What percentage of your salary do you spend on skydiving?

[potatoman 0]

I am talking about sport skydivers. Take in the monthly you spend on jumping, gear, travel, memberships etc/over your salary.

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is.
Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum"
Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD.

[piisfish 135]

depends, had periods where it was more than 50%, now I would say around5%

scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM

[YvonneWiggers 0]

Holy crap, I feel like such an addict now. But at least it explains how I can do 175 jumps a year while still studying and having no fulltime job. I think I on average spend about half my money on skydiving.. If travel and accommodation at boogies and such count along maybe a little more than half... Ahh well, who needs a drivers license anyway, or a place to live big enough to own both a bed and a couch .

"So I jump out, look up, and think 'Oh SHIT!...

It's PINK!!!'"
- army guy after his first staticline jump

[potatoman 0]

Agreed. Story tends to turn though when you are working class with kids, then you need a big enough place for two couches, or at least a double.

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is.
Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum"
Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD.

[pottesur 0]

Well, now I work at a DZ. I spend over 50% of what I make here on jumping. We're only a seasonal DZ so I don't make anything now.

I spend almost everything I have on jumping, coaching, tunnel time, new suits, skydive related traveling, etc. I do about 200-250 jumps a year, and last year I had about 10-11 hrs in the tunnel.

[strife 0]

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I am talking about sport skydivers. Take in the monthly you spend on jumping, gear, travel, memberships etc/over your salary.

lol never add it up

[adamUK 3]

This year's a bit unusual in that I've taken some money out of my mortgage and spending it on tunnel time. I've got about 11-12 hours to spend. Up to 3 hrs 25 minutes at the mo but I'm such a slow learner. Hmmph.

If you take this into account then this year it'll be over 50% of my take home salary. Other than that it's about 6-10 jumps a month which is about 10%.

[DiverMike 5]

In my case, a more interesting poll would be the percentage of discretionary income spent on skydiving.

I direct deposit a part of my paycheck into a separate checking account that is basically my 'fun money'. The rest of the check goes into another account for mortgages, retirement, food, clothing, etc. I spend very close to 100% of my 'fun-money' on skydiving.

For the same reason I jump off a perfectly good diving board.

[TheDoctor2608 0]

Since i still live with my parents, i don't have big expenses there. That's why i spend all the money remaining and all the money i saved or earn in casual jobs on skydiving. But it is really worth it, found the passion in my life. :-)

[airtwardo 6]

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I am talking about sport skydivers. Take in the monthly you spend on jumping, gear, travel, memberships etc/over your salary.

I never wanted to be a 'one trick pony' so through out my skydiving 'career' I limited myself to no more than 25%...if I wanted to jump more I found ways of doing it either for free or getting paid to do it.

That way I also had enough financial resources to to do other things that interest me as well...ya have to step back and look at the BIG picture.

Because I maybe sat out a few weekends I now have the time, resources and experience to skydive when, where & as much as I want to.

I no long 'budget' my salary...I tap into the interest on investments that are earmarked 'for shits & giggles'.

This is a fascinating sport but don't let it take over your life...it's tough to stay focused on long term goals when the adrenalin is pumping, but doing so is advisable.

If ya spend 1/2 your income (or more) you've become a slave to a past-time...don't be THAT guy.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[TheDoctor2608 0]

Quote

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I am talking about sport skydivers. Take in the monthly you spend on jumping, gear, travel, memberships etc/over your salary.

I never wanted to be a 'one trick pony' so through out my skydiving 'career' I limited myself to no more than 25%...if I wanted to jump more I found ways of doing it either for free or getting paid to do it.

That way I also had enough financial resources to to do other things that interest me as well...ya have to step back and look at the BIG picture.

Because I maybe sat out a few weekends I now have the time, resources and experience to skydive when, where & as much as I want to.

I no long 'budget' my salary...I tap into the interest on investments that are earmarked 'for shits & giggles'.

This is a fascinating sport but don't let it take over your life...it's tough to stay focused on long term goals when the adrenalin is pumping, but doing so is advisable.

If ya spend 1/2 your income (or more) you've become a slave to a past-time...don't be THAT guy.

Well, i think when you reach a jump number like you have, that you're not as enthusiastic anymore as I am at the moment. I just got around 130 skydives, at that point you can only think about jumping :-D

[Remster 24]

I have never, nor do I want to, calculate it.

Remster

[airtwardo 6]

Well, i think when you reach a jump number like you have, that you're not as enthusiastic anymore as I am at the moment. I just got around 130 skydives, at that point you can only think about jumping :-D

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I'm enthusiastic...you're addicted! ~ Just don't overdose!!

I know where you are coming from though, when I had your jump numbers I was 18 or 19, sitting in a Cessna with no door for an hour to get to jump a round parachute that was designed for someone 50 pounds lighter than me...and lovin' every minute of it.

~ If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn? ~

[Andrewwhyte 1]

I didn't answer the poll. having recently ceased being a professional it is a question that is very much on my mind. If I don't set some sort of budget I know I will overspend, but even a modest budget is hard to swallow, having not spent anything to speak of for so long.

[NWFlyer 2]

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I have never, nor do I want to, calculate it.

Me neither! I do know that skydiving and related costs (travel costs, costs of ownership of the RV - which we wouldn't own were it not for skydiving) take up a large portion of my "fun money." For me, fun money is what's available after I put away the max to my retirement plans, send 20+% of the remainder to savings, and pay my bills.

I have zero debt, and won't go into debt to finance this sport. I did have quite a bit of debt when I first started jumping, and jumping only added onto it, but now if I can't pay for it out of money I have available, I don't do it.

But all that said, I only look at things at a high level, not really at the details. Instead, I make general decisions on rough estimates. For example, I want to do a team this year, so I know there's a lot of extra costs associated with that, so that means I don't do an exotic boogie this year.

In my case, it helps a lot that I started this thing well into my career path, and I have no kids, so I'm in that nice position of having a good salary that I can spend entirely on myself.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[kallend 1,649]

As much as I like.

I'm single, kids are grown and gone, house is paid for, car is paid for, plane is paid for, retirement account in good shape...

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Shredex 0]

I spend around $80 a month on food and the rest goes straight to skydiving :P
I'm not addicted...It's just really the only thing that keeps me a sane person.