How can you afford all of these toys & goodies?

[Ant]

I work in a bank doing IT stuff.

[koser]

huge loan in the bank....

and no car - but 5 bikes )o;

[Tapeworm]

I have a very average wage, save hard, don't got out drinking (huge money sink!), one car for me and the wife, budget well. Simple

Actually I may have forgotten to mention my trust fund, that and Daddy's multi-multi million dollar fortune. I mean, one does have to have a bike to match one's Veyron, doesn't one?

http://www.photo-auto.com/bugatti/veyro ... yron-4.jpg

[Getopardo]

I read the forum a lot, but I rarely buy.

My newest bike dates back to 2005. I'll probably buy a new set of wheels next year, my present FRM's are still very, very fine.

Many people buy wisely : here in France, you'll see many bikes fitted with Campagnolo Chorus or Centaur and not Record.

Among the exceptions are 50 or 55-year old people who have just sold a house and moved to a flat, with te kids having left home. Under such circumstances, I understand very well that they buy a few top-range items.

[legs 11]

I pay for mine by sitting in my little workshop in front of the wheeljig till crazy times of night, drinking coffee to stay awake.
And got married to a business woman who loves working hard too.
No expensive holidays and buy wisely.

[chrism]

Do you ask the bloke next door who buys a new car every 2 years how he affords that? It seems that is normal behaviour, yet if you spend far smaller amounts of money on fancy bits for bikes and run a 10 year old car then people wonder how you afford the bike bits.

[bbtheory]

No special secret to affording the WW parts, just save and work until you have the money. I work in the IT field but have given up other things so I could afford the bikes. I watch what I spend on everything else, and luckily don't have to buy my own gas (company pays for it).

[KB]

No mortgage anymore, so just an expensive son to support and fund my new bike bits by selling the old one's to forum members and in some cases donating them free to a few who were obviously skint!

[afie]

I rape Australia's heritage and poison its future.

[Skillgannon]

Male prostitution.

Cyco is my pimp

....admittedly, he takes a hellish cut. He goes out shopping for heritage sports cars, and I'm on a giant bike from 2001.

[DC41]

[Getting on my high horse]

I stay out of debt - excluding mortgage on a modest home (and even that's being aggressively paid off), I don't owe anyone a cent.
[Stepping down - I'll spare you all the lecture on debt-free living. ]

Also, Ebay and other online forums are great for recouping money on your used parts as you upgrade. Buy high-end stuff and take care of it. When you decide to get something else, you can usually get at least .50 on the dollar when you resell it.

And shop for bargains. Just about everything can be found eventually for 10% - 30% off especially with the internet "coupons" that are always floating around.

Unclean friends and neighbors (those who don't ride) are shocked when they find out how much my bikes are worth. But I've stopped trying to explain that their new cars, boats, jet skis, campers/trailers, and huge homes vastly more expensive and don't bring them nearly as much joy as my bikes bring me. (Okay, I climbed back up a little there toward the end )

[DaveS]

I'm a mechanical engineer, but retired five years ago at age 50. My wife makes all the money now. She'll retire from the federal government in four years, at age 55 with a pension over $100K per year.

I try to be thrifty. I bought a Chorus crank instead of Record and only use Speedplay X-2's. No Ti cassettes either.

[Slowpoke]

As one of the previous posts said, one piece at a time. I gave up my car last year, which saves me a large chunk of cash. No car payment, no insurance, no ga$, which really gives me a lot of spare change to put into my bikes. I ride to work every day, rain snow or shine. I've got a mountain bike that I use as transportation, which take the wear and tear off my rode bikes. And, no wife saves me even MORE cash!!

[rustychain]

IMO the best WW bikes are built over time. Consideration givin to each part. Doing most if not all the work yourself. Its true you can buy a off the shelf quality bikea that are very light but to my mind its not the same. By taking your time and buying wisley you can build a very nice bike on even a limited budget. Look into the sale section here and you can find some great buys. In the end its not how much you spend but how much the bike reflects you and your needs

[djconnel]

No car, no kids