Just curious what kind of budgets do you other guys work on.  This hobby is more expensive than my golf membership etc.  I try to limit myself to one indulgence a month, but I still spent over 20k last year for donations, hotels,tips etc...Whatever.

Normally hobbyists don't budget.  But with limited funds, I would say it's around you're figure give or take $$$$$ per annum.

It depends what you call having a budget I guess, if it means that you know what you'll pay when and whith what money, then I do have one simply because my full time job handles all my day to day expenses.

Does that mean that whatever else I earn I would spend without counting? Not really, I don't plan ahead to spend money that I haven't earned yet, that's one thing. And then, whatever I have as a surplus once my bills are paid, no matter where it comes from, I put into special personnal projects.

When I was a kid, I would keep enveloppes in my drawer with "vacation pocket money", "birthday gifts for friends", "New CD player"... in which I would evenly distribute the money I'd earned as a baby sitter. Since such an income isn't really stable, my system allowed me to save and budget much the way I still do today with my occasionnal bonuses....

Must be the planetary alignment, or just the fact that my brain really feels mushy today after a night of not so good sleep, anyways, don't mind me, I'll go work on my budget there in the corner....
loll

If the money is not being taken away from other important things in life such as obligations then whether you spent too much comes down to how you feel about your expenditures.  From your post I would conclude that you feel that maybe you spent too much.  Do you go for quality over quantity?  Very good quality is like a fine wine, the after taste lingers and satisfies, therefore there is no need to drink a lot to get great satisfaction.

TER ran a question on income parameters a few months back. If I recall the income distribution numbers correctly your expenditures would be 25-50% of the total income of the average person answering the survey question. So, unless you gave up that golf membership or are eating a lot of PB&J sandwiches my guess is that you are a bit north of the average TER reader (but maybe not discussion group participant). In the end, only you can tell if it was worth it. My B-I-L loves wine, but I have a hard time telling a $10 bottle from a $400 one, not so with p***y.