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Comment by chasd00 | Hacker News Reader

Most of my money is spent on mortgage, property tax, electricity and then food (including eating out). I’m married with two teenage boys so food is a decent chunk of change. Money left over is spent on family vacations in the summer, savings for college and retirement, and extracurricular things for the boys like piano, boxing lessons, and GPUs (heh my youngest has expensive taste in hardware). I have a couple hobbies, high power rocketry and competitive pistol shooting, that consume maybe $200/month on average.

I don’t really spend a lot of money on “things” per se. Mostly tools, materials, and other consumables for my hobbies.

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Good to see a balanced spend amount on the competitive shooting. I know it can get crazy spending wise.

I’m just getting started, along with my oldest son, I can definitely see it getting out of control expensive.

High power rocketry basically has no upper bound on expense. You can build a rocket to reach the karman line with commercially available components and launch it in Nevada with minimal oversight. The certifications required to purchase the propellant and launch with Tripoli insurance will take about 1.5 years to reach. The limiting factor is just $$ spent on propellant and testing. It’s a ridiculous hobby expense wise.

I have similar goals, get enough land to do hobby rocketry and get back to long range shooting. Both require a lot of land haha. Bumming it out at publicly available land at the moment. Awesome to hear you're enjoying the hobby with your son!

this sounds mind numbingly depressing :(

Are you happy?

coming back to this, i'm happier now than ever but i do think about what life is going to be like when my boys head off to college. Pretty much all of my interests are shared with them, from favorite coffee shops, to games, hobbies, to even coding. Because of that, money spent on the family should probably count as if it's only spent on me. I sometimes wonder if my identity is tied to closely to theirs, i have no idea what i'm going to do with myself once they are out of the house. I have about 3 years left with my oldest and then another 3 with my youngest, it goes by so fast.

Getting decent set of tools is one of the best things ever.

I've travelled lots, but raising kids and fixing and building shit around house is so rewarding.

Traveling with kids is the ultimate flex tho.

It sounds perfectly fine to me - a happy family, enough to indulge in some interesting hobbies and provide for all other life needs.

Why on earth would you find that depressing?

they spend only $200 on themselves.

Not much less than I spend and I'm not missing anything I want to have or do. Mostly a few books and a meal out with a good friend sometimes. I could spend more, I just don't have the need.

I treat myself with cheap milk chocolate and caffeinated beverages. I have the expensive equipment and subscriptions I need, and the more expensive chocolate doesn’t make me happier. The thing I can’t buy is time and skill progression.

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