What would you give up for flying?

What would you give up to keep flying

  • I would give up my yearly vacation

    Votes: 14 42.4%

  • I would give up going out to dinner

    Votes: 18 54.5%

  • I would sell my unwanted possessions

    Votes: 20 60.6%

  • I would quit paying rent, and I would eat only top ramen and live in my parents' basement

    Votes: 8 24.2%
  • Total voters
    33
kimberlyanne546

kimberlyanne546

Final Approach
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Kimberly
I realize most already sacrifice things in their life to afford flying, but with costs increasing (on groceries and not just on hangar fees and avgas) I wanted to create a poll.

How much would you give up to keep yourself flying? At what point would your day to day quality of life be poor enough to quit?
 
Ive given up taking "Vacations", I don't eat out that much anymore, and Ive already sold a few things because Ive lost interest in some hobbies and replaced it with flying. Next thing might be the motorcycle.....and track gear.
 
DavidWhite said:
I chose #4 because essentially I already do that. Top Ramen ain't bad.
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That one was partly for you but mostly not. I know about you and ramen! I meant a person with "everything" (groceries, apartment / house, cars, etc) going to "nothing" just to keep flying.
 
I've already done all of them in the name of aviation except quit paying rent and live in my mother's basement.
 
Danos said:
I've already done all of them in the name of aviation except quit paying rent and live in my mother's basement.
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Yeah - maybe the poll should be renamed "What HAVE you given up for flying?"
 
Interesting thread Kim.

Since I started flying after raising 3 daughters and putting them through college, and paying for weddings I really don't have to give up much. I am finally just spending my money on myself. It's kinda fun! :D

Believe me I am not bragging, just trying to let all you younger pilots know there will be easier days ahead as your careers and income are "upgraded". Make good decisions like you do as pilots and you will do just fine. I wish I would have started earlier, one thing you cannot buy is more time.

Enjoy being young, but being older is not all bad either. ;)
 
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Matthew said:
Yeah - maybe the poll should be renamed "What HAVE you given up for flying?"
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Not sure I would want to because I'm talking about the future.

As in, what if:

You keep your job but continue with no raise

The cost of your groceries, car, house, and other items continue to add up

Flying increases in cost

If that happens, what would you be willing to give up?
 
I gave up the spouse and motorcycle. Now I hope to fly more.
 
CMTowner said:
I gave up the spouse and motorcycle. Now I hope to fly more.
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I'm a girl (and romantic) so I kind of didn't want to throw the whole giving up wives thing into my poll. But now that you mention it I'd bet you're not alone.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Not sure I would want to because I'm talking about the future.

As in, what if:

You keep your job but continue with no raise

The cost of your groceries, car, house, and other items continue to add up

Flying increases in cost

If that happens, what would you be willing to give up?
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Put like that I would down size to what ever level I needed to downsize to. I will not sell my planes, in fact I want to add an RV-8. Planes are like golf clubs, you can't put with a driver and you can drive with a putter. Everyone needs 3-4 planes. ;)
 
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If you're not selling plasma, you're not serious. Girls, you have an advantage, sperm donations pay for avgas while egg donations can buy you an airplane. A healthy baby buys you a plane and a couple years expenses flying 150hrs+.
 
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Henning said:
If you're not selling plasma, you're not serious. Girls, you have an advantage, sperm donations pay for avgas while egg donations can buy you an airplane. A healthy baby buys you a plane and a couple years expenses flying 150+.
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My eggs are probably worthless but this is an interesting idea. I think there are complications and you have to take scary medicine or something. And how do they "get them out"????? A guy just goes there and has a nice magazine and hands them a cup. Not really ok to compare the two, the guy is just doing something he already does every day. I don't exactly give out eggs every day or "grow" someone else's baby in my stomach.
 
Henning said:
If you're not selling plasma, you're not serious. Girls, you have an advantage, sperm donations pay for avgas while egg donations can buy you an airplane. A healthy baby buys you a plane and a couple years expenses flying 150+.
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Have you sold a kidney yet? ;)
 
Geico266 said:
Since I started flying after raising 3 daughters and putting them through college, and paying for weddings I really don't have to give up much.
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I'm at the opposite end. I didn't really have much to give up when I started flying. I guess I delayed some things that other people do earlier. I continued living with my mom and I commuted to college by public transportation instead of getting an apartment near campus or living in a dorm. I also didn't have a car. I borrowed my mom's when I needed one but she didn't use it much either as she worked in the City and didn't like driving much anyway.

Now I'm at the point that if I gave up flying I would need to think about giving up other things too.
 
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I put down the going out to dinner. Thats about it. There are other things that can be cut back and not on the poll. In addition, there is no selection for throwing in the towel.

For me, if I could not afford it unless selling stuff, well I would rather cut back on the operating costs as in flying less, never turn on the utilities in the hangar, etc... If it got so bad where there were no extra funds to do the annual maintenance items and such, well I would likely pickle it and store until economics got better. If that was not sufficient, well, then I would quit, perhaps sell the hangar and/or plane before I put the home or other essentials/family at risk.
 
Everskyward said:
I'm at the opposite end. I didn't really have much to give up when I started flying. I guess I delayed some things that other people do earlier. I continued living with my mom and I commuted to college by public transportation instead of getting an apartment near campus or living in a dorm. I also didn't have a car. I borrowed my mom's when I needed one but she didn't use it much either as she worked in the City and didn't like driving much anyway.

Now I'm at the point that if I gave up flying I would need to think about giving up other things too.
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My approach is more spartan as well. No wife or kids. My only expenses are food, rent, and my car. It's been helpful with my flying financially, but now it's good because my schedule is so crazy.
 
skidoo said:
I put down the going out to dinner. Thats about it. There are other things that can be cut back and not on the poll. In addition, there is no selection for throwing in the towel.

For me, if I could not afford it unless selling stuff, well I would rather cut back on the operating costs as in flying less, never turn on the utilities in the hangar, etc... If it got so bad where there were no extra funds to do the annual maintenance items and such, well I would likely pickle it and store until economics got better. If that was not sufficient, well, then I would quit, perhaps sell the hangar and/or plane before I put the home or other essentials/family at risk.
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This is my first poll and not well thought out. I'll do better next time. It is sort of an individual thing though.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
My eggs are probably worthless but this is an interesting idea. I think there are complications and you have to take scary medicine or something. And how do they "get them out"????? A guy just goes there and has a nice magazine and hands them a cup. Not really ok to compare the two, the guy is just doing something he already does every day. I don't exactly give out eggs every day or "grow" someone else's baby in my stomach.
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They give you medication to make you hyper-ovulate, then do a flush and collect the eggs. So a cup is involved , in a sense...

Before you ask, we do this with the valuable mares when we want the offspring but don't want to take the horse out of work to have a foal.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
They give you medication to make you hyper-ovulate, then do a flush and collect the eggs. So a cup is involved , in a sense...

Before you ask, we do this with the valuable mares when we want the offspring but don't want to take the horse out of work to have a foal.
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I am not a valuable mare nor does this sound like it would be comfortable. The medicine sounds dangerous too. Not worth it.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
This is my first poll and not well thought out. I'll do better next time. It is sort of an individual thing though.
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Didn't mean to fault you. You come up with some pretty good ideas and questions! I don't think anyone can think of everything. Just pointed out what else could have been. And, what is pointed out may mean nothing, because really it is up to the OP to format a poll to achieve what they want out of it.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
I am not a valuable mare nor does this sound like it would be comfortable. The medicine sounds dangerous too. Not worth it.
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I don't know how dangerous the medication is, but I can tell ya you don't want to be standing behind a bitchy mare with a case of the hot flashes....
 
Well, it was the fact that I was being asked to sell my pride and joy as well as the motorcycle. Yeah, I think I made the better choice after giving up the cycle.
 
skidoo said:
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Didn't mean to fault you. You come up with some pretty good ideas and questions! I don't think anyone can think of everything. Just pointed out what else could have been. And, what is pointed out may mean nothing, because really it is up to the OP to format a poll to achieve what they want out of it.
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What I want out of it is to see if anyone else is as crazy as me . . . I now buy crappy groceries to fly more. Oh and I should get new tires (have to look at my tread) but I haven't. Stuff like that.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
What I want out of it is to see if anyone else is as crazy as me . . . I now buy crappy groceries to fly more. Oh and I should get new tires (have to look at my tread) but I haven't. Stuff like that.
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Is there a Trader Joe's by you? It's so cheap I feel like I just robbed the joint every time I leave and they have some quality stuff.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
What I want out of it is to see if anyone else is as crazy as me . . . I now buy crappy groceries to fly more. Oh and I should get new tires (have to look at my tread) but I haven't. Stuff like that.
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Get on Craig's list, look for a good used set. People sell them all the time. Seriously. ;)

I might have two planes, but I am cheap! :rofl:


I must admit Kim, you have your priorities right!
 
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If I hadn't gotten married and had a family, I probably would have left the Navy a few years ago to live out of a suitcase and fly DC-3s in the Caribbean, South America, Africa or some other ****hole and be loving every minute of it.

But there is no way I'd trade my family for any amount of flying.
 
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