[RonSwanson]

I can do a days Airsoft for about £45 all in food, ticket,petrol,bb's,etc which for getting entertainment for 7-8 hours isn't bad I think.

Better than the cost of the cinema, not as great value as a video game.

Plus all the other benefits of a days outing.

 

[RonSwanson]

The nearest field is a 30 mile (nearly 50km) drive for me - and with gas prices being so expensive but even moreso in California, it's $15 in gas just for transportation. I feel bad for my old field back in Colorado, as that field was merely a 3 mile drive, and the next nearest one was 40 miles away - and it seems that in January my old field is coming to a close due to city expansion, but I'm pretty sure they're keeping it under wraps for right now. It'll kill the airsoft community, and the shop that's a couple miles down the road.

Once on the field... BB's I don't go through too often. If I play every weekend, a 1,000ct bag of .40g costs $16-$18, making that a pretty easy 01.6¢ / 01.8¢ per round, which would last me about a month or so. I'm not too picky on getting BEST-PROVEN-BRAND BB's - so I don't worry about shipping. A 10 pack of CO2 will last me about 3-4 weeks, $10 for the pack.

The field I play on now used to be $25, but just went up this month to $30. With that, we've also got $5 all day refills for HPA, however there's some rumors going around that it's about to become $5 per-fill. So if I don't need BB's or CO2, the cost of playing for the day is about $60 with gas, field ticket, and air.

Probably what's killing me is being a content creator that's not making any money. Electricity is expensive in California (basically 2-3x more expensive than everywhere else in the country), so charging up all the GoPro batteries, all the electronics, all of my external batteries, that'll start to add up. Throw in editing software, which I use the full Adobe Suite, that's $50 a month. I use paid music in my videos, $10 for that monthly subscription. Then the sheer amount of time that I have to spend at my computer editing the footage and rendering, it'll start to add up - overall being a content creator, I'll say is about $100 a month.

So how much do would I normally spend on airsoft in a month? About $180. How much do I spend now that my car is back in the shop, and I very well may need to buy a new car or a new engine? Nothin.

Wait a 60 mile trip is using around 12 litres of fuel? Your getting like 22 miles per gallon? If that's the amount of fuel your using I would suggest changing car would saving you thousands a year if fuel alone.

Maybe it's just the UK/European way but that's a mph g no one would tolerate for any normal everyday run around car for your average person.

I get 50ish mpg from my old 1.3l petrol and a bit more from my other 1.6l petrol and efficiency wise their ancient tech compared to new cars.

Honestly I would be looking at trading in the mobile money burner and looking for something more economical.

 

[RonSwanson]

Oh, that's actually how I'm saving money right now... Car's currently in the shop (and has been in and out for the past year), and we're trying to figure out whether or not to put her out of her misery, bite the bullet and get a newer car, or spend the $4.5k for a new engine to bring her back to life. It's only a 2007, but the mechanics screwed up and now the engine's shot... In the meantime, no car means not spend money on airsoft for the most part... Which is a shame because I was so excited to try out the new toys.

For $4.5k could you not get an old but more economical car? Once it's fixed I would assume same fuel consumption so still paying out. From a rough calculation for every 3 miles you drive per year you could pay an extra dollar on top of the 4.5k and be slightly better off if you find a car that does 45mpg and than halving fuel costs every year after.

So more Airsoft toy money.

 

[RonSwanson]

Car market is mental with how much people are paying, pre COVID you could get an old beater car for £500-£700 or so now they are £2000.

Also noticed heavyweight BB's have gone up around 20-40% on average at most retailers.

Just under a year ago picked up 1000 Geoff's.45 for £22 now they are £26 at my local shop or £28 online.

Considering switching to geoff .4 or trying the ASG AI .43 at these rates.

 

[RonSwanson]

Glad I scored a $300 focus from my friend's dad lol, my 2004 Outback was pretty far gone.

Is Facebook marketplace not really a thing? You can get cars relatively cheap, and you could even get a duplicate and use it as a donor. Not something everybody will do, but good to keep in mind if you have storage.

Ford focus is one of the most fun cars you can drive, I miss mine.

 

[RonSwanson]

Maybe the focus type R, but not this 2010 lol. it is very comfortable, but I miss the visibility and 4WD of my Outback.

I had a mk 1.5 early 2000s, the 1.6L and above manual petrols were often used for training advanced/racing driving styles in the UK as they were so good to drive stock. Get it on some winding country roads and it comes to life in a way that bigger cars can't, it goes fast and sticks to the road, also they loved being revved high which is why manual was the better choice by far.

If you have an auto guess it would take a bit of fun out it as would get the full benefit of the way they liked to be driven.