Watch Budget as Percentage of Income

 I don’t think at all…😳 if you start thinking and budgeting that’s when you know you can’t afford it.

I try, but fail as often as succeed, to keep my watch spending below a certain amount each month. 

This includes straps, storage, services & watches. 

I don't think of it in terms of "How many hours did I work to buy that?" because then I'd cry. 

The diamond one is for only one (hopefully) very specific purchase. And like you say, the diamond one was established by the diamond industry. If you think about it, that is sort of like this...

Isn't there a government program that sends you money and food after you pissed all your money away on the best ever watch collection?

Yes, I believe it's called the SYW program 😁

I really only have three financial rules in this hobby. 

• My overall collection can't exceed a certain amount.
• I will only allow myself one watch that costs me five figures.
• Major watches (and for me, in my head and for my collection, those are watches that cost me more than 1k) have to be worn regularly or they need to be sold/traded.  

I approach buying watches the same way I approach budgeting for all my hobbies:  I will only spend money on a superfluous thing such that if were it to turn to dust tomorrow, I wouldn't even flinch, in a financial sense.

Comic books, Xbox, tablets, my car, my watches...  if they all went up in flames this evening, and insurance said, "Well, dude, we can't pay out for these items, because your insurance policy specifically excludes alien vaporization beams, and per the cell phone video you took, a Martian UFO used a disintegration beam on all your dumb sh*t," I wouldn't even bat an eyelash.  

I mean, it would suck.  But, I would never put myself in a position where these useless things were anything more than a rounding error in terms of my financial well-being.

Diamond industry brainwashed everyone into thinking that X-months salary was the right number for a stupid see-through rock, sitting on a ring.  Why would we adhere to that kind of ridiculous propaganda?  

When I proposed to my wife, got her a gold engagement ring with bees engraved on it (she was an entomologist studying bees) like this kinda design...

Cost...  I dunno...  1 day's salary or something like that.  She loved it, we got married, we're still happily married...  I think?

But, that's just me.  And sometimes I wish that I'd blown lots and lots of money on cocaine and hot members of the opposite sex when I was younger.  I'd have less in the bank today, but potentially lots more fun memories?

Oh your such a romantic 🥰….

😁

2-3% per year.... or 1-2 weeks. 

It should really be based off networth.

I only spend what I can afford and never spend any money from my wages, my wages are strictly for my family. I have purchased all my watches from selling on eBay, either watches I no longer have any connection too or other items that I own. I'm a bargain hunter, so even if it's a set of headphones going for 10 bucks and I know it worth 100 I'll snap them up and make some cash, then that all goes into my PayPal account until I can afford a watch I want. It's worked for me since 2008, so I must be doing something right.

If I used my wages to buy watches I would most certainly end up in a divorce court. Happy wife, happy life my friend 👍

I spend about 1% of the net household income (not counting investment income) on watch related items, such as watches, straps, tools and parts.

But that's my actual expense. I don't plan to spend a certain amount.

I usually see it in term of hours worked, last purchase I got 4 watches for about 45h of work, which came at around 370€ give or take, I think it's reasonable since it's money that I didn't need for groceries/rent/fuel/etc... I still haven't found a watch that I thought was "worth" A month salary, plus I'd need to save up for several months to actually have enough money lying about to equate a month's salary. 

1. I spent from my second stream of income.
2. from that second stream; if i can afford it twice = yes
3. consequent watches would need to go through the following: can i afford my collection’s value twice? ie if i could afford an fxd and sbga415 twice after my next puchase = yes
4. now the unpopular opinion, financing: hating on financing is backwards but risky no doubt. of course I say this from the experience of owning a successful side business. i would finance a purchase (not necessarily a watch) while using the same value from my own money to re-invest in the business. from that profit, i Use to to fund the financing, while my investment continues to grow. But i wouldnt recommend this if you dont have the appetite for risk.

now the unpopular opinion, financing: hating on financing is backwards but risky no doubt. of course I say this from the experience of owning a successful side business. i would finance a purchase (not necessarily a watch) while using the same value from my own money to re-invest in the business. from that profit, i Use to to fund the financing, while my investment continues to grow. But i wouldnt recommend this if you dont have the appetite for risk.

That is not unusual, but it only makes sense for a growing business, or if you are otherwise certain that there is a substantial ROI. In the current environment we see a slight decline in the overall watch market, despite the current inflation, so I don't think it applies to watch purchases at the moment.

I don't think i've ever spent more than 3-4 days of "annual income" on a watch....with the caveat that sometimes my annual income is basically zero and no watches are purchased.

That sort of income volatility tends to promote a high savings rate.

I think I'm at about a day's net pay max for a watch. Ideally more like an hour or two's wages.

Repair and service is a different matter. That is essentially uncapped and if the funds are there, go.

"Why would we adhere to that kind of ridiculous propaganda?  " Exactly! 💯👍

<1%, but that's all watches, service, etc for the year.

Did I give an equivalent amount to charity this year? = Max value I allow myself to spend on “personal luxuries”. That needs to include clothes, treats, gear etc. Tend to give about 12% so as a max (not saying I spend all of that) that’s my guideline. 

I spend only from completely discretionary money and also follow SeanSankey’s advice - total per year must be (much) less than charity giving. However, I did some math to answer your question. My last watch represented about 2 days income. It was pretty expensive though. So, another metric, all the watches I’ve purchased this year together are a bit less than 1 week‘s income, so your math is reasonable.

Of course, it‘s only August . . . 

🥴

My measure tends to be, "how pissed off will my wife be when she see's this, and how cheap can I tell her it was..."

If the wife:watch ratio is too far on the wife side of things, I pass. :-)

Reviving this since I came across a thread elsewhere that reminded me of this percentage rule . . . and how I honestly think it doesn't apply to watches if you honestly treat watches like a hobby vs. as some kind of ridiculous investment. If you can buy the watch and still pay your bills and still put some $ away into savings etc. then who the hell cares what percentage it is of your income or net worth?

Way too many people think of watches as part of their portfolio, and I honestly don't see those people as watch enthusiasts so much as money enthusiasts (and shitty enthusiasts at that since watches aren't exactly a great investment . . . b/c if you CAN afford the few watches that will appreciate wildly then there are other better things to do with that $ like buy real estate etc.)

I know people who probably spend 2-5k on coffee per year alone (and that's fairly conservative if you're into higher end stuff or really need that Venti Starbuck Mocha whatever). Cut back on the coffee and buy a watch.