How old are you?

[John Wright]

46, two kids 15 & 11, a working wife who pays for the kid's tuition to school and very little debt. Working towards no debt(hopefully in the not too distant future the one loan will be gone)

[lnirenberg]

59, 32 yrs married (to the same wife), 3 kids, 1 spectacular grandbaby & down to only 5 cars including daily drivers. Would already be retired and spending all my leisure time with family and cars but as long as my 87 yr old dad and business partner comes in the office 3 days a week I will keep working. Not much time to work on my cars so I get my vicarious thrills by designing the builds myself and then resort to throwing money at it, mostly well spent. Taking welding class to bone up (at a local art studio vs trade school with a very eclectic group and flaky but highly skilled instructor) and once retired will work on more skill sets so I can be more hands on with projects and ramp up my time at the track. All my guy friends are car guys which outside of our mutual passion for cars is a much more heterogeneous group than wife and my couples friends. My wife appreciates the beauty of the various cars I own/have owned but not a car person. Key to our long marriage—she is never surprised when something new shows up in the drive and she never asks how much I spend on them.

[BADNBLK]

30 about to get married, and my first kid on the way. Got 3 houses, some debt, but not serious. Feel about normal with most of my friends. Wish I had more to put towards the Camaro, ut we all know how that goes.

[DarkBuddha]

First, I totally understand where the OP is coming from... it's downright perplexing how folks can build such awesome cars sometimes. But I'm gonna tell you, age probably has very little to do with it specifically. I'm 38 and I'm no better off than any 27 year old with a new house and young kids and mediocre income. In fact, right now I have no income to speak of. But even before, when I had a decent job, my Mustang project was slow going... so slow that it's now 10 years since we started and it's still not done. And I'm not talking about some crazy high end super killer pro-touring build either... just an old school, very budget oriented restomod (no Cobra brakes, no rack and pinion, no trick a arms, no fancy name brand "gotta haves"). In fact, because the Mustang was such slow going, I got another car that I could make bits of progress on while driving it (my XR4TI), and it's been a super budget car too.

The fact is that building any car to any level is a product of basically 3 things... time, money, and skill. The more that you have of any of those gives you more ability to the get a car built quicker (and better, and to a higher level), but if you don't have a bunch of any of them, the car just ends up finished on a lower level. But none of that matters, the point is to build it to whatever level you can and be happy to have it. There's always more/faster/better, but something is better than nothing.

[Poxic]

27, married, no kids. Very affordable mortgage due to buying a repo, and fixing it up. No debt other than the house and my wife's car payment (<$200/mo). Right now I'm building the car that will be my toy that I'll have for a long time... because kids are looming on the horizon and the car building will have to slow or stop.

I'm a fireman. I don't make a lot of money. I suppose it's just crafty budgeting. Oh and deployment money doesn't hurt.

[Off Duty]

As one of the other guys said, this will be a bit long winded so bear with me.

First the Stats:
Age: Mid 50's this year.
Wife, 2 grown kids 23 & 26, and 1- five (5) year old granddaughter, all living in the home.
Occupation: Retired LEO.
I now own, or should I say they own me, three (3) businesses:
-Private Investigative/court process agency - Sole Proprietor w/contract personnel.
Running this one is like herding cats!
Time lines, deadlines.
Overly demanding, many times pompous, arrogant clients, many not a bright as they'd like others to believe, trying to micro-manage and nickle and dime you to death.
Then there are the contractors/employees!
Forget the stress or potential dangers.
The paper work alone is enough to kill you!

-Personal Safety/Self Defense, Training, and Consulting group - Sole Proprietor w/contract personnel.

This one is fun, and gives me a chance to give a little something back.
By utilizing experience gained in over 30 years in the law enforcement community, 20 years in the private sector (approximately 15 years concurrent with law enforcement) including a good bit of personal protection service, and 30+ years in the martial arts, and by collaborating with several experts in their given disciplines, we have been able to develop a defensive tactics program that is both "real world" effective and relatively easy for most anyone to pick up quickly.

Not trying to re-invent the wheel, we've intentionally kept it simple.
And there's no reason to be in "Israeli Commando" condition to make the techniques work for you.
Remember, you're not going to "war", you're entering into what is going to be, like it or not, a very short term "battle."
Get in, get out, go have a beer

Our weapons programs (firearms, knife, improvised weapons) are again the result of the combined efforts of many highly skilled technicians/tacticians, and is continually reviewed and refined to provide the best available training for real world scenarios.

-Marine Training, Safety & Consulting Group - LLC with 2 very close friends.
Being a native Floridian and former Coastie, the marine environment is where my heart and passions rest.
It always has and likely always will be.

I've been around boats and the water most of my life.
I'm now blessed with the opportunity to do something I truly love, and make some $$ at the same time

My two (2) partners in this endeavor, are both "boat people", two (2) of us being former Coasties and LEO's, and all with a long list of "cred's" in the field.
We provide small craft training from PWC's to yachts.
We also provide security and safety evaluations for marinas, hotels, and other waterside facilities, and consult on various marine accidents.
We utilize specialized contractors (OSHA specialist, etc) as needed.

Ok, so much for the job scene.

Financial:
Speaking of the home, we owe just a tad under 14k, but there's that damned HELOC at 52k still biting me in the a$$!!
We would have had everything paid off except that:

1) We moved my father in with us after he became Ill. That's where the HELOC comes in.
Instead of moving (we couldn't find anything we really liked) we decided to rebuild the home we were in.
We added a room for dad, and did some necessary remodeling at the same time.
Looking back (the old hindsight = 20/20 thing), remodeling was probably not the best move we could have made in the long run.

Moving him in with us was however, a great move!
He was able to spend the remainder of his life, a little over 6 years, in daily contact with his grand kids, and they with him.
I was there to look out for him, as he was for me as a kid.
He had a comfortable place to live out the remainder of his life, and maintained ALL of his independence until the day the stroke came.
Three (3) day's later, he was gone
None of us could have been more blessed in our lives, than to have it play out as it did.

2) Wife retired - While I was thrilled for her, it really made life tough for quite some time, and threw our timeline for debt reconciliation off considerably.
There was no real discussion about it. She made the decision, I supported it, and that was that.
Since her retirement income won't kick in until she's 62, and as we have always been a 2 person working household with bills made accordingly (including the decision to go with the HELOC!), this proved to be a bigger issue than I had planned (there goes that whole "I planned" thing again!)
That said, I refused to allow this to influence her decision.

At the time, I only had the first business with it's somewhat erratic income.
There were several times where we ended up living of CC's, and more than a few times I considered going back into full time law enforcement.
I was (and still am) a fully certified LEO, working only PT, and doing it for the love of the job and the people, and not for the $$$.
I was only paid when I filled a shift for an off duty/injured officer, or worked an off duty or special assignment.
The rest was for nada.
IMO, if you can pull it off, it's the best way to be a cop
When some s**thead threatens to "have your job", you tell them to "take it!" The pay sucks and the hours are rotten anyway

3) A few medical issues requiring a bit more CC debt.
4) Some old tax crap as a result of being a lousy administrator and NOT hiring people that do that crap for a living to do what they do best!
A great, but expensive life lesson.

We're now down to one small car payment, and a couple little credit cards, all less than about 10k total.
My goal is to pay all this crap off and be done with it by the EOY, maybe middle of next, depending on how things go.

For now, we pay cash for everything we can, and we plan and save to be able to do so.
If we use a CC, we pay it off at the end of each month.

Re-Evaluating Life:

1) *Note to self* - It's too short to be miserable!

This past year has been horrible!
I've lost several people very close to me.
More than a few my age (+/- a year or so), including one of my best friends and former motor partner at the Sheriff's office who was four (4) years my senior and appeared to be in good health.
Two (2) friends from school, one younger by a year or so and one my age, another buddy from work, and most recently, my natural mother.

2) Money without health and happiness is worthless!

In the PI/Court Process world, I've cut back on some of my clientele, getting rid of the deadwood, the PITA's that make my business life miserable, and adding some "new branches."
New clients that allow us to do what We do best without all the drama and micro management.
It's all based on trust and reputation.
They tell us what they need and leave us alone.
We in turn, provide them great results.
It's a win-win and everyone is happy.
That simple change has made this part of my life considerably less stressful.
My income has gone down a bit, but it'll come back with time, and the $$$$ was not worth the aggravation!

The defensive tactics program is a release.
A way to "giving back" a little of what I was blessed to receive over the years.
(Our programs are not expensive for a reason )

And finally, when I'm on, in or near the water, I'm at peace.
Whether I'm teaching, training, or just chillin' out, it's therapeutic for me, and allows me to recharge my batteries.

Projects:

This is an interesting topic.

As some here know, I have been attempting to meet up with a lady who has a '65 T-bird for sale. It's in rough shape, but I really had the desire to go PT with it and see what happens?
Something "different."
As things go, she's had surgery and other issues, and I've had work and a death in the family.
All of which have resulted in delay after delay in getting together.
I'm getting the feeling that "somebody" is trying to tell me something!

On the ride to and from Ga. this past week for mom's funeral, I had too much time to think.

A few years back, I decided to cut back, to thin the heard, and sold both my '00 Z28 vert, and '87 Corvette.

I bought a non-descript, econo-box for business (thus the 1 car payment) and kept my 89 Landcruiser FJ62.
Fast forward to now- The cruiser has been sitting, in need of repair and modifications, for over a year:(

To really put it in the condition "I'd" want it in, would require an engine/trans swap, at least a rear axle swap, and about 10k+ to accomplish everything including Paint/body/interior (again, to be the way "I" want it).

If I were to swap in a Chevy drive train, then you no longer have a Toyota.
You have a re-bodied Chevy, so why not just buy a Chevy?

I've always loved the old 'Burbs', so....

On the way home, I decided to take the next step, and sell the Land Cruiser.
We'll place the $$ we get out of it on our debt instead of throwing it out the door, and be that much closer to FREEDOM!

Eventually, I'll pick up and older Suburban. You can pick up one in great shape under $3k around here all day.
If you don't mind a little tweaking here and there, you're looking at more like $1500.00
And it's a CHEVY!
Something I can get parts for all day long, just about anywhere on the freaking globe

In the meantime, I am starting on my son's 1987 Grand National.
The engine is done and waiting to be installed.
All that's really left to make it streetable, is the body and interior. so it's headed to the body shop next week.

The old guy there has also been a blessing in my "project" planning life.
He's willing to let the car stay there as long as it takes to complete, and do the work as we have the time and $$$, without going into debt to do it.
He's even going to allow me to assist so I can try to learn something new.
His rates are insanely low, and his end product and work ethic is tremendously high.

In Summary:

I really only have one (1) "project" and it'll take as long as it takes to complete on a cash only basis.
Most people wont remember in a year or 2, what kind of car you had, or what your track times were.
They will remember the good times, shared among friends and family.

So given the choice, I'd rather spend more quality time with people that matter.
Spend my money focusing on getting out of debt by mid-next year and staying that way, rather than stress over trying to have the best of the best in automotive technology.

IMO, friends and family, not possessions, are the things that are really important in the long haul.