Quote:
Originally Posted by simplechamp
Maybe frivolous isn't the right word. But spending on things strictly for enjoyment when there are other more responsible places the money could go.
So my wife and I love aquariums and fishkeeping. And one thing we have both wanted for awhile is a goldfish/koi pond. And now that we're in a house we plan on being in for the foreseeable future we decided to move forward with it. We met with the company we want to use and they quoted $15k for what we wanted. It was a bit higher than we anticipated but we're thinking we'll probably move forward with it.
But then I get this back and forth going in my head something like this:
For building the pond - We will pay cash and it's only a small fraction of our savings. We don't have any debt except the house. We're working towards paying off the house early. We have excellent retirement savings for our age group. Last year we did the work that the house needed (roof, tree removal, appliances). Now we want something for enjoyment. What's the point of saving if we can't spend some of it on things purely for enjoyment.
Against building the pond - We do still have $200k left on mortgage. We have a baby girl born this year. You should put that towards the mortgage. You should put that towards a college fund. You should put that in your retirement savings.
Any thoughts? How do you balance out decisions like this?
In our monthly budget we have no issue balancing wants, needs, and savings. I guess the thing is when it comes to savings we haven't earmarked what we are saving for. Maybe we need to do a better job of that going forward.
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Simplechamp,
I know it's what you "want", but how about you compromise?
Reduce your expectations, do some/all of the work yourself, go fir a smaller pond.
In the words of Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls:
Picture it, small upstate NY town, mobile home park:
The tongue, even though covered with wood top and plastic skirting sides, really bothered me.
I got the "standard 5'(?) Long kidney shaped preformed pond with two shelf's for plants" and began my plan.
I stacked the wedge shape small retaining wall blocks (gray, other colors available) in a curved shape around the tongue and used 4x8x 16" hollow space cinder blocks for the back against the tongue and trailer (they wouldn't be seen).
I had, to keep the weight of the 6 stacked blocks even, dug about 8" down and using a few rebar pieces, mixed and poured a 4" concrete base and leveled that. That would ensure it to stable, even and in order for years to come.
I dug down 1' to recess the deepest part of the preformed pond in the ground, settled it in and back filled with dirt.
I bought a "rock waterfall" (plastic), the necessary pump and filtering equipment, and piped the water up to top of "rock waterfall" so it would tumble down into the pond.
Bought a few koi, a few water plants and the anti algae solution, wired it up under the trailer.
I planted nice plants in the dirt around the pond.
It was "spactacular", if I do say so myself. And that was verified by the neighbors!
Somewhere I have photographs, but who knows where.
One thing I can alert you to, is that unless fenced in securely, the feral cats, domestic cats or other wild animals kept making a meal out of my koi, even though the koi had plenty of places to hide in and around the plants.
Black bear were known to live in the nearby woods, so maybe they made a meal out of my fish.
Now, I grant you, that it cost about $600(?) At the time about 16 years ago to build this, and that you might want an actual rock formed waterfall, and a bigger pond, but I was working with a smaller space, and you might not physically be able to execute the digging/building if said feature, but my main point is why not just build or have built a smaller feature, perhaps one that can be expanded in the future??
One this is, an outdoor pond does require a LOT more attention, care and maintenance than even my 60 gallon salt water fish tank inside.
The sun will make algae grow, wildlife eating your fish, changing the filtration system more frequently, maintaining the algea control and other water related control, feeding, etc.
I even had the hd the water heater set in for winter freezing time, which had to be regulated so as to adjust to temperature and so as to not freeze or fry the fish.
Then there was plant maintenance in and around the pond.
Fir me, it became a "labor of love", and I thoroughly enjoyed the comments from neighbors walking or driving by.
I kept it going for about 8 years, through, and as the fish would be eaten or gone by winter, I could shut down the pond, drain and store the pump, but eventually it was too much.
I drained/pulled the preformed pond filled with dirt, and turned the ample space into a veggie garden Instead.... requiring less maintenance.
So, while you may have funds to pay, if you are asking the question if whether to spend $15k on it, you have doubts about it.
So maybe have a water feature, but choose to spend say $5k to set a basic but expandable system.
And while mine was simple, and the waterfall ricks DID look "fake and plastic", that's my point...maybe keep it simple.
You might find, after a while that moderating temp, algae control in the sun, fish being eaten, leaf removal in fall, spring cleanup that it might be more than you bargained for, and may just wish for a simple water feature.
If you've got the funds, go ahead and do it.
But if you're even asking the question, you might want to reduce expectations, do some of the work yourself, and set up a future expandable smaller system.
You could do waterfall and a higher smaller pond, that could be expanded by adding another waterfall or overflow trough to go into a future lower larger pond, fir example.
Best to you as you figure and plan.
(PS, I'm 58 now, I was about 40 at the time, so all that work was easier on me, and didn't involve 800# rocks strategically placed!)
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