I did a build plan and budget for the items needed for getting my cruiser to where i want it to be.. however, i did it in powerpoint so i could use it as a conversation piece with my wife. My objective was to share the vision and get her feedback on my plan, with an inclusion of the budget needed to get there. the costs are on a separate file in excel, i just extracted the high level costs and referenced the detailed budget to her as needed.
Its important that she can 'see' how these pieces work and what we are aiming to build. With a cash cost of 12K for the base truck (110K), the build is estimated to be an additional 20K. I've already put 12K into it this year and have 8K to go, so being able to articulate the needs to her gives her context to why we are doing this and what we are benefiting by doing it. We will be growing our family by one (our first) this summer, so i use some reference to how it will help the family
.. I'm posting this because i consider this as valuabe as any modification to the truck - many of us on here have others to consider (unless you have unlimited budget or don't want to) and even though it may be my cruiser, i like to include my wife in the discussion. She grew up driving a cruiser in africa, and we have 3 on the farm there now. Each of the guys in her family has a cruiser and they are all crazy over them - so its not that hard of a sell.. however, there is less liklihood of slowing the build down if we're on the same playing field. So, if anybody can find this as a useful template for their builds and including other people affected by the cruiser, the obsession or the budget, i'm happy to be able to contribute something, even if it isn't a build thread in the conventional sense.
for lack of a better way of posting a power point, i put each slide into a photo and posted below. There are pictures of some members rigs on here because i found them to be an inspiration for my build. Most notably to PFRAN and Layonn, I really liked your build and approach to documenting your project. well done. Also a big thank you to everyone who has contributed to the site and frequently shares their constructive thoughts and experiences with this obsession..
Its important that she can 'see' how these pieces work and what we are aiming to build. With a cash cost of 12K for the base truck (110K), the build is estimated to be an additional 20K. I've already put 12K into it this year and have 8K to go, so being able to articulate the needs to her gives her context to why we are doing this and what we are benefiting by doing it. We will be growing our family by one (our first) this summer, so i use some reference to how it will help the family
.. I'm posting this because i consider this as valuabe as any modification to the truck - many of us on here have others to consider (unless you have unlimited budget or don't want to) and even though it may be my cruiser, i like to include my wife in the discussion. She grew up driving a cruiser in africa, and we have 3 on the farm there now. Each of the guys in her family has a cruiser and they are all crazy over them - so its not that hard of a sell.. however, there is less liklihood of slowing the build down if we're on the same playing field. So, if anybody can find this as a useful template for their builds and including other people affected by the cruiser, the obsession or the budget, i'm happy to be able to contribute something, even if it isn't a build thread in the conventional sense.for lack of a better way of posting a power point, i put each slide into a photo and posted below. There are pictures of some members rigs on here because i found them to be an inspiration for my build. Most notably to PFRAN and Layonn, I really liked your build and approach to documenting your project. well done. Also a big thank you to everyone who has contributed to the site and frequently shares their constructive thoughts and experiences with this obsession..
. You're right absolutely right. It was really important for me to get alignment on the build and what it would take so i could skip any of ongoing justification/consultation.. this way if we work it all out first and understand the build and costs together, there would be little opportunity to rehash unresolved questions. Most of the time the challenges in the beginning of the build were simply related to not including my wife in the process, and wasn't the cost, type of change or how it looks (with the exception of the snorkel. She is significantly opposed to it, so like i said, sometimes giving an inch gets you a mile).