Who all tracks their spending and plans on their projects?

[chrislehr]

Do you dare post the xls?

Here's mine.. 6 mos of ownership, and I have nearly doubled what I paid for the truck in parts and fixing things up here and there. My planned upgrades nearly triple it.



I know many of you spend a WHOLE lot more.. im wondering if there is budget behind some of these builds..

Im far more happy to buy a 3k vehicle and watch the "value" increase then a 35k new vehicle worth 25k with 1 mile on it.

A day one pic:


Here is how she sits today:

[Sport/Truck]

It's pretty easy to double the price of these trucks! I had mine for 2 months before I pulled the front end off!
I'm real close to getting it running again, but have to spend the weekend replacing a clutch on my commuter car......

As far as budget....I don't have one. I pull something off, I ether clean it or replace it.
But what your doing is probable the best way. Some jump in without a clue to what it's going to cost. They get overwhelmed, run out of money and loose interest.
s/t

[Boog]

oooooh no, no I dont' keep up with it. I am not in this for the investment. I also do not plan to sell it so I look at it as just money spent enjoying a hobby. I think many of us really do not want to know just how much we have spent. It's not like a contest to see who can spend the most or anything...or is it? I guess you could keep up with it then compare with others to see how much you got done for the least amount of $, if you wanted.

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by Boog

oooooh no, no I dont' keep up with it. I am not in this for the investment. I also do not plan to sell it so I look at it as just money spent enjoying a hobby. I think many of us really do not want to know just how much we have spent. It's not like a contest to see who can spend the most or anything...or is it? I guess you could keep up with it then compare with others to see how much you got done for the least amount of $, if you wanted.

I agree, it's just a hobby and nobody budgets their hobbies do they?
s/t

[tcb-1]

I have an Excel spread sheet as well, but it mysteriously hasn't been updated in a LONG time.

[chrislehr]

Originally Posted by Boog

oooooh no, no I dont' keep up with it. I am not in this for the investment. I also do not plan to sell it so I look at it as just money spent enjoying a hobby. I think many of us really do not want to know just how much we have spent. It's not like a contest to see who can spend the most or anything...or is it? I guess you could keep up with it then compare with others to see how much you got done for the least amount of $, if you wanted.

lol - im far from considering this an investment, but I am anal about spending and like to track what I put into projects, so this time around I started tracking it. I had one for my old car (a Subaru WRX) and I dumped 10k into that in the 5 years I owned it (yikes, talk about bad investments)

[Palf70Step]

I track all my vehicles in an access database. I guess that comes from the Project Manager side of me

[LUV2XCLR8]

If I did ............. and my wife were to find it .............

[ksjh1316]

I am just as bad i have a spreadsheet with the total cash in hand to spend and every purchase itemised to not run over. I add back in parts sold in another catagory and even have a seperate catagoty fot tax on the final body work. The sheet is just as fun as the truck trying to get out of a set budget what you want can be a great puzzle

[Shyguy]

I like your approach to keeping records of your progress and expenditures on your project. I too am keeping track of things, but I think I like the way you are doing it better.

It looks like you have been working hard and made a lot of improvements.

My project started out more modest, my two parts trucks and short frame cost me $450 and after we have put everything together to make one truck I have about double into it. The project was originally supposed to be my grandson's but he had other priorities and I bought it from him so he could do other stuff he wanted.

I guess I have had my project for about six months. I started with a non running engine and now it moves under its own power with a l6 and 4 speed.

Here is a before and after picture. It started out as a '67 C-20 lwb stepper and now is a '67 C-10 swb stepper.

Keep up the good work.

Danny

[Green Machine]

I've started to keep track a few times, we've done two trucks and working on a third, would be nice to know for sure what we've spent but it would scare me I'm sure. Kind of hard to keep track of the little items, like $5 for some bolts, and taking the time to write down everything. I figure it's going to cost whatever it costs to get it done to the level we want to get to, so it does not matter what it costs, except what the wallet can handle. It would likley be kind of depressing to know what it really costs, because things add up so fast.

[shortbed70]

Yea it adds up in a hurry. I've had mine for 5 years and just started purchasing parts two years ago while I enjoyed it for a while now its getting down to the time to tear down and start the restomod process. I have all the reciepts for the last 3 years of stuff I've bought and even the small reciepts from parts stores along with my bigger purchases totalling the high side of 2G's just for parts setting on the shop floor and I haven't started on the body yet,suspension,interior parts of the motor....Like boog said I dont keep track for the resale purchase I just like to know what I have in it and so the insurance company also knows what I have in it. I've heard horror stories about these trucks getting totaled and not getting 1/100th of what they've put into them.

[BACKYARD88]

I save all of my receipts but I refuse to add them up until I get finished. Hopefully I'll still be young to keep from having a heart attack when I do

[msgross]

I started adding mine up like that for the first year... now I stopped, but should catch up.

I haven't saved receipts either, all the small things (bolts, spraypaint, etc..) get skipped.

Then the wife was looking at the numbers and that wasn't good, looks like I need to protect the spreadsheet with a password!

[blukangoo]

I don´t even want to know. I still have all the receipts in the shop but am too lazy to add them all up.
If I did, I would probably kick my own butt before my wife gets to it.
She doesn´t have any idea what I have put into it either.
She does know what it cost me and what it cost to get it over here.

[68shortstep]

Truck, all improvements such as a swapped & rebuilt "new" old 350 engine, auto trans & axles swap, plus lotsa other things - mostly operation & safety to this point -totals right at about $ 7,900 for me.

What's it worth ? Probably half that, if I was lucky, given that it still "needs" interior work, some minor rust repair, full re-wire or extensive electrical re-do, bed wood, AC, etc, etc, etc. It never stops.

But who's counting ? You have to plan on losing/spending significant money to jump into doing one of these, but it's still way more fun and way less loss than buying a new car or truck........ And the new econo-boxes don't EVER get "the look" & the thumbs-up that cruising in one of ours ALWAYS does.

Like Chrislehr said at the start of this thread: "Im far more happy to buy a 3k vehicle and watch the "value" increase then a 35k new vehicle worth 25k with 1 mile on it."

[Sinisterspeed]

I originally tried to keep track. Now I can just think back at the items I can remember I bought, and its to much in itself. If I actually knew I would probably just stop now and part it out.
I prioritize it like this myself. I can have anything I want it just takes time. I have to balance how much time it takes with how much it costs to do the next step. I usually just keep going until I run out of money or parts again then it just sits until I can save some money for the next big purchase again.
Right now its been 7 years on this one and probably approaching 20k. Its at the paint shop right now and I am bracing myself for the outcome.

If I kept track I would probably see the error of my ways. For now I just stay with the ideology of :
If I start it I finish it.
and :
If I can think of it, I can build it.

[pmpski_1]

I keep track with most of my vehicles, mostly just to see how much it costs me per mile. I haven't added up all the reciepts for the truck yet.

I have a motorcyle that I don't ride often enough, so the spreadsheet is a little reminder for me to go out and reduce the cost per mile by putting more mileage on it!

[cameeks]

I made a list just to keep me on track with what I planed to do in the beginning. That way I dont get side tracked.

[Riveted1]

Originally Posted by BACKYARD88

I save all of my receipts but I refuse to add them up until I get finished. Hopefully I'll still be young to keep from having a heart attack when I do

Haha same here. I just have a folder that I put all of my receipts into. I have a ledger for the used parts I buy in there too. It's mostly for me to look at when I'm done and see where I could spend more efficiently on the next project.

[whatnow123]

I tracked mine and (gulp) went way over what I thought I'd be into it for and I'm still not done.

[PanelDeland]

I have a basic understanding of what I have in mine.It's a little more than I would have in improvements to a new truck but a lot less than a H2.I figger if it ain't writ down the QOV can't complain.I also upgrade instead of repairing so I would have a lot less in it if I just fixed stuff.I still haven't started paint and body so When completed I will probably have about half a new vehicle in it,plus lots of sweat equity.I do sell my labor to me pretty cheap though.

[Pont406]

I have 2k in my 69 including a purchase price. I still need to do suspension and tires. I am starting to think that I got ripped off. Probably another grand or so but it's at least twice cheaper to play with compare to my other toy.

[ChevLoRay]

I have a very good idea, and to appease my bride, I don't tell her anything. Her first husband (deceased) was a womanizing, pool-playing, beer-drinker and I don't do any of that....well, maybe a beer every other month or three...if I am hot from mowing the yard....and it's a really, really, really cold beer.

She asked me how much it would take to get it in the shape I wanted to be in, back in Nov. 99. I told her that I would probably have as much in it as a new truck by the time I got through. I ain't through and trucks keep gettin' pricier. Yaaaahooooooo!!

[jayharrell]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8

If I did ............. and my wife were to find it .............

I'm with yah on that one...