Where are y'all getting your money from?

[BuddhaReef]

Ok, I get it. Be a doctor/lawyer/engineer/software engineer, and make the big bucks to be able to send your kids to Ivy Leagues, have a nice car, AND get an awesome fish tank or 10 out of it.

But for the all of the 5 figure and under people (let's say the cutoff is 85K), how are you doing it? Do you just like...not have kids or something? Is there a trick to all the splurging you're able to do? Are there a bunch of low cost of living areas that I'm just not aware of/don't want to move to?

I keep seeing "I just bought this 200/300/1600 gallon [RedSea/Waterbox/expensive brand] aquarium and what do I do with it" posts, and I'm just...confused...do you just have this money lying around??

I guess I'm mostly just asking because my estimated yearly earnings is currently somewhere at around 40K in a high cost of living area once the job hiring starts again. Which means very little disposable income (bye bye avocado toast, I'll miss you, but aquariums gotta aquarium).

I'm a chef, my wife is an Executive Administrator for a health care company, and we pull less than 6 figures combined. We have no children, but lots of pets (parrots, finches, geckos, snakes, cat.)

My tank is bare bones, bottom bucket. Standard 30g, two HOB filters, two aqueon powerheads and two black boxes. My other two tanks were the same: 5g standard, HOB filter, cheap PAR38 leds; 10g standard, 2 HOB filters, cheap led + cheap t5HO. These tanks are like buying a seedling, or even seeds[for], bonsia, versus buying a 20 year old bonsai.

And I have to say, seeing growth and life in a "cheap" reef tank is something that can bring a lot of joy.

I would love an 100g sumped/skimmed/fuged/reactors/doser tank with radions and mp40s/gyres, but simply it is an unrealistic goal for the position I am at in life. I take joy/comfort in being able to create an environment like a reef on my means, and look up jealously/hopefully from the sand bed.

 

[gpd124]

What I do is when I see a torch that is $800 a head, I get together with seven other buddies and each chip in a hundred bucks and now we have an $800 torch and we take turns each one gets to keep it for one month and then the next buddy gets to keep it for the next month and so on and so on. that way I can say I have an $800 torch that cost me $100. What a deal

Brings a new meaning to “passing the torch”.....sorry, couldn’t help it!

 

[Kplum]

This is a silly thread, but interesting.. I won’t go into a lot, but my wife and I are in healthcare. 2 kiddos 14 and 6.. just built a 40b and finishing off with Some AI primes whenever my LFS gets them in.. I told my LFS which is 30min away I would support him instead of online.. so I had him order them..

 

[Sailingeric]

Printing press in the basement

 

[GJak]

I make ok money at my 9-5 but I'm also a single dad with bills to pay. I have a 100g with all of the supporting equipment I wanted for my setup and with livestock I'm probably sitting around 10-12k in on the tank.

The only reason I'm able to afford it is that I am able to contract out to other companies for side work and some disposable income so I'm lucky in that sense. I do end up working 12 hour days (sometimes more) when I don't have my son but I also could care less about expensive watches or cars etc. I like things that keep my brain active and the tank always has me tweaking things and solving problems. It's like a decade long science experiment, that's where the value is for me and how I justify the money spent on it.

 

[DSEKULA]

I toss on my morph suit walk into banks and tell them to give me all their money and they do?!

Lol, jkjk i run a business that operates and maintains water and wastewater treatment plants. I make ok cash but save up like anyone else. The nice thing is that due to the nature of my work i have to travel (noone brings a water treatment plant to you) and get to stop at all different lfs (up to 4hours away) I scoop up deals and plan purchases at a place where i know theres a decent price instead of being limited to one store that marks the same piece $100 more than a further one. This also allows me to meet up with reefers for trades at the end of a work day that would otherwise seem unreasonable distance wise. I keep a cooler, heater and air pump in my work truck just in case i find something good in my travels and need to transport it back, ive never had a store complain about getting a little extra water for my cooler transportation (it holds about 2gal max and ensures live arrival even if i really get stuck in traffic).

 

[Dennis Cartier]

I have been on both ends of the spectrum. When I was financially constrained, I DIY'd most of my equipment and bought Chinese pumps. Now that I can afford whatever I want, I have come to realize that it is not the 'stuff' that makes this hobby fun. It's the challenge and (hopefully) success.

As people with money have entered the hobby, the vendors have responded with higher and higher prices. Personally, I refuse to purchase $500 frags, not because I can't afford to, but because they are needlessly expensive. The vendors will keep raising the prices for as long as people are willing to pay.

If you are on a tight budget, my advice is to read the DIY forum. Lots of great ideas on there, and DIY is so fun (when it works out). Keep an eye out for yesterday's toys. The newest flashiest stuff often works no better than the stuff it replaced. This hobby is beset with minor incremental advancement, so the equipment that is no longer the latest and greatest will often be 85 or 90% as effective as the current big dollar model, and only be a fraction of what it cost new. Don't chase the latest fad. The Berlin system still works just as good as it did 20 years ago.

Dennis

 

[JaimeAdams]

What money?

 

[firmefatboy799]

overtime, depending on season its either dirtbike money,boat money, or fishtank money hahaha and then theres the 12 month hobbies hahaha darn!!,,,,, did I mention overtime? haha

 

[Jen1978]

Ok, I get it. Be a doctor/lawyer/engineer/software engineer, and make the big bucks to be able to send your kids to Ivy Leagues, have a nice car, AND get an awesome fish tank or 10 out of it.

But for the all of the 5 figure and under people (let's say the cutoff is 85K), how are you doing it? Do you just like...not have kids or something? Is there a trick to all the splurging you're able to do? Are there a bunch of low cost of living areas that I'm just not aware of/don't want to move to?

I keep seeing "I just bought this 200/300/1600 gallon [RedSea/Waterbox/expensive brand] aquarium and what do I do with it" posts, and I'm just...confused...do you just have this money lying around??

I guess I'm mostly just asking because my estimated yearly earnings is currently somewhere at around 40K in a high cost of living area once the job hiring starts again. Which means very little disposable income (bye bye avocado toast, I'll miss you, but aquariums gotta aquarium).

I personally just started a 55 gallon system. Bought bits at a time. New things I get as needed. I do not have kids at home anymore so yes that helps a lot. I am a former smoker though so if you add former cigarette money + sports for 2 kids = reefing money.

 

[SaltISlife]

I just showed your posting, I showed it to some millennials and they told me they remember reading about that in their history books. Oh yeah they said.....

Who do you consider a millenial.. Because alot of millenials are almost 40 years old now lol

Unless you mean Gen Z who are like 23 and under

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Who do you consider a millenial.. Because alot of millenials are almost 40 years old now lol

Unless you mean Gen Z who are like 23 and under

Yea, that's the ticket....Gen Z..... hahaha

 

[Mr. Fishy Fish]

Ok, I get it. Be a doctor/lawyer/engineer/software engineer, and make the big bucks to be able to send your kids to Ivy Leagues, have a nice car, AND get an awesome fish tank or 10 out of it.

But for the all of the 5 figure and under people (let's say the cutoff is 85K), how are you doing it? Do you just like...not have kids or something? Is there a trick to all the splurging you're able to do? Are there a bunch of low cost of living areas that I'm just not aware of/don't want to move to?

I keep seeing "I just bought this 200/300/1600 gallon [RedSea/Waterbox/expensive brand] aquarium and what do I do with it" posts, and I'm just...confused...do you just have this money lying around??

I guess I'm mostly just asking because my estimated yearly earnings is currently somewhere at around 40K in a high cost of living area once the job hiring starts again. Which means very little disposable income (bye bye avocado toast, I'll miss you, but aquariums gotta aquarium).

Personally, I created a saving fund for my build many years before I was ready to get back in the hobby. Plus it helps I don't have kids or a wife.

 

[mariano]

 

[Greybeard]

So... are you asking how folks with lesser incomes buy reef gear? Or are you asking how you can make more money?

If the former, used, DIY, Amazon, Ebay... less automation, more manual, simpler methods... Not going out after the latest greatest, maybe even targeting a softy reef, rather than expensive, maintenance intensive stix.

If the later... There's a TON of blue collar jobs out there where a person can make a good living. Have all the 'tank money' you might need. You working for minimum wage? Quit it! Smaller electrical contractors, family owned plumbing businesses... these type of companies will often train you, and once trained, you can make good money.

Learn a skill! Welding, plumbing, mechanic, concrete finishing, pool maintenance, blacktop coating... there are an endless number of careers out there that will never require you to utter the phrase 'you want fries with that?'.

I'm an industrial software engineer. Ok, yeah, I went to college to get there... night school, while driving a forklift in a grocery warehouse, and trying to raise four daughters. Key to my success was a wife that did (and still does) everything she can do to help. A true partner in life. NO WAY I would be where I am now without her. That, plus hard work, is really all it takes.

In my career, I have met MANY successful blue collar people, in a multitude of industries. All of them share a single trait: Hard Work. Effort. Willingness to do what it takes to meet goals.

I also see lots of young folks that partied through college, got a degree in underwater basket weaving, and wonder why they can't find a good job. Marketable Skills. You dread getting up in the morning for work? Spend most of your work day looking at the clock, waiting for the shift to be over? Why on earth would anyone want to live like that? Find something you ENJOY doing, and you'll never work another day in your life.

 

[ADAM]

Y’all remember the “McDonalds Hot Coffee” lawsuit..... they have a killer tank!


Used setups are key too. Already have a tank? Buy the whole setup deal for sale on Craigslist; then pop the Radions on your tank; and part out the rest.

Ive gotten plenty of top of the line equipment cheap (occasionally free) over the years using this method. Coral too! Folks get frustrated when buy top of the line equipment, continue to throw money at the hobby without learning the hobby, and then just want it gone....

Ex: I picked up a 90gal with Starfire glass, furniture grade cabinet and hood, 2 XR30s, MP40s, EuroReef Skimmer, and all the extras he’d accumulated over the year or two of throwing money at the hobby for a whooooooping 1 thousand dollars! Made that back on the XR30s! All the other was gravy.

Id challenge everyone that doesn’t seem to have the disposable income they’d like to save every receipt and then itemize them into categories. Most will see that daily coffee, Red Bull, Burger King, Bud Light, Marlboro, etc... adds up to a lot more than they think.
The grocery store can be a big difference maker also, check off what you eat and what items end up half eaten and in the garbage. The entire grocery “experience” is designed to entice you and make you travel across the whole store looking for the few basic things you went for in the first place. The bread, milk, and produce sections are the power triangle of the NWO!!!! Hahahahahaa but seriously, get religious with your list and buy in bulk where you can.

 

[Algaewarrior]

Ok, I get it. Be a doctor/lawyer/engineer/software engineer, and make the big bucks to be able to send your kids to Ivy Leagues, have a nice car, AND get an awesome fish tank or 10 out of it.

But for the all of the 5 figure and under people (let's say the cutoff is 85K), how are you doing it? Do you just like...not have kids or something? Is there a trick to all the splurging you're able to do? Are there a bunch of low cost of living areas that I'm just not aware of/don't want to move to?

I keep seeing "I just bought this 200/300/1600 gallon [RedSea/Waterbox/expensive brand] aquarium and what do I do with it" posts, and I'm just...confused...do you just have this money lying around??

I guess I'm mostly just asking because my estimated yearly earnings is currently somewhere at around 40K in a high cost of living area once the job hiring starts again. Which means very little disposable income (bye bye avocado toast, I'll miss you, but aquariums gotta aquarium).

Sell drugs

 

[ZoWhat]

$30,000 credit card debt im betting

 

[ca1ore]

White collar crime .....

 

[Kayanarka]

I quit smoking weed and cigarettes and use that money to pay off the credit card I maxed out to get started reefing.

Key to my success was a wife that did (and still does) everything she can do to help. A true partner in life. NO WAY I would be where I am now without her. That, plus hard work, is really all it takes.

I have to agree with this. My wife actually let us live in my auto repair shop with our 3 month old daughter while I got my business off the ground. That was ten very hard years ago. It certainly paid off. I was able to lose my leg two years ago and still keep my generous income source (shop).

I will argue though that not everyone can just go learn a skill. I could never learn to make art anymore then some artists could ever learn to fix a car. I have hired guys with amazing tools and lots of reasons to try hard, who just did not have a single tradeskill type bone in their body.

It certainly helps pay for things to have a business with an office that needs a display tank to entertain the clients and spruce things up, but quiting the daily habits like smokes, sugary drinks, alchohol, and others can fill a savings account pretty quickly.