What does everyone do to support their reefing hobby?

[Blknovass]

HVACR service tech.

 

[ianryd]

I'm a professional tattoo artist. My LFS owner and his family like tattoos and believe in the barter system.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I’m a Specialized Bounty Hunter. I recapture escaped invisible fleas and return them to the invisible flea circus. :p

 

[Jcascioli]

Finance Manager, told the wife that the tank is for our 6 month old daughter

 

[Rich1987]

I own a HVAC business. Therefore I try not to think of reef keeping as anything other then weekly material expenses

 

[JoshO]

This is purely out of curiosity on my part. I'd like to hear what some of you do to financially support your reef keeping hobby. Is it satisfied by your main job? Picked up a side gig? Have a successful side fragging business going? I work full time as a firefighter/critical care paramedic to pay the bills and either try to pick up some side work, sell something I don't need anymore or pick up used reef stuff to use to keep the financial burden low and the wife/accountant happy.

Good to see fellow firefighter on the forum . OT is the funding for me...when it's actually available that is

 

[Not an IT guy]

IT nerd for an organization systems administrator to be exact.

 

[AmaleeC]

I’m a lawyer but my wife hates spending communal earnings on reef stuff so I secretly donate plasma when I need a big new purchase lol

LOL I was just thinking of doing this today! I want a hammer coral SO bad, but don’t want to have to wait to budget in the money for it. You’re my role model ;Hilarious ;Hilarious

 

[mkwarner77]

i began exploring my backyard for oil..gold...silver..dropped change...etc

 

[Luna]

I pretty much save my pennies til I have enough to buy something. Oh and that good old tax check helps too. I buy cheaper options or used equipment.

 

[siggy]

OVERTIME !!!
My Policy - " YOU PAY - I STAY " !!!

OT is where I make my extra money, the problem with that is the wife will say "What are you doing home" when I
only work 8 hours :mad:
I also do Industrial salvage and auctions. Machine installations and rebuilding.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

I work as a business development manager for a medtech company, that funds my hobbies.

I do however sell some fraggs every now and again, helps with the wife-acceptance-factor.

 

[Bob Escher]

Cash my S.S. check each month.

That must be in heck of a check compared to mine

 

[FMF0331]

I am a massage therapist living in a resort town that is stupid expensive. I fund the tanks by extra side clients. sometimes I dont feel like it but then I think oh i'll have some extra cash to spend on the tanks that usually does it. I have a lot of time to think about all the corals and upgrades for my tanks....not sure if that is a good think or not...lol

I agree with your stupid expensive quote ..... i just got back from Jackson Hole WY.
Snowmobiling into Yellowstone and snowboarding at Jackson Hole

 

[GlassMunky]

It’s called working a job lol

 

[Devaji]

I agree with your stupid expensive quote ..... i just got back from Jackson Hole WY.
Snowmobiling into Yellowstone and snowboarding at Jackson Hole

there a saying around these parts that the billionaires are pushing out the millionaires...
so what about us "normal" folks it does suck working a nd living in a place where you will never be able to own your own home. fixer uppers start around 800K then go up to 20+M

its sure is beautiful tho...

back to the thread topic...

also to help support the hobby I dont:
drink coffee
drink beer
smoke weed or cigarettes or other Drugs for that matter..LOL
eat meat
go out to dinner more then 2X a month

I make under 20K living in one of the more expensive places in the US and some how I manage to reef. do I have all the fancy gears and top of the line coral NO but i am grateful to be able to have a reef or two :D

on a side note I think most Americans are not that good with there money. we tend to over spend on credit cards and end up paying way more for it interest.
if I cant pay for it in cash I dont need it. some times I have a 0% CC that I will buy bigger ticket ideams like apex and new tank but will have a plain to pay it off way before the interest kicks in. I dont pay interest period ( differently on reef stuff ) well I did have a car loan like 5 years ago but it was so low it was OK .

just some food for thought.

 

[CavalierReef]

I started working on the wife prior to retiring from the Navy. My military disability pay would be mine to support my hobbies...all other pay (retirement and post mil job) would be hers to divy out to bills, family stuff, and saving. It's been 5 years, so far so good. I still get the "wow that's a lot of packages this week" but I'm pretty free to feed my addictions.

What an awesome plan. Wish I had thought of that when I retired from the AF. Think I'll implement it beginning next month!

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

Self imployed contractor.

 

[Jax15]

I am a software developer in my career, but I have a side gig that pays for the majority of what I spend in the hobby. Monthly, I allow myself $100 from my day-job's paycheck and $300-$400 from the side gig. That gives me a total of $400-$500 per month, depending on what I want to purchase. Most months, I spend $400, but I spent more this month to get a backup Apex system. I'm currently using the money to purchase backup equipment that will cover the entirety my setup (Apex, modules, lights, skimmer, return pumps, dosers, et al), except for the tank, stand, and sump. I'm trying my best to be a responsible hobbyist, which is expensive.

This is what I say to my hobby funds when I place my orders on the first of every month.

a backup Apex? wow what is that side job of yours

 

[aap15]

Safety Manager for a Heavy Industrial GC.