financing your trucks?

[RussTburb]

Okay so as a average income, blue collar worker there is always too much month left at the end of the money! So how do you guys get money to spend on your trucks? In the past I have been able to fix other peoples cars at my house for money but that got old always having someone elses project at my place, and no place to park my own cars in the driveway. Any thoughts?

[Longhorn Man]

average income, blue collar worker there is always too much month left at the end of the money

This sounds like my situation.
Here is what I have done to help the situation.
I opened my own seperate account at the bank. If you don't have any cash on hand, it won't get spent on stupid crap. I take X amount of cash every week and it goes into the account. I use that money for junk yarding on weekends and get little things that I think will sell on here. (Little things are real cheap to ship) Whan that money comes in, it goes straight into my account.
I have a deal with the wife that most little things, or routine main on my truck comes out of the family account...but things that I don't really need, or restoration stuff or whatever, comes out of my pocket.
It does work, and if you get a hit on your hands (like my glove box lights were) then you can see the cash pile grow quite a bit.

[ozarkhippie]

Where there is a will there is a way

[breeh]

With 1-4 trucks on hand at any one time I occasionally get the drive by individual who wants to get rid of a truck cheap. If I get the right price I can usually part it and make a few bucks to float my hobby. Also, keep your eyes peeled for backyards and such for possibilities. Sometimes all you have to do is offer some cash to pick them up cheap. I only buy trucks with some desireable stuff. The problem is you have to have space. I sometimes push the limit on space!

[RussTburb]

the old "IT TAKES MONEY, TO MAKE MONEY" gig again! and as far as space goes I got some, but there is a dang motorhome and my buddies chevette in the way! I got trucks all over two countrys man! USA and CANADA. Oh yeah did I mention my wife?jj. keep it comming guys anybody cut fire wood and then sell it? how about lanscaping? what kind of side jobs do you guys do?

[ozarkhippie]

[jorgensensc]

I do something similar to Longorn Man. My only difference is that I try and buy large ($80-100) items from our joint account. The theory is this: When my wife sees 1 receipt for say 90.00 se is like o.k no big deal. However, heres the odd thing, let her see 15 reciepts that add up to say 75.00 and she thinks I'm spending all our money on the truck. I buy little things with my money and larger things with ours. When the going gets too rough, I remind her my truck is paid for, Hers is not for the next 5 yrs @ a grip of money a month. Works almost every time. Also my insurance is cheaper

[RussTburb]

So, maybe not a good idea to be reading these with the wife sitting right next to me!lol She is reminding me that one of my projects BIG blue is her daily driver!!

[RussTburb]

And here is a look at the FLEET:

[Class of 69]

I'm a self employed owner/operator. My wife is so used to me buying big ticket items for my Pete, like the $1800.00 radiator rebuild I have to pickup tomorrow and reinstall, and the $1500.00 front differential on the floor of the shop to put in, that when I spend a couple hundred bucks on the 69, she don't even bat an eye!!

[jorgensensc]

To Mrs. RussTburb,
Please pay no attention to my last post please I'm an insane crazy man!!!!!

[Longhorn Man]

$1800!?
Bummer it couldn't have gone out around here...I KNOW we coulda saved you some cash...Quite a bit of cash too.

[RussTburb]

Originally posted by jorgensensc
To Mrs. RussTburb,
Please pay no attention to my last post please I'm an insane crazy man!!!!!

mr. and mrs. russtburb...lmao,
she says you are only as crazy as me!

[Class of 69]

Andy, it's 12 years old with 900,000 miles on it. It was totally rotten. New core, and expansion tank, plus assembly, and testing. That's with me doing the R&R !!!

[gonebad2]

I sometimes sell a few small things on ebay but that noway near supports my hobby. I used to have the same problem too. Too much month at the end of the money. I have worked at the same natural gas utility co. for 20 years (19 years old when I started).I started at the lowest entry level job they had. I was the guy that went out and collected on late bills or shut the gas off. I did that for quite a while and got tired of not having the money I needed to build the trucks I wanted. I gave up on the trucks for a few years and went to school. I've moved up, make more money and now I can build the trucks I want. It's never too late to go back to school....It worked for me.

[jamis]

I work a lot of OT when I need some extra $, about 28 hours this week but now i'm too tired to work on my project

I always put a $ amount on my projects, Thats why I'm painting the frame with rustoleom instead of epoxy or powder coat. Thats why the frame notch only cost me a few welding rods and some scrap metal (not rusty crap metal, new left over peices). It always works out better if you plan as much a you can to stay within a budget and pick and choose what areas are most important to you. Places I dont go cheap on is brakes, steering and suspension.


As far as the wife goes, any time she sees UPS drop something at the door she asks "what are we building, a mail order truck" I then gracefully point at the $3500 couch she's sitting on (I could have just put the old bench seat out of my truck in front of the TV) and the $5000 dinning room table we use once a year (how about some blocks and a sheet of 4x8 plywood) . Then I ask her would you like a tour of the rest of the house?

But all kidding aside, she's great about all my craziness.

[70c10]

RussTburb, You can go to any bank and use that truck as collateral. The minimum value is about $2850 site unseen. The high is about $11,500. I just checked last week with my bank. Don't forget you will have to make a monthly payment but it's cheap and you get the cash on the spot. My bank uses a special guide for older vehicles.

[N2TRUX]

I take quarters from little kids Actually that isn't a joke. I operate arcade video games for a living...

[jmanz69]

I do some powder coating in my garage for people who want it done. Small stuff only. I can blast and coat in the same place. I charge to clean it if they don't bring it to me ready to coat. Not much, but enough to make it worth my time. I go with $10/hr for blasting, which is good if you shop around here for blasting prices. Then the cost of coating depends on the size of the part and how much powder it will use. I can do engine brackets up to 18 inches, and frame brackets too. I can do larger stuff, but don't really like to. Any one need some small stuff coated? Let me knwow.

I got the gun off ebay cheap, got a used double oven free from a nieghbor, and had my electrician nieghbor rewire my garage (I'm too lazy to do it myself) because he owed me for working on his car. OT at my office has prety much gone away since the economy is so bad. I also sell stuff on ebay. Not long ago, I bought a small turbo for $71 shipped to my door. I sold it a week later on ebay for $152 plus shipping. SOld the old cylinder head off my boat engine for $192 just this week. I look for stuff that has been listed with titles that will make it harder for others to find, buy it cheap and resell it. Also found if you clean it up, say blast and powder coat or paint it, then it will sell for more with minimal investment.

You have to get creative.

[palallin]

My truck is not a hobby: it's my daily driver and my work truck. Therefore, the money I spend on it is family budget money, just like the money that gets spent on my wife's Blazer or any of the other cars she's owned. When it's time for big-ticket items, we suck it up and pay as the paychecks come in or we wait for things like Tax Refunds.

Right now, I'm just about to finish the current round of work, and I've been paying on the bill all along the process. I hope to have very little to pay off here at the end.

[RussTburb]

Originally posted by N2TRUX
I take quarters from little kids Actually that isn't a joke. I operate arcade video games for a living...

you guys are killing me!

[1970blazin]

Well at my house things work a little differently...Don't get to jealous guys! I am a stay at home mom of 2 little boys. My hubby is a self-employed welder. I have my architectural drafting degree, so I do about one house plan a month, and everything I make goes into the "Blazer account" Yesterday I got paid from my latest house plan and bought power windows from A-1 Electric!!! Woo Hoo!! It works good for us. My husband makes more than enough to pay the bills, and we don't go into debt to fix up the Blazer....Also am thinking about selling my daily driver once the Blazer is ready for driving. That will save us the $365 a month payment on the Honda I drive. Plus I will be stylin' in a head turnin' 1970 Blazer!!! - You boys just gotta get a woman that loves trucks as much as you do...we are hard to find. He! He!

[Ackattack]

Well I have a decent paying job, but my wife is still in college, so it doesn't leave a lot left over for the truck. I pretty much use christmas/birthday/anniversary presents for parts. Plus I do a little bit of wrenching on the side for extra money.

The good news is the wife is done with college next month That will let me get the few things left on the truck, and then it will be finished (new wheels and tires and then just a few other little things).

[VTKidder]

I finance my parts buying with parts buying. I'll start out with X money, and buy some parts at the junkyard. Through the magic of ebay, on say $50 to started out spending, I may turn around $150 (I NEVER buy anything to sell unless I know up front I'm going to AT LEAST double my money). I take the initial $50 I spent, put it back in my wallet and go shopping for parts again. That $100 profit goes into my PayPal account, and when I've accumulated $200-300, I go shopping for a big ticket item. People that don't know squat about these rigs can be really hosed by those of us that know them, and know what parts can bring. I also don't sell anything that I think will be a pain in the a$$ to ship. Small, high demand items, such as rear seat hold-downs for example, are the ultimate score.

I'm blue collar like the rest of us, and a little cash doesn't go far. I prefer to make my spending money from the guy that doesn't know what he's selling me for $5.

[biglou55]

I work a full time carpenter job. part time roofing business with my son also a lawnmower/snowblower business out of my garage. my wife is disabled. I hunt for trucks in back yards/fields etc/etc. haul them home and strip them of all usable parts. only buy new when i have too and can afford it. anybody need a good 3/4 ton 69 lwb frame (FREE ) I hate to junk them. once thier gone thier is no replacing them. I will get one of my trucks finished eventually.