That 15 minutes of Fun they had one driunkin night is their hobby for the next 22 years.

Kids are insanely expensive with their needs and wants these days.

I bet my dad raised and fed our family of 10 on less than half of what many spend on 2 kids these days.

Even in today's dollars.

**** is costly

We make over six figures combined with no kids and while I am sure we could swing another bigger boat it would be tight or one large expense till it's a paper weight for a few months.

Rent alone for a our town home with no storage place for a boat is $1250. Things are expensive these days for sure. I couldn't imagine adding kids into the mix.

The all stainless steel frame and the thickness, (Can't remember what gauge it is) there are no straps, and the mount points are ball and socket, makes it tight as a drum when up. And they are not CHEAP, the 1 for the 388, (9 foot long) was $1,200.00 CBC canvas here on Merritt Island do a great job, they used to work for Eliminator....

I'm 32. The wife and I make 120k combined. We have one $480 car payment, live in a 125k house, and have maybe $250 a month in credit card payments. I have 23k into my boat, no debt against it. That's the best I can do right now. The money just doesn't go far enough. Thank god we don't have student loans.

Yea....kids are expensive. My wife and I pay $1800 per month for daycare...and that's actually a pretty good deal.

Sometimes I like to daydream about the boat I could buy with that extra $1800 per month when the kids go to school.


But then I realize that it will be another 20 years before I see any of it, since it is getting shifted from daycare expenses into their college savings account when they start school.

At least they help me clean the boat :)

I have 2 kids, 11 & 8. Both play multiple sports, 1 is currently playing travel softball. Wife just lost a very high paying IT consulting job, I'm a Project Engineer for a large manufacturing company that is going through tough times. Thankfully we sold a house and purchased a bigger one during the height of the real estate market so we made out well. My 2007 boat has been paid for and my 2008 Duramax is paid for. Unfortunately, with retirement saving and college tuition on the horizon, there are no plans for a new boat or truck. A new Duramax is 60+K, and we all know the cost of a new boat. I had my sites on a 32 footer, a nice step up from my 27 footer. But no way we can swing it. Like others have said, the cost of a slip for the summer, lake vacations, fuel as well as the crazy prices of new boats, there's no way we can move up to a bigger one. At this point my 496 only has 350 hrs and has treated me well. Just have to keep her purring, keep the boat looking showroom new and hope prices come down. Cause income sure as hell aint going up!

Have always loved AT (and PP...good old South Florida boat lines!). I would love to have their new 29 with twin Verado's swinging off the back. My wife and I are fortunate that we both are 30 years into an IT career and are making a very comfortable living. So stroking the check for one or financing just a small portion is very doable. Problem is we are 30 years into our career which means now we are less than 10 years from ending that career. Whereas when I was in my 30's when I first started buying used and then new boats it seemed like I had forever to work so paying for a toy wasn't a big deal. Now my focus is on limiting my debts, not adding to them to prepare for retirement. I'm in that age group (52) that grew up with boats, have owned boats for years, love boating, but when I finally got to the point where I could buy a new offshore boats with twins it just doesn't make sense financially. I'd rather invest in a second property down South or on a lake, use that money for rent for winter travel, or use the money to buy a single property somewhere other than IL. I think more than a few of us exist and it is another big part of what's hurting new offshore boat sales. Growing up in a blue collar, union family that had to endure crippling strikes in the 70's and 80's doesn't help me with opening the wallet too far. :(

My first three calls when I hit the lottery will be:
Cash Bar for a SoFlo crib, Pat at AT for a red 33', and Kevin at Progression for a red 29'....
Unfortunately, until those numbers come in, the only thing that would be in the red with those purchases would be my bank account!

Yeah he could do that with all the money he saved by not buying condoms! :D :D

If they're spending $2600/mo on that while only making $80k combined, they need to sell a car and one of them needs to stay home with the kids. One of them has take home pay lower than those expenses.