How do you guys do it???

[smf]

I lived in a 400 dollar a month all inclusive apt for 6 years with my wife while I raced. When I quit, we bought a home. The home is cheaper than racing, but I couldn't do both. Now I have some walk around money and a nice place to live. Its a trade off. Race BEFORE the house is my advice.

uh-oh. we're about to buy. hella sweet house tho

i've got a great job and pretty low rent payment. 2 years ago i had an ok job and huge rent payment. i lost a ton of $$ racing that season. should've waited, but oh well, it was fun

if you want racing on the cheap (which is a relative statement) get an ex500. otherwise when it's snowing save save save. if you've got a girl just hope she's very supportive

[Kurlon]

I skip haircuts.

[seth399]

I need a budget fairy...I eat out more than I eat at home I think. But racing wise, I just try to save each paycheck for each race weekend I know I'm going to be doing. My girlfriend and I rent a place...when we buy it might suck or I will just have to rob people/make more money.

[nt650hawk]

I made $ racing last year with Bridgestone. Racing does pay.

[Pittenger5]

I made $ racing last year with Bridgestone. Racing does pay.

Yah, but youre fast.

[obsolete]

I need a budget fairy...

Making a budget is the easy part, actually giving a fuck about it is hard.

I eat out way to much too. That right there is $$$$.

[Paul_E_D]

I made $ racing last year with Bridgestone. Racing does pay.

I'd be stunned if that were true. I never raced with Bridgestone, but I was winning all my expert races for a few season and still spending buckets of money. Without big manufacturer contingency it's pretty near impossible to recover all your expenses.

[BMFR6]

to add on to the owning a home and racing comments, not only is it very difficult financially, the time commitment is huge! all the little projects that it takes to keep up with your home go right to the side when you are constantly preparing a bike. there were times that the only reason i mowed my lawn was because the grass was too tall to push my bike from the basement to my driveway!

[Catach]

I'd be stunned if that were true. I never raced with Bridgestone, but I was winning all my expert races for a few season and still spending buckets of money. Without big manufacturer contingency it's pretty near impossible to recover all your expenses.

but did you win ALL of your expert races? were you racing ULSB? damn you Gino.

[Paul_E_D]

I won every race and a championship in 125GP (when there was a good class)... I could never make the numbers work in my favor. I did manage to race for 7 years without incurring any debt (or savings).

[13]

Race BEFORE the house is my advice.

How true, my sister is always harping on me that I could "own a house for the money I spend on racing". While it may be true, if I owned a house I sure as fuck wouldn't be racing! Hey, I could pay a mortgage for the next 30 years then try my hand at racing when I'm 60, right?

[13]

but did you win ALL of your expert races? were you racing ULSB? damn you Gino.

Gino has a good amount of contingency money built up right now. I don't think he meant he was bringing home wads of cash every weekend.......

And YES, Paul won ALL his races.

[Pittenger5]

Hey, I could pay a mortgage for the next 30 years then try my hand at racing when I'm 60, right?

No wonder you cant afford to race and own a house, you cant do basic math! 27+30=57, not 60. Thats an extra 3 years of racing!

[TheIglu]

I raced until I got a house, then raced somewhat minimally for a year. This year I'm taking off.

I was A OK to race/cornerwork every weekend this year until both our jobs were in question and both my streetbikes needed lots of overdue upgrades/maintenance. I spent more on suspension for the Rex this spring than I spent on racing in the last year.

Student loans for two people, buying at the top of the housing bubble, two car loans, keeping up with maintenance on 2 streetbikes you commute on, upkeep/maintenance/upgrades to a house and eating out once every two weeks means $0.00 left for racing.

Being financially responsible sucks.

I had hoped to do trackdays this year instead of racing, but that's even more expensive than racing for me.

If you want to feel better about being cheap/poor, go to the track when I'm there. I'm the last true cheap bastid. I race when there is extra expendable income, I stop when I'm not having fun anymore or I should save $$.

Dedication to racing doesn't help pay your mortgage. It's a hobby.

[Paul_E_D]

FWIW, after 3 years of adjusting to a mortgage and home upkeep, I *could* do some racing again, but it would mean no vacations or recreation other that racing. My wife would have a hard time with that. When I was renting in the ghetto, I still had a little money for travel, etc.

[kb1]

Yeah buying a house I am going to wait a year or so before trying to get into racing. If I do race it will only be 3 or 4 times a year. I enjoy doing the trackdays but being financially responsible is more important. I think this economy shows more than anything that choices need to be made.

[daviid]

Haha, you forgot borrowing parts off cornerworkers' streetbikes

HAHA i forgot about that. Thanks Kiera

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

I bought a Place and Did some investing Before I went Racing. Yeah I could Easily Buy a BMW or a Mercedes But racing is a more Fun. I dont Drink or Blow lines. I have been known To Do a Real estate deal or two To pay for racing.

[RyanNicholson]

Day job paid bills and life (40-45 hours a week)
Freelancing paid for racing (20-25 hours a week)

Saved as much $ over the winter as I could.

I got stupid with credit my first year, paid cash every year after that... still have the debt and finished last season broke.

Worth every bit of effort

I'm taking time off though, I need to pay back some of this debt before people start taking shit out of my garage lol

[Fitz]

Demographic: Manufacturing Engineer; 30 years old, house, wife, two kids.

I work for a small medical company, wife works at the Elliott Hospital. We're not well off but we're comfortable. I try to pay cash for bike weekends and have limited myself to one race per weekend plus practice on Friday. $170 = 4 20 minute sessions on Friday, 2 15 min session on Sat, 2 15 min sessions on Sun and the ~8 minute race. Just over a buck a minute if things go as planned. I buy used tires (mainly because I'm slow, but also because I'm cheap) and bring food to the track. Grocery bill for a given weekend is under $50 and that's with snacks for the kids when they come by. A can of soup and a can of beans with some meat thrown in is a decent enough dinner for me. I splurged this year and have been throwing down $40 on a garage spot every weekend simply so I don't need to fight for an electrical outlet when I show up. I research the hell out of spares for the SV and spent most of the winter/spring hunting deals on ebay, craigslist etc and amassing spares. Sure I'd love to have a honkin huge camper with sweet awnings and monogrammed EZ-Ups but I see people running better times than me who bivy sack it in the infield, don't have tire warmers and pick my tires out of the trash (that I've already picked out of the trash and used extensively). I'd love to run 6 races a weekend but then again it's pretty sweet getting home early and spending time with the kids fishing or simply digging in the dirt.

Shrug... my .02 ...

Fitz

[Fitz]

double post... grrr

[jtaylor719]

Lots of vacation time, no kids, but I have a mortgage and a GF that shares the bills. I eat PB & J every day, drink cheap beer, and it's still not easy. I was putting far more money in the bank before I started racing.

My schedule is down 75% from last season. I no longer use my credit card and only run ULSB , as opposed to 2 on Sat / 2 Sun the past couple years. I still practice on Sunday mornings to get my fix.

I instruct at any trackday I can for free time and the occasional lunch - and it's a ton of fun on the Hyper. BUT, I've actually considered selling everything and buying a motard to ride on the track, and ice - easy on tires and can enter almost any class at NHMS.

I'm getting some flack this year for the amount of time I spend up there, but it's my thing. If I didn't do it, I'd be very grumpy (and probably cornerworking or hanging out up there anyway).

[smf]

I made $ racing last year with Bridgestone. Racing does pay.

first - yes - every race you finished you won. f'ing impressive.
second - you will always be faster than me.
third - your 17.02 will always be the hawk track record for the old (pre-this weekend) T1 configuration.

now, having said that unless kates is rebuilding hawks for free I find your statement extremely hard to believe. that hawk was completely put back together once last year by kates (remember T11?). also, what about consumables, motor parts, getting to/from the track, eating, etc... I think you're not accounting for everything.

of course this doesn't mention the $$ spent on the daytona trip. I'm inclined to believe Paul on this one.

[yammy644]

Dont forget Gino only races 1 race per weekend and cornerworks the rest. That gets him in for free, free food Sat night, and probably breaks almost even with race entry. All the Bridgestone money he gets, he must trade for cash since he uses the same damn set of tires all season!!

[s a x m a n]

I made a promise to myself to not charge a single race related expense. When I am done, I want to be done financially too.

I have kept that for 3.5 years. I work at least 3 jobs (at one point 4) to support my lifestyle and racing, and make cuts anywhere I need too during the season to afford each weekend. I didn't do the Daytona trip last year because I would have had to charge it ... hard decision, but it was nice not to have the debt when the season was over.