The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk old trucks & money

how many keep receipts of money spent on your truck? I have receipts since 91 on mine, although I did not buy it till 97, and boy, I could have bought my wife a lot of good stuff but then should would not have been as happy just curious,,,,Fred

Too dangerous. What if your wife finds them and does some adding up? Some things are better left unknown. It is a little different for you since your truck was mostly fixed up when you got it. But the new powertrain must have set you back quite a bit.

Got every receipt for every automotive part I ever bought since moving to Georgia (3/25/83)! They are all neatly stashed in various shoe boxes and drawers. :rolleyes: When I bought my computer I told myself (and the wife), that I was going to put everything in a spreadsheet and keep inventory of all my stuff on it. Yeah, right! :rolleyes: Had the `puter over 4 years now and haven't catagorized a thing! All I use it for is looking at this site (and a few others)! As for knowing how much I've spent, I know exactly how much. $$Way too frickin much.99! :o

I have replaced brakes, alt,transmission,redone seats, head liner, rear end, some repaint, tires, fuel gauge, cd player , and thats about it,, I have around $7,500 in the truck but when I bought the truck, it did have the mallory electric ing, fenton headers, duals, although I have since replaced them with smitthys,and it also had the patricks 3:55 and modify sagnaw four speed but now has the blazer rear end and s-10 five speed, I think that if I sold it I could still get my money out of it as it is in great shape and will drive anywhere,,I guess the point is that when you really start counting we sometime forget how much we can and do spend, by the way, Carolyn is on board with anything I DO when it comes to money,,,she is the boss there,,Fred

I agree with Tony, some things the women don't need to know, I always pay cash so there is no way my wife will know haw much I have actually spent on up-grades, if she did she would make me buy a new truck! no reciepts to find and no checks or debit card reciepts

Everytime I see a post that references a wife or girlfriend, it is a reminder of why I'm two months from my 40th birthday and have never married and have no children! I was telling my father the other day how nice it is to be able to purchase a tool or a new parts truck without suffering the wrath of the "significant other".

In any event, back to the subject of saving receipts. In 1988 I restored a '66, C-10, LWB, Fleetside in college that I purchased in 1983 for $1,700.00. At that time it was a lot of money for a truck that old, but it was a one owner with 58,000 original miles. The previous owner kept it garaged and treated it like his baby.

After sinking another $1,700.00 in materials and new parts during the restoration, I had invested approximately $3,500.00 in the truck. I heard a story from a guy in my class about insuring restored vehicles for the amount invested, in lieu of the book value. Soon after the project was complete the truck was stolen and considered a total lose by the insurance company.

Since I had saved all of my receipts and a copy of the bill of sale, I was able to get a payoff from the insurance company for the total insured amount. For this reason, I believe in saving receipts. Additionally, if you sell a vehicle it is very beneficial to have receipts for the prospective buyer. Also, I purchased my '66, C-10 and '66, K-10 as company fleet vehicles, so I am able to write-off the majority of materials and services as vehicle maintenance expense.

I'm not a tax expert, so consult your tax preparer prior to attempting to do this. Save your receipts for one or all of these reason, but for nothing else it is nice to look back at all of the hard work and effort put into your vehicle and be reminded of the date you did it.

I keep a file on each truck,and yeah I have put a lot of money in them especially the 55.My wife can look at them any time she wants to.I had old vehicles when I married her and she realizes they are a part of my life.Only time she ever says anything about them is when I talk about selling them.Then she says are you sure you want to sell.You have so much of yourself invested in them.Quite a gal.

Yep, saved every single receipt on the restoration of my '56 3100 (and am still saving them as I go along with completing the truck). I keep them in a separate binder, filed by "ENGINE", "BODY", "TIRES/WHEELS", "LABOR", etc., etc. I wanted to know exactly what I spent on the truck for a lot of the reasons given in previous posts. (AND I can explain to the wife where every penny went--but don't have to as she's very understanding and enjoys the truck as much (almost) as I do!) You can put THOUSANDS into one of these old trucks, but have MILLIONS worth of enjoyment out of them.

Sorry guys... I don't even want to know...I saved em on my first truck. It made it even harder to know what kind of financial hit I was taking as my truck drove off on someone elses trailer....

this time....I don't care....I like my truck. I spend wisely on it...as long as I am not being fuelish...

I don't want to know what my addiction costs...

I keep receipts for the same reason.Never put more into one than you can get out of it.Dont make much sense to build a $20,000.truck that is only worth $15,000.In todays market you have to keep one for a few years before selling to realize a profit.I keep receipts on everything except my labor,I consider that a labor of love or just plain good therapy.If I figured my labor in,even at a minimal rate the figure would scare me to death.

I have most of them, but I've never added them
up. I'm afraid. I have duplicates and even
some triplicates of some items. Sometimes I
didn't like the quality or I forgot I already
had it. My wife asked me once how much I had
spent on the truck. I honestly told her I don't know.

Cecil.......

I don't bother with the reciepts as far as cost. keep them if I need to make a return. I just enjoy tinkering with the trucks. I don't even consider show room just something to putt around in .

I feel the same as Dale937. I have a folder for each of my trucks. I have about 11,000$ in my newest project - 65 Fleet and will put another grand in the A/C, but it is good as new and will turn more heads than a new truck that will cost twice as much. It has a lot to do with where your heart is. My labor keeps me from growing to my recliner (a lady on the news actually did grow to her couch after years of not moving from the spot. They had to take her and the couch to the hospital, but she died before they could seperate her from the furniture). Anyway, my first wife would have given me a problem about my trucks, but my present wife (of nine years) is a jewell. But, she knows I can always get my money out of anything I fix-up. Also, I am now working on a '64 falcon hard-top for her. You have to think of others, too. Have a Merry Christmas.

Truck Tinker

I have an envelop with all of them, including rentals of trailers, etc. I have also put them in a spreadsheet that includes things I have sold as well the purchases. I once thought our hobby was expensive, then I realized I don't pay money every month for a membership at a club I never use to play golf or something like that. Like others, I get the real payback by enjoying time in the garage.

Like some of the others I dropped all the reciepts into a folder and have never added them up although I do have an idea how much is in the 37. I didn't have deep pockets so for a period of over 6 years I would order small things, almost weekly, as the money was available and save for the big ticket items. I would then put all the stuff up in the "rafters" until I had quite a stash and ready to start rebuilding. During this time others would make donations. My daughter gave me a set of BFG T/A's a year before I needed them! They went in the rafters to. I have all the reciepts because a lot of the stuff has lifetime warrantee's and believe me I make use of them on all my vehicles. My wife loves the old truck and goes with me to parades, cruise-ins and shows. NEVER complains and the UPS man loves me....calls it job security.

As many of you know, I keep detailed records on BillyBob's restoration costs

BillyBob Restoration Costs Pdf File

Yeah, it seems like a lot but it pales in comparison to my previous hobby as a professional pub crawler and all I have to show from that time is my survival and faded foggy memories.

To paraphrase Briggs Cunningham again "How do you make a small fortune restoring trucks? . . . You start with a big fortune!"

I love Larry's way of doing trucks. I read it before I bought my truck.

"Friday, I started putting on the hinge and it broke so I ordered a new one. They were out of stock so I ordered it from three other places.
Monday, I received 7 hinges from 4 different suppliers and I picked the best one, the other six I pitched into my spare parts box.
Saturday, I broke the hinge trying to put it in and decided the quality wasn't any good. So, I ordered a forge and bellows and am currently smithing a new piece to replace it."
etc etc

I've got over $10k into The Ox, and that doesnt count the little stuff... darn things only worth about $50k now tho.

Ha,Ha Tony. Guilty as charged!

Laroke: You are so close to the truth, what I spent in my other life I could have paid cash for both my new home and this hobby.

I keep all my reciepts in a drawer in the shop, Maws can't get to it. But, If I want something really expensive we talk about it first. I am an old horse trader, so I look for bargains, good deals, trades or whatever. I figured $12,000. to $15,000. will be invested in this thing. I do not care I just want it done right the first time.

popcorn The Truth is Out There (Thats w/me doing 90% of the work and that is priceless)

I keep every receipt in a 3 ring binder but have never totalled them up. Basically it is for insurance purposes because up here I can insure my trucks through a Collector policy (government run insurance)and it is advisible to keep records. My other half never checks the binder and never complains about what I spend on the trucks. If I decided I wanted to buy another truck she would tell me to go ahead. When I bought my second truck she was away and I put it in my neighbor's garage which prompted my buddies to ask if I was hiding it from her. Farthest thing on my mind. Then again she bought a vintage Steinway grand piano and I never said boo! Maybe that is why she is so agreeable!

I have all my receipts. Keep them in a folder but have never added them up...just in my head.
To the point that we have more dollars into the truck then what it's worth. It's just a hobby. Just like collecting ceramic clowns...But you can't drive a ceramic clown!

51phatboy, that is a good point, a lot of money can be spent on golf, fishing, hunting and such, it is nice that some can do all but I sell my wife on purchase by saying but I dont have a hobby other then the truck and you...Fred

I have almost every receipt for all the vehicles I have ever owned. Since I do not buy and sell that often, it is not too many. I keep them. Why? If I need to replace that hard to find part that I remember putting in 7 years ago, I can find where I got it. And most parts now come with lifetime warranties. The receipt makes it easier to collect on that warranty.

It has absolutely nothing to do with how much money has gone out the door.

I keep my records just so I can know how much I have spent. The cheapest and easiest way to drive an old truck is to buy one allready done from some one else. My wife does'nt care how much I spend on trucks or guns or anything else as long as I keep the bills paid. Just one reason why we have been married 47 years.

There are a lot of good reasons for hanging onto your receipts. Warrantee on parts, and showing a prospective buyer or insurance agent what you've spent are just the first that occur to me.

My truck collection is an investment in my sanity, and not part of my retirement or investment portfolio. I don't track the money I've spent eating out, or on televisions or movies or cable tv either. And I don't track the time I spend working on my trucks.

I do track investment in my house but there are significant tax issues there.

Working on the trucks and the satisfaction that comes from doing it myself or with my son or a friend are the returns I'm looking for.

Someone once questioned the investment value of time spent on old trucks, and a second guy asked the first if he tracked the time he spent watching tv. I laughed for a couple weeks.