremens]

I finished my inventory on excel last night... the total expenditure came to over $71,000 !!! That's enough to buy a house. I'm still renting. uh... time for a serious change in priority.

 

wow, I hope that's not in 2009 alone

is it amount you spent and kept or did you sell some of it?

 

 

I am much better, it's around $7k what's my current gear is worth and I lost around $3k on selling old gear so total would ~ $10k.

 

 

The other more important question would be have your gear earned something back?

[daviel]

If you really want to feel bad, figure present market value against what you spent. eBay [completed listing] - or craigs List [sold] values? or at worst garage sale prices? or is that what you spent? electronic instruments depreciate worse than used cars.

[The Real MC]

No that's since 1981 and does not include gear I have sold

 

inventory = assets currently in your possession

 

Has my gear earned something back? Oh yeah I made good $$$ from gigging. Now that I am semi-retired from gigging I am enjoying the transition to recording.

 

Is the market value worth my investment? It comes out about even (the vintage moogs are a big help)

[daviel]

I think it's all worth it!

[droolmaster0]

hmmm - would you rather have a place you own and no gear, or rent and have some nice gear?

[The Real MC]

I bought most stuff between 1985 and 1993 until I got married. Had a good paying job then.

 

Between 2000 and 2004 I went through a pretty bad divorce.

 

After the divorce, I landed a new job and started earning a really good salary.

 

I decided to claim payback for the five f***ing years during the divorce when she did everything to keep me tied down. She maxxed out the credit cards to the tune of $30,000, ran up all kinds of extravagant expenses, and dragged the divorce process out so long that my legal expenses ran $30,000+. HER legals bills ran to $30,000 and she tried to petition the court to sack ME with those bills. Thankfully the judge was none the wiser as he saw who the REAL victim was.

 

The payback for those five f***ing years has gone on long enough...

 

You don't get the whole picture when you buy piecemeal at a time. Add it all up and it's an eye-opener!

[The Real MC]

 

hmmm - would you rather have a place you own and no gear, or rent and have some nice gear?

 

 

Come back with that question when you reach retirement age and are stuck renting on a reduced fixed income.

[Emory]

Well...... with housing prices down, maybe you can take some consolation in that.... to paraphrase Furry Freak Brothers, "Guitars will get thru times of no women better than women will get you thru times of no guitars"..... depends on the woman.... depends on the guitar. Advantages of guitars (I am sure there are more): you can put it in a case when you are tired of playing with it; when it starts sounding bad you just change the strings; if you get the right one it is worth more when it gets older; sometimes distortion is a good thing; no one gets angry when you wrap your hand around it's neck; and it likes to be played

[MuzikB]

 

I finished my inventory on excel last night... the total expenditure* came to over $71,000 !!! That's enough to buy a house. I'm still renting. uh... time for a serious change in priority.

 

 

Just check out that other thread about "all the gear you've ever owned."

 

Your not the only one that's dished the dough. Part of the reason I got over the software thing and embraced them.

 

I also suggest that if your not already, start getting a return on your investments. It'll change your train of thought and make you prioritize.

[rhat]

Not that much ,, I am cheap

[playstation]

Well, the only thing that made Real Estate a good investment was the fact that it would go way up in value to offset the terrible screw job you get in paying the bank all that up-front interest.

 

Now, there isn't likely to be that big a jump in value , so all you do is pay a bank interest first for many years and barely chip away at the loan value.

 

Just ain't what it used to be.

[erok123]

Maybe $750 tops. I just really only got the synth bug last year. I went with older, cheaper gear that I thought sounded good or always wanted. Got a lot for my money:

 

1. Yamaha DX7

2. Ensoniq EPS 16+

3. Ensoniq VFXsd

4. Korg DW8000

5. Ensoniq SQ1

 

Softsynths:

 

1. FM8 (Got the download special for $99!)

 

I can make a lot of cool sounds with all that stuff!

[bruto]

I've probably got $7k sitting around the house right now. That includes synths, guitars, basses, a piano, amps, cables, and software.

 

The only thing on my radar for this year is a mic or two. I only have one and it's actually a karaoke mic.

[Yoozer]

Luckily, my five digits start with a 1. Barely, thanks to the current value of the USD. The most valuable synth in my studio? The MIDI-fied Juno-60, on par with my Virus C. It's the only thing that has gone up in value, too.

[Gribs]

Consider the fact that most guys who own a house when they get divorced end up being taken to the cleaners on it and losing it to their ex-wives, it is probably a good thing that you didn't own a house. I have a divorced buddy at work who bought his first house with cash he saved up before getting married, put another 100k in renovations hired, plus uncounted hours of personal time/work (this is a 3 story Victorian in a really high end area called St Anthony Park in St Paul) and still owns it but his ex-wife has occupancy until his kids graduate from high school. Meanwhile he is paying a mortgage on a second house. For sure he will never go back to the first - it will just get sold. This is a guy that lives very frugally and saves his money - that is how he got the first house. Get this - he was told by a judge that putting more than something like 15 percent (I can't remember the exact number, but it is the limit for pre-tax savings deducted from your income that you can put into your 401k with deferred tax payment) is a LUXURY and that he had to stop doing that and use some of the money to pay alimony to his ex-wife. His ex-wife has a degree as a nurse practitioner (pays about 150k or more per year - more than an industrial scientist like my buddy) but does just part-time clerical work at a local college and lives off alimony and money from her rich doctor daddy.

 

Another friend of mine hid as much money in artwork and investments in his native Netherlands when his first wife filed for divorce. He ended up in an apartment for several years and she kept their nice house in South Minneapolis.

 

Anyway having your money in gear was probably a good move since is comprises assets that you can show you need to make money as a musician. But yeah, having a home when and if you retire would be a good thing. Personally I do not plan to really retire. Change occupation and focus yes but retire no.

 

Incidentally, the first friend above is planning to use the money from selling his first house to put his kids through college and then he is planning to give the rest to charity. Philosophically in terms of money he has become a very interesting person - lives frugally, saves what he needs to continue his frugal lifestyle when he retires, takes great care of his kids, and gives the rest away.

[jdubbs]

I'm probably around 15k though my spending has decreased dramatically since I was married:)

 

Roland A90

Korg X3

Roland Fantom X8

Hammond XK-3

Nord Stage 88

Motion Sound Pro-3T

Motion Sound LO-PRO

Motion Sound KBR-3D

JBL Eon 15 Pair

[tremens]

you'll lose half what you both earned whether is house or gear so doesn't really matter. Owning a house and have a own place for practicing and gigging not worrying about neighbors is great but in US real estates taxes are so freaking high and rising that you never actually own a house, even if it's payed off. Taxes would cover nice renting for whole year and more.

[The Real MC]

 

Consider the fact that most guys who own a house when they get divorced end up being taken to the cleaners on it and losing it to their ex-wives, it is probably a good thing that you didn't own a house.

 

 

I neglected to mention that I did buy a house when I got married. The bad investment was the ex as she was actually scheming to steal my assets from me through divorce laws. During the divorce she petitioned to keep the house and she would pay the mortgage with monies received from me. But in my financial audit I was able to prove that she missed three mortgage payments during the separation and had damaged my credit history. Using that reasoning, I demanded that if she wanted to keep the house then she would have to refinance the mortgage in her name before I submitted to her proposal.

 

She was in no position to qualify for a mortgage so the only choice was to sell the marital residence after the divorce. This was spelled out in the stipulation and it also specified that she was not to interfere in the sale of the house in any way. But when she refused to sign the sales contract when a buyer was found (surprise surprise), I quickly filed contempt papers - the judge wanted her in his court in two weeks (same judge who recently oversaw my divorce), and her divorce attorney refused to represent her. She signed the papers.

 

Then she had the gall to request $$$ for moving expenses, despite the alimony (read: free meal ticket and free living expenses) she had been receiving. I was not obligated to give her anything beyond the alimony, so I responded to her request with silence.

 

So I lost a nice house in addition to five years of my life tied down to divorce.

 

Payback for my next house will be sweet, and I have heard too many stories of women extorting pre-marital residences from their SO so I am not very trusting of women in today's rigged system against men.

 

...pardon the rant, that wasn't the intention of this thread.

[The Real MC]

Oh, in closing I note with glee that 99% of my gear was pre-marital so it was off-limits from the divorce, she couldn't touch it.

[eric]

I have not done a recent inventory, but certainly nowhere near $70k?!!!!?!!!

 

Probably in the $25k range, including vintage stuff and acoustic piano.

 

Regards,

Eric

[Gribs]

 

you'll lose half what you both earned whether is house or gear so doesn't really matter. Owning a house and have a own place for practicing and gigging not worrying about neighbors is great but in US real estates taxes are so freaking high and rising that you never actually own a house, even if it's payed off. Taxes would cover nice renting for whole year and more.

 

 

My real estate taxes are less than 3k per year. That will get you a nice two bedroom in Minneapolis for about 3 months. When we were first married we payed a little over $500 for something that was like 1/2 bedroom in Minneapolis (considered 1 bedroom but the room was not much bigger than a queen bed). That was 1990-93; we moved into our house fall 1993. My taxes would be much higher if my house were in either the city of Minneapolis or St Paul.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot that I probably spent about 7k on gear and software last year, about half of that made up in sales and trades of other gear, and I spent about 3k on piano lessons and music books for me and my oldest son. That is less than my total spent on mortgage plus real estate tax. So total cash outlay on gear, software, lessons, and music books was ballpark 6.5k, or about $550 / month.

 

When you consider that I put more than that this year into a new washer, drier, gas range, and maintenance for two vehicles (both older than 5 years), it is not really that bad. My Camry needs a new set of tires pretty badly though - that will probably be the major expense for January (sigh).

[tremens]

 

My real estate taxes are less than 3k per year. That will get you a nice two bedroom in Minneapolis for about 3 months.

 

 

wow, $3k? is MN so not expensive? In my area, NJ taxes for a small house starting ~$10k (in good neighborhood of course.) and renting starting ~900$+.

[soundwave106]

I will guesstimate my lifetime expenditures (expenditures minus income and gear sales) at roughly $40K or so since 1994. (I probably have $25K in inventory as well.)

 

But put another way: that's roughly $2500 a year. Eh. Some hobbies are worse than that.

 

$71,000 since 1981? Also roughly $2500 a year.

 

Yeah it goes and comes of course... I had a $15K year in 2008, since I finally got a house big enough to make a small corner studio. 2009 was more normal, about $3Kish.