How much does CRH cost you?

[BuffaloBoy]

I am starting a thread to see how much CRH Costs you(per week)... i'll start off...

My vehicle gets 16 mph, I travel round trip about 35 miles between dumping and picking up, sometimes close to 50 miles... Gas is currently $3.18 a gallon, so I am burning 2-3 gallons of gas per week, not much, a total of roughly $10 max to support this hobby.

Also, time is money, how much time do you put into this hobby? I probrably send 2 hours dumping and 20 minutes picking coins up...

think, you feel mighty proud of finding that $2 1964 roosevelt dime, even that $2 mercury dime, was it really worth your time and effort to go out of your way, waste your time and gas, to buy a box of coins to produce little to no silver?



I love this hobby, nothing's getting in the way of me and the bank
remember, CRH is a hobby for most, but a job for others.
HH
Buff

 

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[mountainman 2]

Hard question to answer. I usually don't go too far out of the way just to CRH. Most of my boxes are picked up on the way home from work or going to do some other errand. I would say that it doesn't cost me more then $5.00 a week. BTW, gas down there is about 20 cents per gallon cheaper then up here.

 

[Ben-Ro]

I was buying junk silver before I started CRHing about 3 weeks ago. So, net, I'm spending way less on silver than I was before and I'm having more fun doing it! It's the least expensive hobby I've ever had!

 

[crhstreetwalker]

Gas is currently $3.18 a gallon

Holy ****! Gas is $4.39 here!

 

[ParisRoubaix]

On many many weeks I spend more than what I get in silver. I enjoy it so that's what is keeping me going. I want to hit a box of halves that has more than let's say 20 in it, then it will either increase because I'll be hoping for the next one or I'll tone it down a bit.

I drive far to dump each weekend and do at least 60 miles if I have a bunch of coin built up from buying during the week.

 

[BuffaloBoy]

welcome to california, your sales tax is probrably outrageous too, right?

Holy ****! Gas is $4.39 here!

 

[GEOFF]

a whole bunch of snacks.

 

[BeachComber7]

Just paid 3.38 a gallon at a Mobile.

 

[usandthem]

All of my banks are between home and work so I spend nothing extra for gas. Right now I'm only searching two boxes of pennies a week. I do this while I watch TV with the wife so I don't figure the time is costing me anything. I always ask for halves when picking up and dumping. I doesn't take long to go through them. This hobby is paying me.

 

[The_EE]

Lets see.

Car gets 32 mpg.

Week 1:

I pick up 2 boxes in town on my lunch break (15 min ) at bank 1 and sort at home ( 20 min ).

I drive 27 miles to a town north of me, I dump 2 boxes. ( 15 min )

I drive quarter mile down the street, I pick up 2 more boxes ( 10 min )

I sort in parking covered parking lot ( 20 min )

I dump at a bank half a mile away ( 20 min )

I pick up 3 boxes at another bank 1 mile away ( 20 min )

I drive home 29ish mile ( 45 min ) to sort the 3 boxes ( 30 min ).

I dump 2 of those at one bank in town during my lunch break ( 15 min )

I dump half of a box at another bank on another days lunch break ( 15 min )

I dump the other half at another bank on yet another days lunch break ( 15 min )

( 4 hours total )

Week 2.

I drive north to the city again ( 27 miles/45 min ) to pick up 3 boxes ( 15 min ) and sort ( 30 min )

I drive to dump bank one, 1/4th of a mile away and dump ( 15 min )

I drive to dump bank 2, 1 mile away to dump ( 20 min )

I drive 1 mile away to pick up 3 boxes ( 15 min ) and drive home to sort.

I dump 2 of those at one bank in town during my lunch break ( 15 min )

I dump half of a box at another bank on another days lunch break ( 15 min )

I dump the other half at another bank on yet another days lunch break ( 15 min )

3 hours

So I average about 3.5 hours a week, 2 gallons of gas a week. Gas is $3.12 today if I recall correctly.

 

[Diver_Down]

Quantifying stats takes the romance out of the hunt. Been at this way too long. I go to the beach everyday, but I don't ever consider the beach costing me anything especially since many people would trade places with me in an instant.

 

[fistfulladirt]

You may not believe this, but there was a time a few years back when I was seriously hooked on crhing, and dirtfishing. So wrapped up in it, that it was costing me hundreds of dollars a day on my days off from work ( when I was called in for OT and didn't go). I shudder to think how many thousands I lost. But hey, it's only money right.

 

[baddbluff]

Fist makes a good point... Opportunity cost is much more than actual costs incurred by the hobby itself, for me at least. If I spend the day CRHing rather than picking up an extra shift, I lose $60 an hour.

My wife thinks I am silly to spend half a day picking up, looking through, and dumping 10 boxes of halves. To her, even if I find 10 ounces of silver, I have lost a couple hundred bucks. What she is forgetting is that the challenge of the hunt & the thrill of seeing the elusive silver edge of a worn 90%er, with it's accompanying heroine-like rush is MUCH more enjoyable than filling prescriptions for cranky old people.

Which leads me to ask this question:

At what point does this become work & cease being a hobby/leisure activity?

HH
BB

 

[Yinzi50]

There is definitely a turning point from leisure to work. The turning points can be quantified as: 2 40% per half box; 10 wheats per penny box; 1 rosie per dime box and 1 war nickel per nickel box.,

 

[PhattyB]

My marriage, and the face value of the coins I find.

Just kidding about the marriage. She supports me, but sometimes I have to beat into her head the fact that the "money" I spend on boxes comes right back into my wallet when I'm done sorting them.

 

[bblair]

I do most of my CRHing during the week (obviously). I fortunately have a job that gives me a company car and I travel between quite a few towns in a suburban county with a lot of banks. I will hit a couple of banks throughout the course of the day on my travels, so it's not really costing me anything at the time, except a few minutes here and there.

It's a hobby, so even though it may cost a few bucks here and there between gas and time, it's worth it. You can go play golf, collect baseball cards, whatever, those hobbies are all going to cost money. This hobby is fun, there's the "thrill of the hunt", and I know we're all doing it to collect silver and hopefully all become filthy rich!! <---wishful thinking!

 

[sagittarius98]

welcome to california

Should I say Commiefornia?

 

[ArkieBassMan]

There are many more automotive expenses than just gasoline, such as tires, oil, brakes, depreciation, etc etc etc. Too many to list. I believe the government allows a 55 cents per mile driven deduction for an automobile used for business purposes. I believe thats likely a good guide that CRHers could go by as well. An inexpensive fuel efficient vehicle would likely be less, and an expensive gas guzzling tank would likely be more, but I would think 55 cents is likely a good average.

To actually turn a true profit in this hobby requires massive volume combined with decent results. I would venture to say that 90%-95%+ (quite possibly as high as 99%) of all CRHers are not turning a profit at all. Most of us would be "silver ahead" by staying at home and using all that automotive expense money to just buy the silver outright.

If you enjoy the hobby, and consider it a hobby, then by all means have at it. Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your time and/or money. But, if your only goal is to stash away as much silver as you can as cheaply as possible, then likely you'll be better off money-wise by just buying it outright.

 

[Merc Crazy]

There are many more automotive expenses than just gasoline, such as tires, oil, brakes, depreciation, etc etc etc. Too many to list. I believe the government allows a 55 cents per mile driven deduction for an automobile used for business purposes. I believe thats likely a good guide that CRHers could go by as well. An inexpensive fuel efficient vehicle would likely be less, and an expensive gas guzzling tank would likely be more, but I would think 55 cents is likely a good average.

To actually turn a true profit in this hobby requires massive volume combined with decent results. I would venture to say that 90%-95%+ (quite possibly as high as 99%) of all CRHers are not turning a profit at all. Most of us would be "silver ahead" by staying at home and using all that automotive expense money to just buy the silver outright.

If you enjoy the hobby, and consider it a hobby, then by all means have at it. Far be it from me to tell you how to spend your time and/or money. But, if your only goal is to stash away as much silver as you can as cheaply as possible, then likely you'll be better off money-wise by just buying it outright.

I don't disagree. 55 cents is indeed the federal deduction per mile driven that covers all the stuff you mentioned.

 

[Dok Holliday]

This hobby prevented me from going to the bars for 5 hours a week when I first started. Well worth it.