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exspense chart

3K views 24 replies 20 participants last post by  xntrik 
#1 ·
Does anybody know of a program in which you can track all of you cost on excel spread sheet. In other word track a true cost of what money you spend on your car and were. How much for body work and how much for motor and etc.
Thanks
Tom
 
#2 ·
Toms57,

The program you are talking about, Excel, will do just what you want, you just need to set the page up so you can list what you bought and a column for how much it cost. In the column for the cost you would put in a formula so that the program would add all the rows and give you a running total.
Go to Barns and Nobles and buy a book titled "Excel for Dummies" I think it will walk you through all of the steps.

Good Luck
Scholman
 
#5 ·
I'm with Deuce. I used to keep receipts in a box, but that didn't include swap meet stuff or Ebay. Several years ago I totalled up the box receipts. It was twice what I thought...I never did that again!
 
#9 ·
Toms57 said:
[Toms57]Thanks. It is OK for my wife to know, : she love cars and she knows that it cost money to make it the way you want it. Also she knows when the cedit card comes.
I have to agree with some of the other guys,There is no way I want to know how much my projects cost. If you keep track of every nut,bolt,washer etc. etc. you would not beleive how fast that stuff adds up. My rule of thumb is to estimate how much it will cost and then double it. That should put you in the ball park. I am a pretty "frugal" builder,[junkyard,swap meet,used,homemade] but I know if I kept track of this stuff it would take all the fun factor away from the hobby. If you are worried about making money I think you should invest elsewhere. just my 2 cents worth.
 
#12 ·
Like everyone else stated....if you keep a running tab you will be greatly disappointed and will lose interest. All so to the fact is that you will be spending way more than you actually want. First it's a few hundred and that isn't too bad, but when you tally up and are quite a few grand into it and the project is no where near complete...that's when reality starts to set in. Then you start thinking that you can buy cheaper than build. You have to remember that it is a hobby, and any hobby cost money. Forget the tally and have fun. Keep the receipts for the important stuff that may need returned and keep a running tally in your head. When someone ask how much the project cost either tell them too much or give them a ballpark figure. If they don't believe you then tell them to do it their self and keep a spreadsheet. :thumbup:
 
#14 ·
Yeah this is fun, Being a mechanical engineer we do these things all the time. I set up a nice Excell sheet with all the totals and sub totals and all the wishfull thinking before I ordered the first part for my 41 Willys project. It was so cool, I had colored highlites a color key hour tracking, taxes interest...everything. You could see at a glance what each part, bolt nut and washer did. I even added welding gas and consumables, gojo, blue rags, you name it. haha

After I ordered the first of the parts, the body and frame, wheels and tires, front suspension, etc. I plugged in all the numbers... :eek: I crumpled up the first printout and used it to start the evening barbecue. never looked back :spank: :cool:

bentwings
 
#15 ·
I've thought about doing exactly the same thing for my project. Although I do have all of my receipts for my purchases, I have not done the spreadsheet yet. I probably will at some time, though. If nothing else, it will be a real good thing to have when I get insurance for the car. The data will be good proof for an agreed-value policy, and make sure that I'm not short-changing myself on coverage. Just a thought.

Steve
 
#16 ·
Think we have to put those numbers into context. In detroit the most expensive place to own a car they say it cost on average $11,000 a year to run a sedan.

How many of our reciept boxes include oil/antifreeze/etc that all cars need?

How many years have owned the cars? How many battery/shock bills?

Really those numbers are not that bad. you had to do something with all your time. Anything else you would be doing would cost something. right?
 
#17 ·
I set up an Excel spreadsheet for my 41. Nothing fancy. I did it so I would have a budget. Of course I add items to it as I realize there are things I miss. I then add the actual purchase price when I buy an item. The spreadsheet is set up to compare the actual purchase price to the budgeted amount. By careful spending and snatching up bargains, I am approximately 10% better on budget. It also shows me the budgeted amount left to spend. I think by throwing these positive and goal oriented items in, it makes the tool more fun to use. I guarantee the budget is less disheartening than the body work I am doing!
 
#19 ·
About a year ago, I started to plan for an addition on my garage. I had gotten several quotes from contractors for the work. When the prices they quoted me shocked me, I decided to build it myself. I went and priced everything that I needed to do the project. I included nails and a nail gun, of course, and everything else I could think of. I have done this before, so I know how to make a list of materials. Well... about half way thru the project, I had gone way over the estimated costs. I know this from the receipts at the register. Fortunately, I never really added them up, just put them in the file for "home improvements". Although I had done considerably more work than was originally planned, the cost really surprised me. If my CFO (wife) had known how much it really would have cost, I would never have gotten the OK for the work.

On my cars, I buy what I can afford at the time. I don't want to know what the "bottom line" is.

Aaron
 
#20 ·
Hello,

I use Quicken for both keeping track of my project and my annual income taxes. That way, you get the benefit of both. When I use my credit card for a purchase, I use the monthly statement to total my car expenses and then in Quicken, post the montly summary. Then, I automatically have a project total. Since I purchased my project in 1982, keeping track of project life expenses becomes important.

Coupling the income tax expenses and my project expenses are intertwined and interesting when it comes time to validate the project value to the agreed upon value insurance company.

Tom, keeping expenses painlessly
 
#21 ·
Keeping track of the expenses isn't a bad idea. It let's you know when you're going overboard! I know I have enough in my car that I could have gone and bought a couple year old used car, or even one someone else had finished, but then it wouldn't be "my car" -- the one *I* built the way I wanted (or at least as close as I could afford).

Just remember that the sum of the parts IS NOT equal to the value of the car! It's easy to put $20,000 in a car that's only worth $10,000 when done. That's NOT including cost of your own labor, but IS assuming you do 60-75% of the work! You don't build a car to save money, you build for the fun of doing it and/or to have something unique. Remember that!

Value, from the insurance company's perspective, is what the car would likely bring on the open market. For an idea log onto e-bay and search COMPLETED auctions, NOT on-going ones. Find something similar to yours and see what someone actually paid. THAT is what the insurance company considers "fair market value". No matter about agreed value, in most states all an insurance company has to do is pay out fair market value -- BY LAW. I appraise hot rods and restored cars myself, and have had to fight an insurance company for losing one of my own for a fair settlement.
 
#22 ·
I Agree with Farna 100%

I personally am keeping a journal in my garage on paper. I'm keeping track of how much time i spend on the tear down of my truck, sandblasting, frame work etc... I also am keeping all the receipts for materials, steel, welding supplies etc... too. This is basically for me to keep track on how much time and money this project is going to end up costing and my time it will take to complete the project. Since this will be a custom truck, I'm also writing in any ideas I have for modifications and custom fabricating I will be doing in the future. I do this so I won't forget in the future what I would like to do to this truck. I'm pretty much will be doing 100% of all the work to this truck even the painting.

The reason being that I will be going to shows when the truck is done. If somebody wants something done to their truck like mine, I will have the cost and the hours recorded so I can give them a price of what it will take to do it.

Also after the truck is done I will be logging all this info into my puter with all the project pictures I will have taken. This will be printed out so that it can be displayed at shows also. I don't care about the cost of the project I just want this done the way i want it done. Have a good one!!! :thumbup:

At my age its Sometimers not Alzheimer's. Sometimes I remember sometimes I don't. (That's why I write it down in my journal) :D
 
#23 · (Edited)
Expense Reports

I used Excel to create my own tracking chart and I have it set up to track estimated cost and real cost. It helps me in budgeting and setting my next project priority on the car. I have gone as far as to create a project time line as to when the project will occur and the cost which allows for the proper budgeting for the next project, It give me a realistic time line for the over all project. I will admit that the project keeps growing in time as I take the car apart. On my spread sheet I list everything I want to do to the car, wishes and need to do's but it helps with the priorities on the projects you are under taking. The beauty of it is to help set goals and to keep on task to reach those goals. I have one set up if you would like I could blank it out and send it to you.
 
#24 ·
Keeping the records for your own enjoyment/perusal later, like Bud's journal, is probably a much better reason than doing it solely to track expenses. I wanted to build a "modern Rambler wagon" when I set out to build my car. Costs weren't a major issue as long as they weren't way out there -- I didn't have an unlimited budget.

I knew, for example, that Jag axle I drug home for $100 was going to cost way more than a standard drum brake live axle, but opted to go that route anyway. I figured that if I had converted the drum brake axle to to discs I'd have saved only $300-$350 over the Jag axle, so I got an IRS for that amount, in a way... At the time I didn't know a Ford Explorer rear disc axle would fit nicely, but then three years ago they weren't to common in junkyards in Mississippi either! I have $900 in the Jag axle, by the way, including a gear change. That was the only "splurge" in the car.
 
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