Sacrifices you made to afford the time and money to fly?

I made a few sacrifices, but the bulk of the credit has to go to my friend and hanger mate CFII who got me through my pp checkride free of charge. Can't ever repay his generosity and love for aviation.
 
another thing is to manage your flying expectations. There are plenty of airplanes that can be bought and flown for the cost of used car. I always think it's funny that buying a cheap used car is "normal" but spending the same on a tri-pacer might be considered "extravagent" by some.

Kevin, this is an issue you have suffered from. You had an aeronca champ available to rent but you insisted on learning in a new skycatcher or nothing. It's all flying.
 
Joined the military and had them pay me to get a world class aviation education. I guess people don't think to do that anymore.
 
Art VanDelay said:
Joined the military and had them pay me to get a world class aviation education. I guess people don't think to do that anymore.
Click to expand...

I was on that track, but a bayonet in my right hip and put an end to me ever having a career in military aviation.
 
paid off all debt other than mortgage, bought apple tv and cut cable, canceled house cleaning, switching to republic wireless cell phone service and getting both kids in school and seeing daycare costs decrease dramatically is helping as well.
 
I opened a side business to fund my flying. I've worked two jobs for the last 15 years.... Can't see myself ever not doing both now. It's become normal.
 
Begging my dad for money. I hate begging. And loans. Oh man, the loans. But now, I am a flight instructor... Sooooo...
 
valittu said:
DING DING DING DING DING!!!!!
Click to expand...


Dave Ramsay usually gives good advice, but he's always encouraging people to pay off their mortgage.

Here in the days of 3%, tax-deductible interest, I'm not sure that is the best approach. Not that you'll go wrong doing it, but there might be better investments for free cash flow.
 
Started adding up all the $$s I was spending on dogs, cats and other critters. Decided to let the critters just die off... then purchased an airplane...

Don't mock me - I'm down to 3 dogs and 1 cat... The wife will be out of town in a couple of weeks -anyone looking for a dog or a cat?
 
Lots of jobs, lots of travel early in career, lots of hours, lots of self study, lots of responsibility.

Screwed up and built big consumer debt early. Also meant we got serious and killed it deader than dead early. Wasted eight years doing that crap.

Never again. Cash and carry, older-ish cars, older-ish solid built brick house, nothing fancy inside other than a nice kitchen sink faucet replacement and tile floor in the kitchen, yanked up the carpets and refinished the oak underneath a few years in.

No kids. Not really by choice but it worked out that way for various medical and personal reasons.

Still was terrified of aircraft co-ownership. Wife talked me into it. Hasn't been cheaper than renting but some years it's close. Absolutely love knowing every screw, nut, and bolt and having a say in maintenance. Should have done it sooner. It suits my personality.

Two years ago inherited a small house in the boonies after father passed away suddenly. Not exactly how we'd like to have it happen and the place has needed some work, but it opened up some job/risk possibilities we hadn't even dared think of before. Took a job at an insane little group of companies as the head IT guy out of two. Plus some sharp developers and DBAs who help out from time to time. Still in the settling in phase. Karen started pushing to change nursing specialties from home care to wound care. She's still hunting for the right job and has irons in the fire at multiple places.

Need to finish stabilizing various IT messes at the new place then going to finish the glider rating and a tailwheel checkout just for fun. Logbook looks awful this year. Normal for a year with a new ultra busy job. Got the telecom mess cleaned up. Working on server and network architecture now.
 
dans2992 said:
Dave Ramsay usually gives good advice, but he's always encouraging people to pay off their mortgage.

Here in the days of 3%, tax-deductible interest, I'm not sure that is the best approach. Not that you'll go wrong doing it, but there might be better investments for free cash flow.
Click to expand...

For people that don't understand the concept of cost of !money, it is a good idea. For those that do, they pay off the highest interest things first before the biggest/smallest/whatever. Right now, if I had a large sum of money,I would open a brokerage account (after maxing a ROTH IRA), trade on margins at 1.24%, and but stocks that paid 10-15% dividends that had a 10:1 or better P/E ratio. Its free money literally.
 
Buggsy2 said:
Buy those dividend paying stocks in a Roth IRA...tax-free income.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...

I have already :)

But anything above 5500 a year, might as well doing it ona margin account.
 
Art VanDelay said:
Joined the military and had them pay me to get a world class aviation education. I guess people don't think to do that anymore.
Click to expand...

Prior knee surgery knocked me out of the physical. Back in the Reagan days they were booting pilots out way faster than bringing them in. Any issue and you failed your medical.
 
Where do you get a margin account charging only 1.24%?
 
iflyvfr said:
I'm not sure you can call it a sacrifice, but I didn't have children. :rofl:

And I bought my BMW used.
Click to expand...
I told my first boss that I needed to make more money and get transferred out of NYC so I could afford to fly. He told me that I needed to get married to a woman with a paycheck.

I ran the numbers and concluded that I also had to find one who didn't want children.

Thirty years later we are DINKing around driving a used Miata and a 20yo Dodge Caravan/glider tow vehicle. The building out back, yes the one that is bigger than our house, has our baby in it, the RV10.

Sacrifices? Not one, just purpose.
 
Alright, I am convinced.
I have 2 children for sale. Used but in like new condition. One of each gender. The male is more docile and calm. You will probably end up working for the female one day. It's her way or the highway. And it's her highway.

Will consider trades for a nice aircraft or even any children that are over 18 or are employed.
 
dans2992 said:
Where do you get a margin account charging only 1.24%?
Click to expand...

Various places. Scott Trade gives good variable rate margin accounts as long as you have $500K+ and then they give you a 35:65 I believe. It has been a while since I have looked into it. It is a screaming deal, but the problem is coming up with the capital in the first place. I am all about getting my money ASAP now instead of waiting and hoping that a stock will go up. Cash dividends = happy me. e
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Alright, I am convinced.
I have 2 children for sale. Used but in like new condition. One of each gender. The male is more docile and calm. You will probably end up working for the female one day. It's her way or the highway. And it's her highway.

Will consider trades for a nice aircraft or even any children that are over 18 AND are employed.
Click to expand...


FTFY.... :lol:
 
I guess you could say I sacrificed a couple of 'normal' childhood Summers to earn the money. Hard to call it a sacrifice though. Spending the Summer as a 14 or 15 year old kid at the airport - working the desk and washing airplanes - was a dream come true. They traded my time at work for time with an airplane and instructor, so there wasn't a tax burden, and nobody seemed to care that you're not officially allowed to work in California until you're 15. :)

These days my wife and I are DINKs, so money not spent renting airplanes would just go to some other hobby like golf, motorcycles, or hookers. Flying is more fun, my wife approves of it, and boring holes in the sky in something simple and slow provides balance and perspective when work begins to drive me nuts.

Part of the reason I joined POA is that we're beginning to entertain the idea of having our own airplane. I'm guessing we're still a year out before it becomes a reality, but I'll be sure to revisit this thread and talk of sacrifice once we do. ;)
 
kayoh190 said:
I guess you could say I sacrificed a couple of 'normal' childhood Summers to earn the money. Hard to call it a sacrifice though. Spending the Summer as a 14 or 15 year old kid at the airport - working the desk and washing airplanes - was a dream come true. They traded my time at work for time with an airplane and instructor, so there wasn't a tax burden, and nobody seemed to care that you're not officially allowed to work in California until you're 15. :)
Click to expand...

Pretty much had the same setup when I was in high school. Spent almost all my free time working/flying there.

Nowadays...I'm not married, don't have kids, pre-game before I go out, and deploy frequently.
 
Last edited:
SixPapaCharlie said:
Alright, I am convinced.
I have 2 children for sale. Used but in like new condition. One of each gender. The male is more docile and calm. You will probably end up working for the female one day. It's her way or the highway. And it's her highway.

Will consider trades for a nice aircraft or even any children that are over 18 or are employed.
Click to expand...

Children are worth about $250,000 the day they are born; they depreciate rapidly after that. Within a year there are disposal fees.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Alright, I am convinced.
I have 2 children for sale. Used but in like new condition. One of each gender. The male is more docile and calm. You will probably end up working for the female one day. It's her way or the highway. And it's her highway.

Will consider trades for a nice aircraft or even any children that are over 18 or are employed.
Click to expand...

You crack me up!! Lol!
 
Took home a huge pile of money from a lawsuit I won. Never have to work again.





Just kidding...I didn't :)
 
Sacrifices, you would have to ask the wife, she is the one who has given up alot for me to fly.

Tony
 
We pimped out our Golden Retriever and sold the pups. She had 11, but one died. The remaining 10 sold for enough to get my private in a brand spanking new Warrior. The flight school I went to had almost all new Warriors and Archers back then and it was pretty neat to learn in a plane that still smelled new.
 
dans2992 said:
Dave Ramsay usually gives good advice, but he's always encouraging people to pay off their mortgage.

Here in the days of 3%, tax-deductible interest, I'm not sure that is the best approach. Not that you'll go wrong doing it, but there might be better investments for free cash flow.
Click to expand...

Now that I've paid off my house, I can always take out another mortgage to invest in "better investments" if I want. That's an option, but I say NO THANKS :)

There's a peace that comes with owning your home that's hard to describe. Having zero debt means you can basically do whatever you want with your life and never, ever have to worry about foreclosure or making a payment to a bank.

Sure, I could take out a low-interest mortgage to buy mutual funds or bonds or CDs or whatever I think will generate a higher return than the cost of interest on the home loan ... but to me, it's just not worth it. I'd rather have the peace and security of living totally debt-free and still have a big chunk of income to pour into investments every month.

I don't fault people who look at the math and decide to keep their mortgage. It definitely makes sense mathematically with the right investments ... but for me, it's just not worth it. It's more an emotional thing than a mathematical thing.
 
After earning my ticket, I used to sell my plasma to buy flight time at the FBO.

And we stopped having kids after two, simply because we couldn't afford a six-place airplane.
 
TexasAviation said:
Now that I've paid off my house, I can always take out another mortgage to invest in "better investments" if I want. That's an option, but I say NO THANKS :)

There's a peace that comes with owning your home that's hard to describe. Having zero debt means you can basically do whatever you want with your life and never, ever have to worry about foreclosure or making a payment to a bank.

Sure, I could take out a low-interest mortgage to buy mutual funds or bonds or CDs or whatever I think will generate a higher return than the cost of interest on the home loan ... but to me, it's just not worth it. I'd rather have the peace and security of living totally debt-free and still have a big chunk of income to pour into investments every month.

I don't fault people who look at the math and decide to keep their mortgage. It definitely makes sense mathematically with the right investments ... but for me, it's just not worth it. It's more an emotional thing than a mathematical thing.
Click to expand...


I see what you mean, but knowing you have enough money in the bank to pay off your mortgage a couple times over also gives one a sense of security as well.
 
In my 20's I had a decision.. either wife and kids or flying. I'm VERY happy with my plane and the hours in the logbook!
 
I bought my last new car about 23 years ago. since then it's only been used vehicles I could pay cash for... except 2 airplanes, which were/are financed. :lol:

ETA: ... and I can still afford an occasional bottle of good Bourbon ( Knob Creek 9 yr single barrel )
:yes::lol:
 
Last edited:
Exactly. The primary reason I have a plane us to use it to take the family places.
 
I became a parent in college. My daughter got her bachelors earlier this year so now I'm trying to cram as much aviation as I can in the next two years before my ATP written expires.
 
Considering all the money spent before and today - probably quite a few things (like a healthier retirement plan or, say, a nice vacation or ten). But in the end, this has always been a hobby and I have treated is as such, which means it replaced other discretionary spends.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top