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How do you afford your f $%ing Sprinter?

Original Post
Colonel Mustard · · Sacramento, CA · Joined Sep 2005 · Points: 1,241

Or your Sportsmobile, for that matter?

Seriously, you look under 40, you're at the crag on the weekday, the bike/ski/sup/kayak racks and fun boxes are mounted like insect appendages all over your sweet ride, and you have the most luxurious commodity of all to spend: time.

How do you afford your rock climbing lifestyle?

But really, I want to know so I can be more like you.

Redyns · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2011 · Points: 60

trust fund? inheritance? smart savings? or simply being too dumb to realize that being jobless and living in your 2013 sprinter at age 47 wasn't be best path to choose after Daddy paid for that UC Boulder education.

Brian L. · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2016 · Points: 90

On vacation?

Marc801 C · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 65
Colonel Mustard wrote:Or your Sportsmobile, for that matter? Seriously, you look under 40, you're at the crag on the weekday, the bike/ski/sup/kayak racks and fun boxes are mounted like insect appendages all over your sweet ride, and you have the most luxurious commodity of all to spend: time. How do you afford your rock climbing lifestyle? But really, I want to know so I can be more like you.
For us it was simple: no kids. In the US, raising a kid to age 18 equates right now to roughly an additional $200K of disposable income per kid.
Brandon R · · CA · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 178

Just in case anyone missed the reference...

youtube.com/watch?v=x1vOVki…

Forthright · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 110
matt snyder wrote:trust fund? inheritance? smart savings? or simply being too dumb to realize that being jobless and living in your 2013 sprinter at age 47 wasn't be best path to choose after Daddy paid for that UC Boulder education.
Patrick Shyvers · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Jul 2013 · Points: 10

For the weekday part, perhaps they are nurse/EMT/etc, a field which frequently works during weekends and has weekdays off- even 3 days off, if they do 4 10's.

Are Sprinters that expensive? Not familiar with the used market, Google thinks they are $32k new for the base model- not a broke dirtbag-mobile to be sure, but not that expensive relative to other cars. The ever popular Subaru Outback starts at $26k.

Joshua Hunt · · clinton, ut · Joined Dec 2013 · Points: 0

No rent/mortgage

csproul · · Pittsboro...sort of, NC · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 330

I bought mine in a time I was young and making relatively good money, coupled with a good home sale and mine has been paid off for almost a decade. I won't say it was the best decision I've made, although I really do enjoy having it now, especially since I'm not making any payments. I definitely did not look into the future and project my future income (it's gone down substantially) or future gas prices.

I agree that time to use my van is the biggest luxury of all and I've rarely had the time to use it for more than weekend trips. I'll soon be unemployed and it'll be a double edged sword. All the time in the world to to use my van, but hesitant to do so because of the costs involved.

reboot · · . · Joined Jul 2006 · Points: 125
Marc801 wrote: For us it was simple: no kids.
I imagine that's assumed. There are a lot of high paying jobs to afford a sprinter, but having both (earned) money and time seems to be the trick.
MP · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2013 · Points: 2
Colonel Mustard wrote: How do you afford your rock climbing lifestyle? .
being able to buy =/ being able to afford

You're making the assumption that the people you see are living within their means. Many americans, and I assume many climbers as well, do not.
NeilB · · Tehachapi, CA · Joined Apr 2014 · Points: 45
Joshua Hunt wrote:No rent/mortgage
THIS counts for a lot! If you are willing to be "homeless" you can pack cash away while working and sustain a lot longer without working. Thing is, most folks (me included) just can't seem to give up the cushy bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, sofa, closet, TV, garage, yard... you get the picture.
Tylerpratt · · Litchfield, Connecticut · Joined Feb 2016 · Points: 40
Christian wrote:Probably less true for climbers in general, who are probably smarter and better educated and hence, wealthier than average.. But yeah, why everybody at Costco seems to be able to afford 4 kids and a 50k truck
I believe the median income of Costco shoppers are 100k a year.
Tylerpratt · · Litchfield, Connecticut · Joined Feb 2016 · Points: 40

85k a year.

Bill Kirby · · Keene New York · Joined Jul 2012 · Points: 480
Christian wrote: I go to a Costco in a low-income neighborhood, ( average tax returns AGIs of 30K). The number of high-priced cars in the parking lot is still mind-boggling though. Yes, some percentage (30 at most?) are from people from richer neighborhoods further north. I'm sure I'm just pulling it out of my ass, but I'd guess that the chance that even half the people w those 40+k trucks can really afford them is approximately zero. I do run the payroll at the company I work for (700+ employees) and I know the salaries of the some of the people who are buying some of these cars, though.
You can live in your car but you can't drive your house.

I mooch off my wife.
Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

When that Sprinter van you want drives by

Eric Carlos · · Soddy Daisy, TN · Joined Aug 2008 · Points: 121

Live frugal, don't have kids and don't be house poor. I can live in my 1998 4x4 sportsmobile comfortably on 1200-1500 per month. That includes occasionally eating out, heath insurance, etc. Now find a job that pays more than that and you are golden.

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0

One of the big problems with people in our country. People take out loans to go on vacation and than get pissed years later when they are bankrupt and wondering why they don't have all the stuff the other people have.

I am a software dev and make good money, I am unmarried, drive a 99 jeep cherokee (love my car will be buried in it one day), don't go waste money drinking at bars etc, hopefully have my house paid off soon... sure making more money is nice but it doesn't matter what you make if you spend more than you make. I spend about the same amount a money per month that I did 7 years ago when i was making 1/3 of what I currently make. I have no car payment, no toy payments, I only have a house payment and utilities.

I now have tons of money sitting in a bank that I can spend on toys and trips etc if I wanted to. The biggest problem people make is taking loans out to pay for toys. So that 20k toy you want now cost like 30k+ by the time you pay it off. Save your money up and pay cash for crap and you will be able to get alot more stuff in the long run.

And my biggest problem is finding people to do stuff with, most of my friends either work to much and never have time off to do things or they don't work at all and have no money to go do things with me.

Tim Stich · · Colorado Springs, Colorado · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 1,520

I want one of those $86,000 Winnebego vans. Yeah. And a jet helicopter, too.





WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!!!! DREAM BIG BROS!!!!!

Christian RodaoBack · · Tucson, AZ · Joined Jul 2005 · Points: 1,486

"As of the most recent quarter, 31.3 percent of all car owners owe more on their cars than the cars are worth, also referred to as being underwater or having negative equity"

cbsnews.com/news/the-potent…

Jeremy Espinoza · · Denver, CO · Joined Jun 2011 · Points: 80

No kids = more time and more money.

Semi-unrelated, but I saw this Sprinter in Iceland.

Spotted this Sprinter in Iceland!

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
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