What Matt T said!

At least it's not race horses or sailboats. I heard once sailboats described as 'a hole in the water to pour money into'. Race/show horses are the terrestrial version.

Yes, I have a HUGE stash of kits, books, aftermarket, tools and paints.

My kids have never gone hungry, my bills never went unpaid.

As a 'return on investment', a $40 model kit with 20+hrs of bench time comes in as pretty cheap entertainment, not even counting bringing them to shows or club meetings to talk about them, much less looking at them in the display case.

Yeah,, what Mike D said!
Even if you add the cost of some AM stuff like a metal barrel or tracks, it is still cheaper than RR or RC stuff. With railroads, you also need a LOT more room to display your handiwork. With RC, if it's raining, too windy or too cold, you're out of luck.
Plus, there are many ways to "save $$$" by scratch-building, or using stuff you find around the house/yard. You can get fresh air & exercise by going outside to collect twigs/rocks/sand/dirt for your dios.
Bottom line for me, it's fun & relaxing.

Again, "counting the cost" of your hobby isn't really the point-- if it gives you pleasure, you shouldn't worry about the cost, unless you are sacrificing family time or placing yourself in financial debt. If you're using expendable income, and paying attention to your other obligations, don't worry about the cost of what's on the shelf. A few of you have mentioned the costs of golf, RC, and model RRs. I've "dabled" in all three. At one time, those other hobbies were all reasonably priced, but I agree, a model kit, some paint and a few tools will cost less than those "other" pastimes today.
A funny thing happened to me on the golf course just the other day. I don't play golf anymore (I really sucked at it). But I do caddy for my adult Daughter, who's played golf since attending HS in Germany 20 years ago. It's our chance to spend time together, and I love driving the cart on our beautiful (but tough) local course, where the back nine Is only accessible by cart (those of you who golf will understand what I'm talking about). A couple of weeks ago, on the 12th hole, we ran into a fellow in the foursome playing ahead of us who was having a really bad day. After a bad slice into the trees, he lashed out, threw his driver on the ground and announced he was selling his set of expensive Calloway clubs for $20 to the first taker (probably $700 worth of clubs and accessories). I was tempted, but then remembered why I don't play golf. The moral of the story is, if your hobby gives you joy, don't worry about the investment. If it doesn't-- go do something else. I'm retired, and literally collected a couple of thousand kits over 30-40 years when I couldn't build due to my military career. When I retired the first time in 2006 and started in the LHS business, I sold, traded and gave away kits-- many times just to get other, or newer kits that I REALLY intended to build in retirement. I'm down to about 250 kits now, and build what and when I want-- but I don't worry about how much money I put into it. It's only money, and you can't take it with you.
VR, Russ

I recently costed up my stash, tools, paints etc and gave myself a nasty shock... To the point where I have to update my home insurance cover.

If you really want to mess with your own brain try this. Look at what we all paid for kits 20-30 years ago! Remember what a tank model costs in 1972. I know they are not the quality of a Dragon 1/35th sca;e kit with 15,000 parts. Looks at the ads in some of the old modeling magazines.

I came back to the hobby 3 years ago.

My Hobby budget file tells me I have spent close to 8K USD within these 3 years and I have enjoyed/still enjoy each and every cent spent( my only fear is- one day SWMBO might break the double key encoding of said file...).

Should someday I lose the Joy of modelling, I'll donate everything I have collected to people that still feel the Joy.
And will never regret.Neither for spending money for modelling, nor for donating what was left.

Life is simply beautiful!

Most of it on Styrene stock...…..

Hmmm...
#1. No debt.
#2. Own my own house.
#3. Stacks of kits along one wall of my hobby room.
#4. Time on my hands when not working.

Although I have spent much money on my stash, I do not regret it one bit.

Nothing inconvenient here as far as I'm concerned.

Happy modeling.

Less than 10% actually, but almost 35% for tools

I've told my wife to pile mine up in the nearby park when I die, and give me a Viking funeral! If you live downwind in Southend, you might want to close the windows for about a week...

I seriously have no regrets about any of my purchases, despite my wife's comments. I could have gone out every weekend and urinated £100 against the wall of a pub instead. Or followed my father's footsteps and dumped tons of cash in a boat that mostly went from winter storage in the back yard to summer storage at a pricy marina with very little real use. So I reckon overall it's been a VERY economical hobby! (And my kit stash still hasn't reached the value of my small HO train collection, that someday might become a layout if I ever get the space.)

Just for the record, my local model shop (UK) sells this particular kit for 89.99 (Sterling) which, according to Currency Converter, is just a touch more than the quoted price above.

However, and here I do realise my good fortune, the shop owner gives good discounts to local modelling club members, serving and former military personnel, so (being in the latter category) I think I ended up paying around £79 or so; but then, once this kit was announced, to me it became a "Must have", and I was always going to find the money for it. People will always find cash for a hobby.

Of course, actually getting to grips with the kit and building it is another matter!

Brian

I'm in a similar situation. I wised up 10 years ago and started paying off all my debt and saving more for retirement. Other than our house payment, my wife and I are living debt free. Now I get to retire 8 years earlier than planned.

I'm the same way: kits in the stash I know I'll never get built. But! Just about every damn one of them also has the aftermarket to match, if available, to boot. Whoever gets my stash when I go to the big modeling room in the sky, will have a nut when they start opening up the goodies (the wife will have 'instructions' of what to do with the stash)! The reason I do this? Pretty much the same as others: when I see a kit that hits the "can't do without" funny bone...its mine! Same thing with aftermarket. I know there is not infinite manufacturing of a kit, nor of the aftermarket...so I 'strike' while the iron is hot. I've waited to long in the past and got 'burned' when I found out the kit, or the piece of aftermarket, was discontinued. Never again! And...I don't care about cost...I can afford anything this hobby can throw at me!! I've gone from about the usual stash of 500+, down to perhaps a hundred: of good choice pieces (based on recent engineering). Others were donated to good causes and military charities. Value? Yea...donated perhaps thousands of $$$ (my cost) of kits over the years, figuring my mortality required a bit of kit modernization instead of hanging on to old engineering/technology. I still do gizmology to every kit built (can't leave well enough alone)...it's in the blood.

Inconvenient truths? Really? I mean, seriously guys! You have a legal, relatively cheap hobby that brings you joy, keeps you busy at home, does not do any harm to your health (well, not as much as whiskey or drugs would do)and can be shared with friends and family. Is there anything else to desire from a hobby?
someone comes to brothel and meets priest from his church there. And that priest is you. Now that would be inconvenient!
You feel sorry about the money spent? Why? Do you live in a carton box because you had chosen this hobby and it has been eating your budget? Or do you want to donate to homeless? No problem! Sell your models and never get back to it.

I dare to say that my stash is larger, much larger than any stash of anyone on this or any other site.

still, it is not costing me a penny anymore, except for those models that are half-built.

Try to slightly adapt your definition of stash a bit, and you may save a lot of space for finished models.