Curiosity killed the cat

[powerlord]

If you've just ordered your latest FLO gadget and thought to yourself - huh - bet I could just cut and paste that order history into excel and add it up - see what I've spend in the last 18 months*

don't.

just. don't.

that way, only pain lies. ignorance is bliss.

😬

stu

 

 

* lets just say it's got the same number of digits as my yearly salary.

[DaveL59]

Know what you mean. I do have a spreadsheet that I keep which lists all the optical gear I've accumulated over the past several years, Scopes, binos and camera. The various totals are shocking and sadly a lot was over the past 5 years, sometimes acquired as a "for something to do" while between jobs. Still it also provides a list of serial numbers and potential re-sale value which may be useful in the event of theft or to my future estate 😉 

[SthBohemia]

Some of you are SO damn well organised! Poor me, would not know one end of a spreadsheet from a woollen blanket. Even if lists were printed they would be misplaced and discarded into the rubbish or used to start a BBQ within a month. Sighs 😞 

[DaveL59]

2 minutes ago, SthBohemia said:

Some of you are SO damn well organised! Poor me, would not know one end of a spreadsheet from a woollen blanket. Even if lists were printed they would be misplaced and discarded into the rubbish or used to start a BBQ within a month. Sighs 😞 

thinks maybe the BBQ is a better idea 😉 

[apaulo]

you mean it isnt a woollen blanket. gee, i suppose theres no santa claus either. 

[bosun21]

5K in the past 11 months!😱 And that’s purely visual.

 

Edited August 23, 2022 by bosun21
Typo

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

Being on a very average salary, the stress does not come from how much I've spent, rather how much I'd like to spend but daren't! Though good luck to you if you can afford to splash out. 👍

Edited August 23, 2022 by ScouseSpaceCadet

[UKDiver]

36 minutes ago, SthBohemia said:

Some of you are SO damn well organised! Poor me, would not know one end of a spreadsheet from a woollen blanket. Even if lists were printed they would be misplaced and discarded into the rubbish or used to start a BBQ within a month. Sighs 😞 

Having also kept a spreadsheet of my astronomy spend, I'd prefer the woollen blanket for comfort.

[bosun21]

I totally agree with you. I am retired now so no longer work. I had rekindled my love of astronomy last September so a good part of this was buying my scopes, mounts etc. I can now no longer afford to spend so much and now save for each substantial item. I am happy to have joined the astronomical ranks once again, even if it’s considerably more expensive than before. (Technically)

Edited August 23, 2022 by bosun21
Typo

[powerlord]

At least resell values are good. generally. And inflation works in your favour. sort of.. no hear me out...cough

I mean say you buy summit for 1000 quid new from FLO. resell value or astro stuff is good - prob get 800 back when you sell it after 2 years right ?

so it's really only cost you 200 quid ?

well hold on, there is inflation at 10.1% .. so your 1000 quid in a zero interest account would be worth 10% less in a year in real terms..900 quid.. and then another 90 the second year.. 810 quid.

so, really your 1000 quid purchase has only cost 10 quid.

If inflation goes up a bit more, it'll be free!

stu

p.s. my cheek has a tongue in it.

[bosun21]

1 minute ago, powerlord said:

At least resell values are good. generally. And inflation works in your favour. sort of.. no hear me out...cough

I mean say you buy summit for 1000 quid new from FLO. resell value or astro stuff is good - prob get 800 back when you sell it after 2 years right ?

so it's really only cost you 200 quid ?

well hold on, there is inflation at 10.1% .. so your 1000 quid in a zero interest account would be worth 10% less in a year in real terms..900 quid.. and then another 90 the second year.. 810 quid.

so, really your 1000 quid purchase has only cost 10 quid.

If inflation goes up a bit more, it'll be free!

stu

p.s. my cheek has a tongue in it.

Thanks Stu, for that oddly comforting post 😂

[900SL]

Oddly I just went through this exercise and was going to post a thread entitled 'how much?!?'

My order history from FLO alone was a shocker. And that doesn't include an SXD2 mount, tripod, Fornax LT2, FMA180, and several hundred spent on 'accessories'

I'm reigning it in for a while. Well, after that TS CF APO 102 and..

[Shimrod]

1 hour ago, 900SL said:

Oddly I just went through this exercise and was going to post a thread entitled 'how much?!?'

My order history from FLO alone was a shocker. And that doesn't include an SXD2 mount, tripod, Fornax LT2, FMA180, and several hundred spent on 'accessories'

I'm reigning it in for a while. Well, after that TS CF APO 102 and..

On a more mundane level, I have done something similar to make sure I have enough 'all risks' insurance cover. It's amazing how all those small items add up to a big number! 

[DaveS]

You really don't want to know how much the stuff in my sig cost me. I'm not sure I do either .

[Mandy D]

7 minutes ago, DaveS said:

You really don't want to know how much the stuff in my sig cost me. I'm not sure I do either .

*** and "stuff" *** 😁

[astronymonkey]

I remember a long time ago at a star camp being told to get good eyepieces secobd hand as the resale prices are normally good and you'll get your money back. The guy said that way you only really "borrow" them for a while as they don't end up costing you anything.

Subsequently I bought a scope second hand about 6 years ago and I could probably sell it for the same money ... so I like to think it's not really cost me anything as its only on loan 🤔 🙃 😉

[Orange Smartie]

I've hardly spent anything! Just checked and my dob was ordered in Feb 2021, and since then I've only got a Rigel and OIII filter to go with that, plus a couple of bits amounting to 25 quid or less that I've just ordered.

I think I'm due a Takahashi or something....what do you think? 

[Zermelo]

I've been keeping a very complete spreadsheet of my spend since the start. The interesting (frightening?) thing is that the total is more than five times the combined cost of my three scopes.

 

3 hours ago, Shimrod said:

On a more mundane level, I have done something similar to make sure I have enough 'all risks' insurance cover. It's amazing how all those small items add up to a big number!

As you mentioned this, I was already wondering - would contents policies usually treat a collection of astronomy kit as a single item, for the purposes of the ubiquitous clause "items exceeding £x must be listed separately"? I'm wondering because they often insist on counting coin collections, for example, as a single item, which means that they exceed the limit, even though all the individual items may be beneath it.

 

3 hours ago, Orange Smartie said:

I've hardly spent anything! Just checked and my dob was ordered in Feb 2021, and since then I've only got a Rigel and OIII filter to go with that, plus a couple of bits amounting to 25 quid or less that I've just ordered.

I think I'm due a Takahashi or something....what do you think?

I think you're a saint and you should share your secret!

 

[DaveL59]

6 minutes ago, Zermelo said:

I've been keeping a very complete spreadsheet of my spend since the start. The interesting (frightening?) thing is that the total is more than five times the combined cost of my three scopes.

 

As you mentioned this, I was already wondering - would contents policies usually treat a collection of astronomy kit as a single item, for the purposes of the ubiquitous clause "items exceeding £x must be listed separately"? I'm wondering because they often insist on counting coin collections, for example, as a single item, which means that they exceed the limit, even though all the individual items may be beneath it.

 

 

 

yeah all the little accessories quickly add up don't they 😞

On the collection vs individual I'm not sure. Talking to the insurer when doing the home policy and specifically around camera+lenses we decided they'd tally separately tho whether that hold should I ever need to claim who knows. I'd state the "camera" is the body plus the regular 50mm lens, other lenses are separate items and see how the argument goes. On the scopes again I'd argue they are individual and the huge box of eyepieces are shared between them in X:Y ratio, parhaps?

Good point tho, I ought to rename some of the tabs and my spreadsheet to say, for example, "List of binoculars" rather than "the binocular collection" to save future arguments 😉 

[Shimrod]

26 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

yeah all the little accessories quickly add up don't they 😞

On the collection vs individual I'm not sure. Talking to the insurer when doing the home policy and specifically around camera+lenses we decided they'd tally separately tho whether that hold should I ever need to claim who knows. I'd state the "camera" is the body plus the regular 50mm lens, other lenses are separate items and see how the argument goes. On the scopes again I'd argue they are individual and the huge box of eyepieces are shared between them in X:Y ratio, parhaps?

Good point tho, I ought to rename some of the tabs and my spreadsheet to say, for example, "List of binoculars" rather than "the binocular collection" to save future arguments 😉 

If you had a set of rare eyepieces that as a collection were worth more than the individual eyepieces you would want to list those as a collection. I have four telescopes and a mish-mash of eyepieces - which would not be considered a collection (or any of them curios) which would need to be listed separately. 

Some of this will depend on the insurer - with my previous insurer, I just had to give an appropriate 'all-risks' (for items taken away from the home) value which also determined the maximum claim value of a single item. With my current insurer, MoreThan, I have to list high-value items in the home individually (anything over £1000) as well as an overall total risk value. 

I have in the past collected books, so I have two separate collections of signed first edition books that I have listed, although my overall library of (normal?) books does not need to be listed, even though the overall replacement cost of those is higher than the two collections.

Going around the house trying to identify high-value items is harder than it sounds, hence the spreadsheet to understand the cost of the astronomy items (for the overall risk) as well as identifying anything over £1000. I've also just realised my EdgeHD now has a replacement cost of £1800 and I might need to revisit my insurance in light of all the prices rises over the last two years.

Edited August 23, 2022 by Shimrod

[Synchronicity]

This reminds me of the guitarist who's biggest worry was that after he died his wife would sell his gear for what he told her he'd paid for it rather than what it cost! 😉🤣

[Dragon_Astro]

Spreadsheets just sounds like evidence to me 😅

It negates sneaking the parcels in 😂

[powerlord]

Also, many home insurance policies limit contents to around 35k. that might sound a lot. maybe was 20 years ago when we didn't own 1000 quid phones, etc but it's nowt now. So it's another thing worth checking.

I'll be checking mine for the astro stuff - usually it's computer gear I'm concerned it covers, but seeing that figure from FLO is nearly HALF the limit above... I think I'd better revist the policy.

stu

[Robindonne]

Lol  a spreadsheet is exactly how i have my astro buys and sells stored.  However, after having spend about 20k im still in the green numbers for about 10K😌. Magic. 

Edited August 24, 2022 by Robindonne

[DarkAntimatter]

I'm beginning to wonder if I can buy stock in FLO.