Students, Funding your 4WD?

[all_terrain17]

This is one thing that leaves me scratching my head anytime I check in.

How?

I will read builds here and on other forums of kids in school spending serious money on their rigs.
ARB's, armor, custom suspensions, new tires, blah, blah, heck by that time you've got 3x the value of your truck just in go-slow stuff.
Then there's the matter of maintenance and fixing your pile when you limp back to the dorm.
Summer's few months of pay is nice for some stuff, but unless you're working 3 jobs, how do you do this and manage to eat when you go back?

Please send me some of your money tree seeds :D

[Seanz0rz]

well school typically costs about 3-4 grand a quarter, so when i apply for a loan, its 1k more than i need for housing, food, and fees. this way i have extra for books and stuff that comes up. so i just use that money, if its not being used somewhere else, to buy stuff for the truck.

over 2 solid non stop years of school, i am 20k in debt. i also dont work. the loan is my only income, and i figure i mine as well enjoy myself while i can.

i have been applying for jobs, and all of that money will go to paying off the loans.

yes i know this is probably very stupid financially, but i dont have any other kind of fun in my life, i dont go out clubbing, and i dont have a girlfriend, so this is my money pit. im sure i will pay for it later.

i also had copious amounts of money saved from when i ran my own business. that helped out alot my first year of school, but dried up pretty fast. besides that ive only spent about 3500 on the truck. and things like the tires and shocks needed replacing anyway, so i just went with slightly more expensive replacements than usual. that helped absorb alot of the cost as well.

[fustercluck]

I steal my discretionary funds from the formidable Mrs. Fuster's purse......:D

[calrockx]

Well, Hollywood isn't that far from me and hey, when you've got it, flaunt it

[AxleIke]

I am one of those of whom you speak. I was a student up until 2 months ago. I will be continuing in a Masters program in a year and a half.

My truck is worth 1500 bucks.

I won't tell you how much its got into it, but i will tell you to keep going. 3x? That barely covers the motor. As for the hardware, why buy the cheap crap only to replace later? Do it right once.

As for how to fund it:

Its about priorities. I got loans before i got interested in building the truck. Once i did, I prioritized.

I worked 2 jobs, one of which paid the rent plus a little more, the other which went to the truck. I asked only for money to modify the truck for gifts. I didn't go out, i didn't go to parties, i didn't go on very many dates. I studied and worked. Now i have an expensive pile of parts, and it goes up stuff.

Its all about what you like to do. Alchohol and friends are expensive. trucks are expensive. Usually you can do one or the other, seldom both.

[drguitarum2005]

i have loans to pay my $29,000/year tuition/rent and whatnot and i co-op. when i co-op, that money goes to pay my rent + goes into savings to help pay my rent for the semesters that I am not co-oping. sometimes i splurge some of that on something for my truck but ive stopped buying anything big for it. all the mods ive been doing recently are small and cheap. if it comes to serious maintenance, my parents pay for that as they bought this truck for me. seeing as how its a 2000, i dont have any big issues with it.

[oly884]

work, don't spend money on going out drinking, and so on.

Make yourself a budget, know how much money you have coming in, and start subtracting till you have what is left over (if there is any) and take a % of that and save it. The rest, put into another savings account so you can save up for the stuff for the truck.

[CJM]

Dont buy anything you dont need. I had 0 pairs of jeans without holes int hem for the past 2 years. I finally bought 2 pairs a week ago.

I dont eat out if I can help it and when I do its the dollar menu. I dont buy soda, I drink water, etc.

Only stuff I pay for my phone, gas, car insurance and the like. I am even gonna cancel my netflix b/c I just dont watch the movies anymore.

[amgraham]

I have to pick and choose when I can wheel and mod and all that. I don't go wheeling if I don't have cash on hand to fix something if I break it. Also, I scrounge for mods and parts rather than buying new. The only new stuff I bought was when I got rearended and got an insurance check that I decided could go right into the truck. I can fix pretty much anything that goes wrong with the truck so that saves labor costs. Plus, I taught myself how to weld and fabricate so I could build some of the the stuff like sliders, rear bumper, that kind of stuff. I don't get in a hurry and I keep a list of mods I want so when I do have a little money to spend on the truck I can find something to do (or set the money aside for when a deal on something comes along).

I will be in school for another year or so. Since I started building this truck a little over a year ago I have still managed to pay down on student loans and credit card debt. I work hard and still maintain work through the school year and I sucked up my independence and moved back home to save money until I graduate. It's amazing how expensive it is going away to school as opposed to staying local.

[AxleIke]

I find it funny to hear people scratch their heads at students actually.

No one has as much disposable fundage (percentage wise) as students. Sure, you're going to school, and it costs, but most of us get loans. Usually that goes into school, books, room and board. If you work on top of that, and don't piss away your money, you have TONS of money to spend on a truck.

What i find amazing are the guys on Pirate with a kid, another on the way, late 20s, wife, home, and work at a shop, and still have money for a tow rig, gooseneck, and a tubed out crawler. That either takes serious debt, or serious penny pinching.

I'm betting there are quite a few of both.

[neliconcept]

just dont do what i did, and get in to CC debt, which im getting out of in 2 weeks but still it sucks.

[all_terrain17]

Thanks for insight. Good points on the disposable income and budgeting.

[slosurfer]

Here's another option for students who need some more money.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcaStQsm2y0&mode=related&search=

[CJM]

Not all of us get loans to pay school, thats the only thing my parents pay for and they pay it b/c its cheap b/c I got to communitty college and commute there.