what should I do?

bjorn240 Wrote:
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> Vanos's ex-Dimiters car? As long as it don't burn
> up, that thing should win hands down! We're
> hoping for massive dust...
>
> Christian Edstrom
> New York, NY
> Age: 30


That's the one. John and allan are really looking forward to running againts yourself and Travis. we've all been working real hard this week to put together a first rate car with lotsa new goodies. There'll be plenty of dust so John can always use that as an excuse! Wish I could be there to see it but it's my daughters first birthday. Hope everyone has a blast, it's a really nice little rally.

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Gone fishing

Rally cars have a funny way of losing value when sitting around not doing anything. Rules change, Body Styles change, the car gets older, the fad cahnges, the sacntioning bodies may close, Insurance may not be available, enviromentalist may close all roads to rally, etc.

If you are not going to be running the car in the near future as in the next 18 to 24 months I would sell it and get rid of debt load. List it at a proper value - it will likely take a long time to sell anyway. IF the car is worth $30,000 today remember it will likely only be worth $15,000 to $20,000 in two years - ie it is costing you $500 a month to own it, add to that another $300 in extra intrest you are paying on your debt that car is costing $800 a month sitting there doing nothing...

In my book I do not like spending $800 a month for things I am not getting any value out of.

In two or 3 years remember, it is easy to buy rally cars - people are selling them all the time and it is always a buyers market.

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In the long run reality always wins.

I've read through this entire thread - MAN!! There are really some good people in this sport/community !!

I agree w/Derek.

Debt sucks, creates stress for you and your wife.

I used to own a super bitchin' Ford Focus SVT 'P'car. Borrowed from the bank to buy it, built it well, ran the piss out of it for a year - I remember you from a few of the rally's - that was a great year !!!

- but you know what? It was costing me dearly...

I was in a startup company, building a new car, running a full season, working 100hrs/wk just on the job - yup, almost lost the whole enchilada - my wife and kids (4).

Sold the car. It does depreciate...rapidly...(a lot of love had gone into that rig)

Repaired the damage I had done to my life be just chillin for a year. (a lot of love went into that rig too

My wife appreciated the fact that I had made that move without her asking.

I also learned that it is just as important to discover what her dream is and what the kids dreams are - feed and nurture those.

At the end of that year - we also realized that I had to continue persuing my dream/passion - within my means...

Bought an old Audi 4k w/turbo conversion.

Then did one better and convinced my wife to sit in the silly seat. (This is not a finacially beneficial thing to do - as there is no one to split costs with).

I've got $8k into my car and as soon as JV delivers my stupenders - I'll really have no excuses - its going to be about how much can I squeeze out of my rig - how well can I drive? I may not win overall, but you know what? in relative terms the pay out at the top is the same as it is anywhere else you finish...I'm just shootin' to beat some Sube's

Chill man, rally will always be there - keep it in perspective.

Vittorio -

vbares Wrote:
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> I've read through this entire thread - MAN!! There
> are really some good people in this
> sport/community !!
>
I was thinking the same thing. That's why it's hard to let go. I wanna drink beer with all these guys after a long rally.


> I agree w/Derek.
>
> Debt sucks, creates stress for you and your wife.
>
I know, and the guilt is eating me alive.


> I used to own a super bitchin' Ford Focus SVT
> 'P'car.

I loved that car!

Borrowed from the bank to buy it, built it
> well, ran the piss out of it for a year - I
> remember you from a few of the rally's - that was
> a great year !!!
>
> - but you know what? It was costing me dearly...
>
> I was in a startup company, building a new car,
> running a full season, working 100hrs/wk just on
> the job - yup, almost lost the whole enchilada -
> my wife and kids (4).
>
> Sold the car. It does depreciate...rapidly...(a
> lot of love had gone into that rig)
>
> Repaired the damage I had done to my life be just
> chillin for a year. (a lot of love went into that
> rig too
>
> My wife appreciated the fact that I had made that
> move without her asking.
>
> I also learned that it is just as important to
> discover what her dream is and what the kids
> dreams are - feed and nurture those.
>
I'm really trying to. I love them both, I just wish that my wife could understand my stupid crazy obsession a little.


> At the end of that year - we also realized that I
> had to continue persuing my dream/passion - within
> my means...
>
I know this is what I must do. I'm like an artist with no art. Rally is art.





> Bought an old Audi 4k w/turbo conversion.
>
If I have one more conversation with JVL I'm gonna HAVE to get me an XR. It's a damn good thing he's pushing strong sustainable cars instead of crystal meth!



> Then did one better and convinced my wife to sit
> in the silly seat. (This is not a finacially
> beneficial thing to do - as there is no one to
> split costs with).
>
> I've got $8k into my car and as soon as JV
> delivers my stupenders - I'll really have no
> excuses - its going to be about how much can I
> squeeze out of my rig - how well can I drive? I
> may not win overall, but you know what? in
> relative terms the pay out at the top is the same
> as it is anywhere else you finish...I'm just
> shootin' to beat some Sube's
>
> Chill man, rally will always be there - keep it in
> perspective.
>
Thanks man.

> Vittorio -
>

---

Gone fishing

My wife is a hell of a lot more suportive of my crazy wims when we sit down and work out how we are going to do them within our incomes... or more to the point with in the income left over after saving for retirement, paying for housing, saving for a bad day and other important things.

This next bit is for everyone reading this not David per say. The whole world out there is trying to seprate our money from us, constant advertising and peer pressure making us think life would be better if we only had X and X is easy to get via debt. There is no one promoting the other option. I have been on both sides, I have lived with a lot of debt and now I live with a lot of savings and I need to tell everyone there is not one damm thing I could possibly own that brings me anywhere near the happiness I have now of not stressing day to day about money. In otherwords, there is no add campaign reminding us that being able to tell your boss to fuck off makes you feel better than owning a 60" Plasma TV (or rally car) but it is still the truth.

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In the long run reality always wins.

Hear Hear ! Well said Derek...*deafening cheer from the crowd*

I own the paper on everything I own - just not the house...but that's coming

This is meant for David - you mentioned you own the car - er, actually, if my assumption is correct in that a lot of the debt you're carrying is due to building/running the car - in the nicest way I can say this...you don't jack, it owns you - was that my outer text ? Sorry - bad fingers, bad...

I agree with Derek, live thriftily in every way that you can, save for retirement, save for a rainy day, don't run up credit card debt....etc etc.

BUT, there are plenty of people that will still not be able to own and run a rally car at all or at least not without compromising their family lives and obligations. It is very important to aknowledge that this group does exist AND that it includes a HUGE number of people in the US. I would argue that the vast majority of households simply can not afford to rally when the expense of just 2 (extremely budget minded) rallies a year is equal to roughly 5% of the median household's earnings before even accounting for the costs of building or buying a car and the required safety equipment.

Hell, the cost of 2 new HANS devices for next year is close to 5% of the median household income in the US...

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____________________________________________________________-

One. Class -- 2WD

www.quantumrallysport.com

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Quantum-Rally-Sport/281129179600?ref=nf

Oh I fully agree that to rally one needs to make some hard choises in life forgoing $100/month Cable TV, dinners out, tons of new cloths, new cellphones every 6 months, big screen TV's, street cars that are new and shinny, 5 bedroom homes etc.

My first rally car that I owned was $6500 in 1998 and we justified it as a 2nd car to use as a daily driver for a few years... Then our jobs changed and we carpooled for the next few years thus we saved all the expence of a 2nd street car for about 5 years - that goes a long ways to making a rally car work. In some ways that was a hard choise, sometimes we had to work out bus scheduals, other times one would have an event after work that would leave the other stranded at home (when the rally car was not running) and so forth - but we saved piles of money only having one steet car... I still have the same 19" POS TV I got in 1991, I do not have cable TV, we live in the same townhome we bought in 1997 and the list goes on, hell we even buy a lot of clothes second hand (lots of fun wearing a $3 dress shirt to close on a $200 million deal!)

If there is a will there is a way, someone noted sharing a car might be a good idea hell I never had time to do all the events anyway - would have been a good idea to have had a partner in the rally car. I have partners in my two boats - partnerships are very cool if you find a good one.

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In the long run reality always wins.

derek Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh I fully agree that to rally one needs to make
> some hard choises in life forgoing $100/month
> Cable TV, dinners out, tons of new cloths, new
> cellphones every 6 months, big screen TV's, street
> cars that are new and shinny, 5 bedroom homes etc.

Here's the thing though Derek, most people don't live the frivilous lifestyle you think they do or that you see in your peer group or that you see in your part of seattle (or my part of VA), or on TV. Because, even without a rally car, they can't afford that TV, cell phone, new clothes, $100 cable, or new street cars.... Those are things that relatively wealthy people buy---don't forget, it only takes $30,122 combined income to put you in the top 50% of all income earning HOUSEHOLDS (not individuals) in the US.


Just a little perspective.




>
>
> My first rally car that I owned was $6500 in 1998
> and we justified it as a 2nd car to use as a daily
> driver for a few years... Then our jobs changed
> and we carpooled for the next few years thus we
> saved all the expence of a 2nd street car for
> about 5 years - that goes a long ways to making a
> rally car work. In some ways that was a hard
> choise, sometimes we had to work out bus
> scheduals, other times one would have an event
> after work that would leave the other stranded at
> home (when the rally car was not running) and so
> forth - but we saved piles of money only having
> one steet car... I still have the same 19" POS TV
> I got in 1991, I do not have cable TV, we live in
> the same townhome we bought in 1997 and the list
> goes on, hell we even buy a lot of clothes second
> hand (lots of fun wearing a $3 dress shirt to
> close on a $200 million deal!)
>
> If there is a will there is a way, someone noted
> sharing a car might be a good idea hell I never
> had time to do all the events anyway - would have
> been a good idea to have had a partner in the
> rally car. I have partners in my two boats -
> partnerships are very cool if you find a good one.
>
>
>
>
>
> See me go at:
> www.11tenths.com
> In the long run Reality always wins.

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One. Class -- 2WD

www.quantumrallysport.com

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Quantum-Rally-Sport/281129179600?ref=nf

There are a lot of people with a lot of money in the US - just go look at a marina.

There is a lot of acadimic discussion that the way they report the household income is flawed, if they report house hold wealth (not income) or toss out the transisiionally non working, the retired, the students, and the people under 25 the number is very diffrent.

I do not disagree that my viewpoint is going to be skewed by my possision in the world.

D

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In the long run reality always wins.

Most everyone has some debt and bills, pretty much status quo..I do, but my rally car and spares are paid for.

One of the keys to this equation is making sure your car is paid for and can cover your "per event cost". Don't go rally if you can't make your mortgage payment. If you wad it up, at least your not still making payments on it.or more importantly not losing your house. Start with a car you are ok with destroying completely, and ideally costs less than $1k for a running "daily driver". Drive it while you slowly build the war chest to build the car the way you want. It will also help you know the cars limits. What Derek posted makes good sense..

That equation varies for each individual's situation. Some guys start with 1k shell, others a 40k shell. It's all relative. If you have a spare 100k (there are guys that do), why not have a fully proper ride to flatten.. Hopefully the skill will be there to keep it intact.

Josh,
Have you been to Seattle lately? It's not all quite like that..

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Build the car, race the car, crash the car, fix the car..Repeat

I should add that for now I have decided rally is too expensive for me, or more to the point I have other uses of that much money.

If I ran NASA I would take it to a low cost format with very real spending limits thus targeting a broad market and let RA be the big glossy made for TV rally program in the US.

I hope David can get back into the sport in the not too far distant future, it was a hard choise for me in the early 1990's to forgo it till I could afford - you will not be the last to face this issue.

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In the long run reality always wins.