Homebrewing saved me over $1000 in 2015!

[KCBrewer]

I saved $500 on hookers last year by playing stink finger with myself. Wait. Whut?

And this is why we get in trouble...

 

[normonster]

Brewing saved my marriage last year but I spent it on something else right after that.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

And this is why we get in trouble...

Who is this "we" of which you speak?

 

[day_trippr]

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!

 

[mmb]

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.

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.

 

[Aristotelian]

I just spent $75 of my time reading this thread. Unfortunately, nobody would pay me not to read it.

 

[Zuljin]

I just spent $75 of my time reading this thread. Unfortunately, nobody would pay me not to read it.

Raw wage or including benefits?

 

[Aristotelian]

Raw wage or including benefits?

Forgot about benefits. I should be getting charged overhead too.

 

[BlackFurnaceBrewing]

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.

 

[brewcat]

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.

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.

 

[slym2none]

While I am the extreme, I have never actually met anyone that has saved money homebrewing. Wine- yes, beer - no.

Maybe one day we can shake hands.

 

[Toejam792]

Think of how much money you would have if you were paid for every hour you were alive. The guys that count their labor as a cost in home brewing must be insanely wealthy.

 

[normonster]

I sat down with my wife last night and went over our yearly finances...

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.

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[KCBrewer]

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.

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.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

ME: I save a ton of money brewing my own beer!


My Wife: No. No he does not. Go look in the garage...

 

[blizz81]

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.

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.

 

[bob1852]

I brew naked. That's why I don't need to include cost of clothes in my batch cost.

 

[Kampenken]

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.

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!

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

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.

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

 

[iijakii]

Ho

 

[Brewenstein]

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!

 

[normonster]

OK I made my own.

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

 

[day_trippr]

My wife saw the title of this thread and burst out laughing..

Cheers!

 

[normonster]

........... S-Corp you do have to pay yourself a salary.

....but you avoid double taxation while gaining security....worth the extra planning if you have a viable business, IMO (and probably yours).

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

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!

Just curious, what type of keezer does 1k buy you. Pictures please.

 

[blizz81]

Just curious, what type of keezer does 1k buy you. Pictures please.

Most of the $1k keezer came as gift money, most of the ingredients come as gift money...pretty sure I'm ready to marry into this family.

 

[Sailingeric]

Just curious, what type of keezer does 1k buy you. Pictures please.

$200 for new freezer, $240 for four Perlicks taps and shanks, $120 for four regulator from Tap right, $160 for four kegs. $70 for CO2 tanks with gas.. Not quite $1000 but close

 

[Brewenstein]

Pics are from her debut at our 50th birthday party. It was luau themed, hence the hula skirt.

Sanke kegs, Perlick faucets, everything stainless. One of my daughters made the sign for the beers on tap.

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View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1456463320.731567.jpg

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Looks great! I think I'm as jealous of your homebrews as I am of you kezzer.

 

[CamG]

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..