Quote Originally Posted by 'Hachoo',index.php?page=Thread&postID=171102#post1 71102
Unless you go way overboard the hobby is really one of the cheapest hobbies you can get.
This is the truth. I used to frequently race my cars at the track, and I'd easily spend $500 a month just in 116 octane gas.. NOT including replacing worn/broken/upgraded parts. Now I just make the occasional trip to the track and I'm saving a ton of cash.

I also enjoy scuba diving. Gas for the boat is easily $20-30 per person on a day's dive. Provided food/gift to the boat owner or boat rental is extra expense. Air tank refills aren't too expensive, but the gear is relatively expensive.

I easily spend more than $75/mo target shooting. Ammunition is not cheap. $10-12 is 20 rounds for my AR-15. $15 for 50 rounds of .40SW for my Glock. My M1 Garand's .30-06 isn't cheap either. Unless you're buying Russian surplus for a semi-auto AK47, you're spending a lot of money for an hour at the range. (No, you're not making 40 rounds last an hour. More like 200+.)

$75/mo for 5-boxing is one of the cheapest hobbies out there. Ever try oil painting? A black canvas is easily $30-50, and oil paints are $5-10 per color. Yes, you can mix, but you're still going to be using a lot of paint. I was going nuts over the art shop bills when my ex-gf was asking for cash to support her hobby.

I'm a software engineer for military simulations. Stay in school kids. Study in high school. Pick a major you ENJOY in college, and work harder in the books than you did in high school. Do well in school to prove to an employer that you deserve a shot at a good starting job. Work hard to prove you deserve to be promoted at the job for higher salary. If you've proven you're in high demand, you can basically name your salary. Play equally as hard as you work.. and I'm not talking about WoW.

I didn't follow my above advice, but I WISH I DID. I cruised through high school since it was easy. I picked a major for the idea of the med-school career (surgeon) instead of what would I be happy with if I didn't go to med school (microbiology). I discovered I hated looking through microscopes 3 years into college. I changed majors to something I enjoyed more (Software Engineering/Computer Science). I was in college for 8 years straight and was burnt out at the 5th year. I worked my way through, was likeable enough in an interview even though my overall 8 year GPA wasn't stellar.

I busted my ass at work since day one to get to where I am today. I only wish my college entrance advisor asked me the proper question - "What major would you pick for fun, if you weren't planning on med-school?" I would have started with computer science from the beginning, as I taught myself computer programming the first 3 years while tutoring actual Comp. Sci. majors for beer money.

To put it bluntly, don't fuck up. It's not easy getting a 2nd chance at college - everything is on a permanent record, and future interviewers WILL look at it. I look back and think that a good combination of luck and personality helped me overcome my lack of discipline in college to land a fantastic job out of school, but if I were to have a shot again, I wouldn't take that risk. I always had no doubt in my ability and knew I'd be valued once I started work.. I just looked at college as "doing my time" until I graduated. That's not the right mindset.. and if things worked just a little differently, I could have really regretted it.