Homebrewing saved me over $1000 in 2015!

Yakima 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Judging by the post count, this must be one hella impressive thread - and now it's totally tl;dr :smack:

Irony. It's everywhere...

Cheers! ;)
 
brewcat said:
If you are a sole proprietorship it doesn't matter. Business income is personal income. In this brewery's case it is only me running things. I have zero employees, hence no labor costs.
Click to expand...

I know it's all for fun in the thread but if you're actually looking to do this as a nano/small business you always want to count labor cost in the CODB, even if you only pay yourself as a laborer. It's a safety net in case you have to hire someone to replace your labor if you're injured. Otherwise, not accounting for that expense could very well eat all profit and that's the game.
 
I have spent more on equipment than what two lifetimes worth of beer would have cost me.

While I am the extreme, I have never actually met anyone that has saved money homebrewing. Wine- yes, beer - no.
 
mmb said:
I know it's all for fun in the thread but if you're actually looking to do this as a nano/small business you always want to count labor cost in the CODB, even if you only pay yourself as a laborer. It's a safety net in case you have to hire someone to replace your labor if you're injured. Otherwise, not accounting for that expense could very well eat all profit and that's the game.
Click to expand...

You can count labor all you want but that isn't how it works within a sole proprietorship. You can't take perceived labor costs from expenses. Sometimes you can pay yourself a hefty sum, sometimes you can't. There isn't a distinction between the individual and business. Personal labor doesn't affect the accounting.

In the case of injury hopefully an owner has insurance coverage or savings.
 
HausBrauerei_Harvey said:
I sat down with my wife last night and went over our yearly finances...
Click to expand...


We should all just take a moment and recognize OP has actually achieved something noteworthy here. He has successfully convinced his WIFE, of all people, that he is saving money by brewing beer! Bravo!

Someone please make a meme: I don't always cook the books, but when I do it's to convince my wife that I'm saving money by homebrewing.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1456460010.015815.jpg
 
brewcat said:
You can count labor all you want but that isn't how it works within a sole proprietorship. You can't take perceived labor costs from expenses. Sometimes you can pay yourself a hefty sum, sometimes you can't. There isn't a distinction between the individual and business. Personal labor doesn't affect the accounting.

In the case of injury hopefully an owner has insurance coverage or savings.
Click to expand...

Even insurance can't protect your personal assets in a sole proprietorship. This is where an LLC comes into play for most small business owners. S-Corp is even better, but in an S-Corp you do have to pay yourself a salary.
 
FloppyKnockers said:
From a hobby standpoint I hate seeing people try to factor their time, and sometimes equipment into the overall cost. So when I went golfing last weekend how much money did I spend? I thought I spent $81. $54 for the greens fees, $20 for the cart, and $7 for the IPA. By some of your rationales I spent hundreds more than that for the round. After all I have to factor in the cost of my clubs, shoes, shirt, sleeve of balls, lessons I took back in the 90's, and labor. I like to pay myself about $20 bucks and hour to golf. After a little quick math it looks like I spend and average of $323 per round. I should find a different sport.
Click to expand...


I count clubs and balls! That's why I play with a $95 set of Tommy Armour 845s and old Frankenclubs my dad made and discarded, and Top Flites! Otherwise, if you buy a new set of irons every two years and a new current-year driver and play with ProVs and don't count that expense...you are rich.
 
HausBrauerei_Harvey said:
Hah my math is terrible! you know I was thinking of over 1000 saved before I threw in the ingredients figure this morning! I could say I spent 1000 less at the booze store thought. :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I thought as much, couldn't resist a little jab for fun! I think in similar terms, home brew ingredients cost less than equivalent craft brew. Enjoy it, the money and your good brew!
 
blizz81 said:
I count clubs and balls! That's why I play with a $95 set of Tommy Armour 845s and old Frankenclubs my dad made and discarded, and Top Flites! Otherwise, if you buy a new set of irons every two years and a new current-year driver and play with ProVs and don't count that expense...you are rich.
Click to expand...

You are definitely saving money in angst by paying Armour 845s, those clubs are the Shizznet!
 
Jumping into the fray ...

The OP did said he spent 3K on his brewing set up, but it was from an inheritance. So I wouldn't count that as a cost. He probably would not have spent that on a set up without the inheritance, but most likely would have started out small and built up. (This is strictly conjecture on my part based on his first post.)

I have been brewing for almost 6 years, and the majority of my brewing and equipment money comes from birthday and Christmas gifts. My family and friends know I like to brew, so cash is and easy gift for most. I use it to buy most of my ingredients and equipment upgrades. Last year I finally got into kegging. I spent just over $1000 on a keezer set up, but only $400 of that was "my" money. The rest I had saved from gift dollars. So I would put my cost at the $400, not $1000. And since most of my ingredients also come from gift money, I consider each beer to be like a birthday or Christmas present!

Overall, I tend to buy more craft beer than before I brewed. So while I can't really say it saves me money, I certainly feel that I have made my brewing hobby relatively inexpensive compared to most other HBers, and certainly less costly than my wood working hobby.

Cheers! :mug:
 
OK I made my own.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=339978&stc=1&d=1456461873

when.jpg
 
Brewenstein said:
Jumping into the fray ...

The OP did said he spent 3K on his brewing set up, but it was from an inheritance. So I wouldn't count that as a cost. He probably would not have spent that on a set up without the inheritance, but most likely would have started out small and built up. (This is strictly conjecture on my part based on his first post.)

I have been brewing for almost 6 years, and the majority of my brewing and equipment money comes from birthday and Christmas gifts. My family and friends know I like to brew, so cash is and easy gift for most. I use it to buy most of my ingredients and equipment upgrades. Last year I finally got into kegging. I spent just over $1000 on a keezer set up, but only $400 of that was "my" money. The rest I had saved from gift dollars. So I would put my cost at the $400, not $1000. And since most of my ingredients also come from gift money, I consider each beer to be like a birthday or Christmas present!

Overall, I tend to buy more craft beer than before I brewed. So while I can't really say it saves me money, I certainly feel that I have made my brewing hobby relatively inexpensive compared to most other HBers, and certainly less costly than my wood working hobby.

Cheers! :mug:
Click to expand...

Just curious, what type of keezer does 1k buy you. Pictures please.:):mug:
 
The way I look at it is that it's not much different than posting on this site.
Some people have over 3000 posts... at an average of 8 minutes to read and reply to a post thats over 400 hours. Thats not counting the hours of just reading time without posting. Would we spend this much time if we felt it was costing us money ? No we do this because it's a hobby that is rewarding. The fact that we can save some money along the way is a bonus.

Just my 2 cents.... well $8 if I had to bill for my time.. :p
 
beernutz said:
At $11 per six pack your $25 would buy you 1.28 gallons of craft beer. I was curious.
Click to expand...

Not as sure about other locales, but if you're in northern California, Sierra Nevada often goes for $7/sixer, $13/12-pack, and sub-$1/can in 24 packs. Between NorCal, Western Arizona, and Houston (my three stopovers on the annual summer break trip to the US), $9/sixer is a common price point for basic craft beers, though there's plenty of stuff on the shelves that dwarfs that number.

Since I didn't drink all that much beer (most of the year - lack of good, readily available, affordable options) before I started brewing, and because at least half of what I brew is given away, I definitely spend more on beer as a brewer than I did before. Even factoring in my ugly junk equipment, I've probably made a couple beers for every dollar I've spent on brewing, but comparing how much I spend on brewing against how much beer costs elsewhere is apples and oranges. I don't brew to save money, I brew to make beer, and also in the idle hope that maybe one day I'll be able to make a bit of money doing it.
 
FatDragon said:
Not as sure about other locales, but if you're in northern California, Sierra Nevada often goes for $7/sixer, $13/12-pack, and sub-$1/can in 24 packs. Between NorCal, Western Arizona, and Houston (my three stopovers on the annual summer break trip to the US), $9/sixer is a common price point for basic craft beers, though there's plenty of stuff on the shelves that dwarfs that number.

Since I didn't drink all that much beer (most of the year - lack of good, readily available, affordable options) before I started brewing, and because at least half of what I brew is given away, I definitely spend more on beer as a brewer than I did before. Even factoring in my ugly junk equipment, I've probably made a couple beers for every dollar I've spent on brewing, but comparing how much I spend on brewing against how much beer costs elsewhere is apples and oranges. I don't brew to save money, I brew to make beer, and also in the idle hope that maybe one day I'll be able to make a bit of money doing it.
Click to expand...

Wow - $7 for a SN SIXER! In Singapore, a single bottle from a store (not a bar) would set you back around USD 5.80.

I am quite confident that those of us who brew US-style beers overseas (myself included) save a fairly decent chunk of change by homebrewing vs buying.
 
CamG said:
The way I look at it is that it's not much different than posting on this site.
Some people have over 3000 posts... at an average of 8 minutes to read and reply to a post thats over 400 hours. Thats not counting the hours of just reading time without posting. Would we spend this much time if we felt it was costing us money ? No we do this because it's a hobby that is rewarding. The fact that we can save some money along the way is a bonus.

Just my 2 cents.... well $8 if I had to bill for my time.. :p
Click to expand...
I'm usually on HBT while at work. I get paid to post stoopid stuff. :ban:
 
normonster said:
We should all just take a moment and recognize OP has actually achieved something noteworthy here. He has successfully convinced his WIFE, of all people, that he is saving money by brewing beer! Bravo!

Someone please make a meme: I don't always cook the books, but when I do it's to convince my wife that I'm saving money by homebrewing.

View attachment 339971
Click to expand...

Actually, the fox in all this may be the wife; when hubby is homebrewing she knows exactly where he is, what he's doing and with whom.

Where OP may think he's pulled a fast one, his wife is laughing inside knowing how she's chained him down.

:)
 
BlackFurnaceBrewing said:
While I am the extreme, I have never actually met anyone that has saved money homebrewing. Wine- yes, beer - no.
Click to expand...

please allow me to introduce myself, I brew since 2004, I use 30 liters pots on the kitchen stove and I produce 20 liters per batch with an average cost of 20 euros per batch.
that's 1€ per liter, while in Italy craft beer costs 10€ per liter. and often the quality of my homebrew is higher.
 
brewcat said:
You can count labor all you want but that isn't how it works within a sole proprietorship. You can't take perceived labor costs from expenses. Sometimes you can pay yourself a hefty sum, sometimes you can't. There isn't a distinction between the individual and business. Personal labor doesn't affect the accounting.

In the case of injury hopefully an owner has insurance coverage or savings.
Click to expand...
A sole prop would not be what you use for any manufacturing plant, especially one making alcohol. And labor cost is an expense against profit and is included in most business plan projection ratios. Your lender is going to look at you like a dog with a new pan if you explain you don't have labor costs.
CamG said:
The way I look at it is that it's not much different than posting on this site.
Some people have over 3000 posts... at an average of 8 minutes to read and reply to a post thats over 400 hours. Thats not counting the hours of just reading time without posting. Would we spend this much time if we felt it was costing us money ? No we do this because it's a hobby that is rewarding. The fact that we can save some money along the way is a bonus.

Just my 2 cents.... well $8 if I had to bill for my time.. :p
Click to expand...
3000 is a lot?
hunter_la5 said:
I'm sending you all a bill for my time.
Click to expand...
I'll pay it with tags from my McCafe drinks.
 

Similar threads

Gytaryst
Deja Vu All Over Again
Replies
9
Views
1K
bwible
bwible
CallMeKiupid
Kiupid's Mead Guide for Beginners (like me)
Replies
3
Views
1K
Barzahl
B
corkybstewart
Life in a small French village for an old American
Replies
21
Views
2K
corkybstewart
corkybstewart
mongoose33
NorthEast Brewery Tour
Replies
12
Views
2K
mongoose33
mongoose33
C
Brewery & Bar Build Progress
Replies
11
Views
3K
Chris112
C

Latest posts

Back
Top