Poll: What is your investment in homebrewing?

Been doing this for 10 years now, but with a few hiatuses until last year when I found a brew buddy. I'm going to count gifts.

Let's see how accurate my <$2000 estimate was:

Kegerator: $545
- 2 cornies (130)
- CO2 tank and regulator (110)
- fridge (120)
- tower (120)
- temp controller (65)

Pots: $140
- 10G Al brew pot: (40)
- 5G SS pot: (60)
- 4G SS pot: (40)

Fermenters: $292
- 2x6G better bottles: (60)
- 2x5G better bottles (50)
- 3x7G buckets (45)
- 1x5G carboy (30)
- 3x3G carboy (75)
- 2x1G carboy (32)

5G MLT: $85
Mash paddle, autosiphon, wine whip, tubing, etc.: $15
Airlocks (8ish): $16
Refractometer: $35
Stir plate: $40
Erlenmeyer flask: $20
50' Immersion chiller: $70
2x Nice (metal-handle) growlers $50

$1308, very roughly. Not bad for a decade in the hobby. I didn't get everything for the best price, either. Didn't bother counting bottles.

-Rich

Probably spent close to 2k over the coarse of many years. No fancy electric setup, just an igloo cooler, etc... got a 7 cu. ft. freezer from lowes for ~160, which was probably my biggest one time investment. Meh, it's a hobby and like any hobby it costs money, as long as you enjoy it and can share it with others, the amount spent is irrelevant.

I don't think I'm really into my equipment for much money at this point, I'm guessing <$1000. Most everything I got for free, as gifts, or made myself. I'm also all about buying stuff on sale, even if I don't "need" it.

Things I've bought:
5 gal glass carboy $30
6 gal better bottle $25
2 cornys $75
10 lb co2 cylinder $50 (filled!)
Dual output Regulator $35
Auto siphon $10
Random hoses and hardware $100
Propane burner $25
2L Erlenmeyer $15

Only $335 total


Free parts and home built/things I've "inherited":
Keggle
Immersion chiller
Igloo MLT
Kegerator with 2 taps
5 gal kettle
Refractometer
Stir plate

Gifts:
6 gal better bottle
Capper
Wine thief
7 gal bucket
Other small stuff like spoons and the like

Well I just spent around 3 grand on my new kettles and conical so I would guess I'm somewhere in the 6,000 plus range. My kegerator build was somewhere around 1400. All the other odds and ends....

I'm running around $2500 so far. Not counting my, "F150", beer sculpture.
Bought alot of mistakes. Prolly $500 worth.

One thing I've found, I'm always almost done buying stuff to make my system better.

pb