By being such a good "provider" to The Family that they allow you to "waste" family money? Or You are The Boss in your family? No and No in my case A year or two ago I found another way: sell something and use PayPal funds to buy more toys! Selling part is painful!!!!!!!!!!!! But since The Boss does not know the difference, its soooo much fun! Try it!
This is me, listening to some techno-garbage (Apoptygma Berserk, once recorded from Wadia onto cassette on Nak LX-3 it sounds almost human!) plus Goose Island IPA adds extra appreciation of the recycled poop... My Day Off is Good!!! Anyone plays Mum's "Yesterday Was Dramatic. Today is OK"? Must-have if you dig Sigur Ross, KS, PF, SW, KC, KS, David Sylvian, Gong, Magma,.. and all those other crazies out there My recent discovery is ECM label, but you have to have hi-end to play it. N-P Molvaer's "Khmer" will take you out there if you already listen to Miles...
Well, think about it: when it comes to finances these vintage electronics are still considered a cheap hobby. What is the most expensive item that we can buy (routinely)? Maybe a boxes TPS-L2? maybe a M90? Some of us get items from flea market for few dollars. Have you thought about a different scenario of what if we were collecting watches or vintage cars ? Imagine instead of paying for a walkman you decide to pay for a "A Lange & Sohne" or a "Rolex Daytona" .
I think for many of us it is more a case of "How do you find room for this hobby ?". Of course things like Walkmans take up far less room than cars, but more room than watches. I admire you guys with your fancy Hi-Fis all stacked on dedicated stands. My current project is restoring a Sony Front Loading Turntable as I think I can sneak it onto the bookshelf under my Stereo without taking up much room. 90% of my Boomboxes, Keyboards etc is stacked up in the loft (attic). There isn't much room left there now. A friend and fellow Radio Amateur said he had an agreement with his wife that he could buy anything he liked "Providing it was smaller than the item it was replacing" I don't if that was how he managed to change his Land Rover Discovery to a brand new Land Rover Defender . Finally I just remembered a great tagline on one of the repair forums "I hope that when I die my Wife doesn't sell my collection for what I said I paid for it".
Yeh it's a relatively cheap hobby compared to many I reckon. Still spend a fair amount on boxes and other retro stuff. I fund it out of salary and eBay selling of vintage stuff I pick up cheap
Good call! My tip is not that much about financing, once hobby becomes self-sustainable it is not much of a hobby any more... it is my way of keeping myself in check, otherwise I tend to buy everything and then pay the price Plastic modeling hobby is even cheaper, but takes too much space no matter how thorough I am trying to be (one model in a year is my speed, and they still pile up!!)