Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior How in the hell do you guys afford all the mods?

I'm mainly talking about the people on here who have expensive rims, bodykit, etc. I can understand if you are an adult with a great job, but there are a lot of teens on here making minimum wage who buy all this stuff.

My car payment, insurance, and other bills pretty much take up my paycheck each month.

Don't get me wrong, I am definitely very thankful for all I have, but I'm just wondering how some of you do it

Work your butt off everyday you wake up. You run through an obstacle work harder. Have a goal then make it come true.

Well you gotta think, most of these kids you are talking about arent paying for anything. THeir parents bought their car and pay for their insuarance. And all that money they are making at McDonalds is going strait into their car.

just like gold said

exactly...

i havent been able to buy shit for my car in months now that reality has kicked in

school is taking up all my $$$

I pretty much don't buy anything besides stuff for the car, and even that takes a while. It's 4 yrs old now and it's not even close to where I want it to be.

Yeah that is true.

Yeah, its not like we buy all this at once... Its a work in progress. save up for rims, when you get them start saving up for you CAI..and so on. I would say I get a new thing about every month.

Hell yeah. This semester alone my school took away $600+ from my paycheck that I could have used for mods.

theres soo many things i wanna do to my celi but money always has to go to something else. especially now that im back in school i literally have to buy new supplies every week. saving money is always harder than it seems...for me at least.

haha... 600... i wish it was 600...

i've spent about 600 on books this semester... + tuition + gas to get my ass there every day.

600 on books alone? How many classes do you have? 10? I go to a university so the book prices should be about the same if you go a university too. How many units are you taking this semester?

I don't understand why you all are hating. haha. All I say is yes I may not pay for my insurence ( Im a teen ) But i also work my ass off at School and work. It all comes down to effort and goals. Set high goals and work for them.

16 units... some with lab fees... i go to san diego state.

oh shit i missed that $600 part. thats about as much as i spent on supplies so far, and unfortunately it keeps getting higher as the semester goes.

I'm not hating. Just be lucky you have your insurance paid for every month. And it doesn't matter if you are a teen; I'm a teen and I pay all my bills too. I also go to school full time and work full time (40 hrs/week), so I definitely give the effort. As far as my goals, I reach them also (even though it may take a while).

SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!!!!!!! Me and my wife make sacrifices little things instead of going out to eat we'll eat in or spending money on other things we put it away. I mean I've had my car for a year and all I have is exhaust. If it wasn't for her and my family chipping in I wouldn't even be getting my body kit soon. Just be patient all good things come to those who wait.
Just spend smart you'll get there!

All right here is one for all you youngsters out there. My first car I bought for about 500 bucks...1983 Ford F-100 suppose to be red but it was brown. I drove that for the majority of highschool. Talk about a POS, that thing was a gas hog, to save fuel I used to shut off the engine and drift down hills then start it back up at the bottom. It was so rusted up that my friends told me my car had cancer. The only mod I did to that thing was tint the windows so noone could see me in it.

I paid my dues in the F-100, now im driving my celica which will be running 7lbs of boost before Xmas

i just turned 18 got my car in the summer before my senior year (was 16 when i bought my gts).. and i have to tell u, you have to sacrafice so much.. i work at least 40 hours and no less a week and i now attend college too... its all about devotin your money to your car and school. my parents don't pay anything, but they did help me with my down payment last year.. i handle my bills: car, insurance, cell phone, broadband internet, girls ( <- they cost money too) anyways i have a 2nd job/business as a freelancer and that helps with my mods

I drug deal...lol...j/k..

yup.. pretty much just save every little bit you can. it takes forever, but when you finally buy a mod, man its worth it. just keep a good eye out for good buys (the for sale forum here is great).

my situation its called having a credit card and being in debt

had my car for a year without plans to mod until i found this site. read up on stuff and then just spent almost $1300 within a month or so on mods and haven't bought much since hahaha

and yeah, i have to pay for school too. almost bought rims but i had to pay $1600 for the first quarter this year plus about $350 in books so no rims all that was after my financial aid and loans kicked in.

my parents are RICH!!!

It's nice coming from a blessed family

hahahaha marco

plastic is another form of happiness until it runs out

study and work. that's is..

I have two cars, but no car payments on both, my insurance is low as hell, and my income a year is a hefty amount, figures i have two paychecks coming in, my wife and i, but i also have other sources of income. I also dont have to save for retiremtn, becuase the navy will give me 2500 a month when i retire, which will be at 40 year of age, so after that, ill get a guaranteed 2500 a month. then if i get a small job im set, so i have a big source of income, that helps me out, but i also have to set aside money for the wife and kid, but i still have enough left over, i do my things and have my ways!! But saving, is important!!!

When I buy a car, I usually figure some mods into the price. For example, if I had $10k to put down on a new car, and I knew I wanted a $1k stereo... I'd probably put $9k down and get the stereo right away. That's pretty much what I did with the Celica.

Other than that, just save. Everyone wastes money here and there... just need to be more thoughtful.

now imagine spending over 10K on mods and still needing to get a kit and rims -

my car is pretty much stock, i have had it for 3 years, after working 3 straight years to get it... no pay all money went into the car... now i work for insurance and mods and enjoyment of life... (im 18)

currently i dont have huge mods though i would like them...

i usually look around for good deals online, no way can i spend 1.5 grand on a coil over system! but i might be able to find springs, then struts and shocks seperately and bring them all together.

most recent mod of 70 dollars for m-tecs... largest mod (most expensive) would be the stero (but im in the car more then iam outside, so why not spend the money and make it comfortable)

i'm working now so that i can buy most of my stuff before i go to college, that way i don't have to worry about budget managing and i'll have a sweeter car for longer

I work at a law firm full time, and go to school full time...I save for things as I need them...I pay $600 a month total between insurance and car payment...no financial aid...and I'm saving to get engaged (SHHHHH)...I would love to have a kit and a few other things, but certain things take priority...I have a problem with saving...so what I do is I give myself a budget out of each check, and put the rest (in cash) in to a locking safe at my house, and my girlfriend keeps the key, so if I get the urge to do something nuts (Import a $3000 bodykit) I talk myself out of it before I end up with access to the money

i eat rice and soy sauce for weeks at a time.

get four jobs work for a month and save

I'm in the Army which is definately more than a full time job which pays like a part time job! I pay over $600 in my car payment and insurance every month and have a combined phone and internet bill that runs about $100 a month. Each time I get paid I put at least $100 in my savings and use that money for BIG purchases(lambo doors, rims)... Hopefully the body kit will be next!

...me i help out around the house w/ the bills and stuff-grocerys...but i haven't went clothe r shoe shopping for almost a year since a got my celi...all good doe ...got a nice ride

save a little bit at a time...

Yeah, work and school is kicking my ass. I hardly have time for mods. Even when I do have some cash, I end up spending it on something else, like my other bills. I just got a new apt. also, so that will take away a huge chunk of my income.

Other than that, I am really trying to save up for a nice CD Player, like something in the $150 price range, haha.

Is cool tho, since I paid off the car already, I can save up for mods instead of saving up to pay off the car

oh i am glad someone posted something like this because i was wondering the same thing. I mean i like it when the people on here say they work their asses off but still put the money into their car. That is the way it should be. I go to school, work about 30 hours a week and try to save as much as i can. I even use a little of my school refund check to get some stuff for my car. It is definetly a gradual thing because it is hard coming up with the money right away sometimes to buy this expensive stuff.

I have a 1K put away right now and im gonna get lowering springs new shocks, 7.5lb flywheel, headers and a short shifter with it.

All you teens dont know how lucky you are!!!
I have been following this site for 3 years now... but forgot my name and assword so i mafde a new account.

I have wanted a celica that whole time. and i could just afford one at a price of 15,000 which is around $23,000
Cars are so expensive here... and on my insurance they wanted to charge me 5000 a year thats like $9000

So i couldnt get one... so this will have to be my next car!!!

i go to school, i get some mony from school every month that goes to mods exept a litlle of them goes to apartmand rental. my best friend is criminal and has a lot of cash
we are like brothers and if i wannt somthing he often gives me mony for it since he has to damn mutch

and the car i have this big ass loan on

Don't worry about the spoiled teens, that car is yours, you pay for it. everything you work for you should cherish because you purchased it with your money not your parents. most teens with the hooked up car thousands of dollars in the cars will be the same 30 year old man or woman living at home, and thats the truth. just finish school get that good paying job and get all the mods you want

I can't wait to graduate college and start spending some money on my celi. Until then, it's cheap mods.

I am in college and I put a large portion of my money towards my car. I am in the process of getting my Veilside FF-GT kit put on and I am about to get lambo doors. I make 6 dollars an hour but it takes me a long time to save up.

I go to school and work. I also pay for all my bills too. I have to pay for insurance, car, gas, phone, school, everything! I just make a lot of money bartending. Thats how I can afford everything. I make more than normal bartenders because I have friends that come in and tip me lots of money.

IT'S EASY . . . . TUNE YOUR CARS AND BUY EVERYTHING YOU NEED DURING THE DAY, WHORE YOURSELF AT NIGHT ON HUNTINGTON AVE.

if i wasn't partying as much and spending my cash on rebuilding my bike (ebay baby!), i'd have more stuff on my car. for now, the main priority is to pay off this car loan.

to each his own... im glad you found a way to pay for yours

cup o noodles and vitamins

yeah..I hear ya there!!!!

It's definitely hard being a full time college student. I work 30 hours a week just to "keep" my car.

People that have there mommy and daddy pay for your car, you suck!

1. Donate Blood plasma ( thats my beer money.)

2. Donate sperm if your smart enough.

3. Join the army and go on hella deployments.( GOOD MONEY!)

I have saved so much money, in 5 years of service, its just i can't justify spending it. When i know im gonna need it in the future for school.

I had a 95 celica that was belonged to my mom and she let me have it when i turned 16. Well... she gave me a set of keys and i was the primary driver. Any how i drove it for 2 years and a little old lady hit me from behind and totaled the car out. So mom let me take the insurance money to buy a new car. I went down to the closest dealership asked what he had on USED cars ... cause shit im only 19 i cant afford new payments... lol... and he had 2 GTS celicas on the lot. a black one and a red one. I drove one of them down town and back and carried it home. With the insurance money and money i had saved from working i had 7 grand to put down. Instead i put 5 grand down finaced the rest for 4 years and slapped a set of 18" motegi rims on my ride, put a head unit in, Tinted the windows and bought my Greddy exhaust. After that i just work 38-40 hours a week, go to school, come home and spend money. I have scholarships to pay for my school, my mom helps on insusrance but i make my car payment, and cell phone bill. normally i end up with 350 to 400 at the end of the month for me to spend on what ever. Now that is clothes, food, car, ect. so it is a priority thing. whats more important to you!!!

That was a joke Isaac

im Lucky I am collecting money From the military for college. They pay for college and I always have some left over to put in savings for future mods. But as soon as I find a job even a minimum wage one , all the money from that will go straight to my car. I am thankful for the military. It was like prison when I was in
In the end it was worth it.

im 17. had my car for one year. and put about $1,500 into it. I have a job but i only make $6.80 hr. My car-note everymonth is $200. And im fouturnate enought my parents pay for my insurance. But its not crazy expensive cause im the main driver of a 90 ford range. according to them (insurnace) i can drive the celica 2 times a day.

and when i was 14 i started working. made a $1,000 downpayment.

I have worked my ass off for every penny invested in my car, also maintaining a house, bills, and insurance. It is difficult to have extra money to buy mods with, but when you do buy something, you appreciate it much more. If you had all the money to do whatever you wanted to your car, it wouldn't be any fun, you're left with nothing to desire. Just enjoy the fact that YOU own it and YOU worked your ass off to get to the point your at!

I think most of the posters here have put it out there the best way possible, but here's my .02

You have to work within your limits and budget.

My progress is slow, but the car is coming along. I generally try to get at least one thing done to the car evey other month at the very least. I have little free cash to put into my car aside from fuel, payments, insurance and maintanance expenses, but what little I get I save for parts.

You need a gameplan; Break your build-up into stages: stage one could be all the basics like intake/exhaust/gauges/and rims/tires. Stage two could be brakes,suspension & chassis stiffening. stage 3 may be forced induction, and so on...

If you break it up into stages, you can set short-term, mid-range and long term goals for your project, allowing you time to save up the needed money.

Here's a few other tips:

1)do the work yourself! labor is expesnsive, usually more than parts, tools and some jackstands.

2)make friends! If you have a buddy who can get you inexpensive parts, or that can paint a car, or knows somebody who can tune an engine, enlist their help... networking is the key, and like it or not, most people with serious rides do the above things to keep the cost down (Group buys fall into this category as well)

3) work hard! If you aren't making enough at your current job, look into finding a better one, or getting a 2nd job... You need money to burn if you want to keep up with your hobby!

I currently work as a tech consultant on MV databases (boring stuff, but pay is good.

On most weekends, I work at a comedy club as a board-op and sound technician.

I also work under contract for a production company mixing and mastering audio CDs and authoring DVDs.

Without the extra jobs on the side, I would not be able to do much to my car.

You need hard work and commitment to build up a car. If you are hungry enough, you will find a way to get it together.

i work my ass off...scholarships and financial aid gave me some left over cash...hehehe...gotta thank Bush lol

i made less than 11 bucks an hour full time and could afford my gts, with some bare minimum mods, insurence, bike, insurence, 2 credit cards and a phone bill. Now I just bought a better bike, but i got a new job that pays much better. Ill still be broke. Buying shoes is like a vacation...not!

drugs...

I'll be 18 in a few months...when i was 12 i started working for a small screenprinting and embroidery shop at $6 an hour cash over the summers. Now i make $9.50 under the table...and was able to save up a lot of money. I bought a 97 eclipse GSX for 8000...i totalled it...insurance paid me 10500 for it...i dug into my savings a little more to pay 11000 for my 00 GTS...bought a year-old model alpine head unit, TRD exhaust used for $225, Vizage body kit for ~$450, paint $230...

My parents do pay for half of my insurance which is nice...i pay for gas which is no biggie i work on the weekends. If you are young, you should work your ass off to buy shit for your car now while you can...because once you're out of your parents' house...like many guys on here you're all on your own...and with a gf/wife and possibly kids and all kinds of payments...your car will go on the back burner until you get a good job and can make all your payments etc.

I don't buy expensive mods. The most expensive thing I have is a front strut tower bar for $100 and my window tint for $179. I like the little cosmetic mods because they make the most difference as far as looks.

Like Josh, I pay for tuition, books, gas, and other little expenses. I paid for the Celica, too. Well, savings anyway. I live with my parents, so they pay for my car insurance and my room/board is free. (I do housework on Saturdays to keep it that way )

You might as well be a drug dealer to pay for all this shit. I hear it rakes green fast, you just gotta keep it dl before 5-0 wises up. J/K, I don't advocate selling or using illegal substances.

This next couple years, I'm gonna max out my accounts before I start med school. Its student loans past that point.

I'm an "adult" with a decent paying job (72K last year) wife is a teacher (64K last year) so we do alright. Have all the trimmings, nice house, van celica hot tub, etc etc. Just live within your means and save extra money you have. Don't try to do everything at once (waited about 5 months to paint my bodykit) Good luck!

At the moment I'm pretty much done with my car, except for repairng the damage I did in my little curb incident. After that, I'm concentrating on retiring in 12 years. (I'm 34, fcuk the rat race man! LOL)

Im a senior in high school and I still pull it off. I goto school and I have to pay my own 23,000$ for my gts,plus 5g's insurance, gas and food and all that crap. Heres the key, I DJ almost 3 times a week. I've been doing about 4 years now and formed a real company. On the average night I walk away with 400$ solid. If you do the math thats more than a lot of old people make in a year. But yea I still wont spend a lot on mods, the most expensive thing I've bought is my Veilside kit.
After that the only biggie for me is gonna be a in-dash screen.

Works for me. And when the debt gets too big, handle it the All-American way: declare bankruptcy! All the corporations do it - why not me?

I just spent a whole 12 bucks on my latest mod...TRD front plate from Team Celica

most people will spend what ever they can on something they love. Some people call it an obsession. but to each is own, its better then spending it an druns and going out drinking every night. You will aslo have the ablity to look back and say " I did that its my creation, I took soemtihng that everyone has and made it my very own" i'll mod till I drop. my biggest thing right now is wether or not i'm gonna buy and old Hatch to drive around and only mod my celica for show and keep it put up until i'm reardy to drive her around ...

My last report on how much I've worked the last 22 working days said it all: out of 22 working days, I worked overtime on 20 of them.

Then there's the lack of clothes, good food, social life, girlfriend, and other stuff that could potentially steal money from my styling budget.

Basically, life's sleeping, eating, working, shitting, frozen pizza's, playing games on my modded x-box (I had to mod it 'cause I can't afford games), and the occasional vodka night to keep insanity at a healthy minimum.

How can people afford mods? They have rich parents who cater to all their needs. Hence, some people here having a Celica because their parents bought it and will cater to their needs forever. Saving is always good. Especially if you make minimal wage. That leaves the units and you to buy the parts. Saying..."Mom my car is broken I need to get it fixed." High compression piston/stroker kit air freight the next day to the door. No need to save for the future when you have a 7th gen Celica. You don't have a good paying job and pay rent, you can't afford parts or a Celica. You have a decent paying job and pay rent, you can afford a Celica and some parts minor parts like a shift knob. You have a good paying job and pay rent, you can afford a Celica, parts (still minor), and a girlfriend. You have a $6.00 - $12.00 hr job and live at home, pay no rent or expenses, and have no life. Then you can get whetever you want for a Celica in due time.
Having a rich family or a well off family and no real responsiblities or a normal life is the reason most here can afford it other than dealing drugs.
There are a few people here that honestly, don't fit into the categories. I being one of them and till this day I still wonder where these 16/17/18/20 and up people are getting the money not only to drive, but to take care of there cars, pay insurance, and mod a Celica. Which isn't cheap.

its all about the financial aid from school.

i work at gamestop making 8.20 an hour... car payment is 285 a month... insurance is 192 a month... i rarely come close to 35 hours a week... i live in my parents house... im 18 bout to turn 19 on nov. living in your parents home saves you lots of money... so enjoy it as much as you can... which im doing very well... till they decide to kick me out... which i dont see happening anytime now considering they need someone to do everything around the house and oh yea... no college for me considering im prolly goings to move up in selling video games which i hate doing sometimes... but your good at what you hate... so there you go...

Financial aid from school and the wonders of plastic, loads of credit debt but its worth it, and i can payoff the debt after i get my degree and get a real job. With my current job and school i can barely pay insurance and my parents help with half of the car payment since they used all of my high school savings to buy my brother's car.

I Don't even have a celica yet!...But i'm going to start buying my mod's
after each payday!...So when my celica is in...it's just installing time!

INJEN INTAKE
C/F HOOD SCOOP
G-GAMES RIM'S
SWAY BAR...etc.

g-games are getting played out ...why...i should just sell mine now...everyone has em

maybe online but have you seen another celica with those rims on the streets?

Dear god I hope you aren't serious. What happens if you don't get that job or don't get a degree.
Nevermind go bankrupt

If you're digging yourself into a hole full of debt... stop digging.

wise words.

off topic > but me likey your AV



on topic again, I work like a dog and have been saving all my life. I make a budget and stick to it no matter what. I also take my time b4 I do anything.

Before I had a good job I didnt blow my cash on stupid shit. you would be amazed how much ppl spend on BS

Im not that much in debt, I pay off all my debts at the end of each summer when I work like 3 jobs, no such thing as a real summer break for me.

"they say all the good things in life are free... but you can give that to the birds and bees ... I want MONEY... yeah thats what I want! whoooooooo !"

He gots a good point, i dish out $313 for car payment, $250 for insurance, about $80 for cell phone and i got a gurl too...and i got to get all 4 of my wisdom teeth taken out and thats about $200 a TOOTH!!!!!!! Oh well im trying to make my mods dream come true but ya gotta understand it takes time.

all i do is to go work and school, im fortunite my parents pay for my college and car payment, being so im an only child , all i have to pay is insurance, so the rest go to mods. IM ONE LUCKY GUY!

Work 50 hours a week. And save, save , save.