When I started saving money for the Bean I also had an idea of some of the things I wanted to do as far as modifications go. BMW actually set out to make this line of Heritage bikes with the idea that they would be customizable. A cool but simple bike that the owners could upgrade and make their own.
Oh man did I run with that idea. Never one to leave well enough alone, I jumped right into what I thought is cool and what I want to do on this bike.
And this is just the start of things
You see in all my experience with cars, sailboats, airplanes, rocket ships, time machines, and motorcycles I have never owned one that is new, as in, not broken, used up, no miles, nobody’s leftovers, no scratches on the tank that I didn’t put there. The Bean is my first.
Now how does a guy like me start with a project like this? Being a tech genius, (maybe that should be a tacky genius), computer whiz kid, entrepreneur extraordinaire, polymath know it all, and poor tend to make one get quite creative.
If you remember somewhere on this site I said I saw the BMW lineup and it was love at first sight, then the scrimping and saving started followed by the deposit? I also mentioned that I waited better than six long months for delivery, welp that gives a person like me a lot of time to plan. And plan I did.
The Money Plan
First things first, let’s start with a spreadsheet to get things rolling. Here is my computer wiz kid coming to the forefront. I figure that I am just smart enough to carefully plan things out, NOT, I just wanted a place to see where all the money I don’t have will be going and a spreadsheet is a perfect way to do that.
Spreadsheet city here I come
Columns and rows are your best friend when you dream big but are really poor. I started out with what I figured the Bean would cost out the door.
That is really important, OUT THE DOOR. If you only look at the listed price, or dealer price, or what a friend tells you it will probably cost you more. And you will get yourself in trouble fast. You need to pin down the cost and take into consideration the price of the bike, tax, license, dealer prep, and a whole bunch of other things that you are not expecting. Then add 10% just to be sure.
Again the nice thing about the spreadsheet is you can go up or down with your numbers as they come in. So now armed with the basic cost out the door, yikes, I started my list of things. This is my goodies list of all the things I wanted on the Bean. Here again, is the nice thing about a spreadsheet, the page can go on forever…. oh wait, that may not be good….
Spreadsheet Time
Here is my basic BMW options and configuration and what I started with: (note: on my sheet, there is a big picture of the dream bike to the right of my spreadsheet as an incentive)
Of course, I am leaving out my actual cost and pricing because it will be different for you, and quite frankly your cost will way more than mine. Not really, I am just saying that so I don’t start crying looking at this because when I was done I didn’t have enough left over for a good cup of coffee….
Notice that in that first column toward the bottom, in green, are three things that you really want to have in there.
- Must Have: these are the things you want on your bike going out the door,
- Total Due: the cost of your options plus your must have must have add on’s.
And finally the
- Still Remaining: this is the difference between what you have in the bank, cookie jar, under the mattress, and any other place you stash money and your walk away cost. This is the difference between that dream and being able to saddle up, or what I call the count down to ecstasy.
Over in the bold type to the right of the green is, in my case, is what I have allocated in the bank and cash now, (cash now is what I have under the mattress). This is because I am going into the shop with a wallet packed with cash just to show off. Yup, slugging down a ‘Big Ole’ wad of cash and saying “I’ll take that one please”.
Sure why not, like I said I have never owned anything shiny and new before so let’s make it a grand show. I know you’re axeing “So Bean man, why do you have a bank cell in there if you are paying cash?” You people are so sharp, that is because I am like the uber buy it online guy which is what I am getting to next.
Columns
In my spreadsheet directly under the above Price/Cost/Must Have square is where the fun starts. I have three basic columns, Need, Must Have, and Later, and for a bonus round there is a fourth column that is my Crazy Extras list. The ‘crazy extras’ list is where you list things like the quantum frizzilizer, and wonder morphing seat transgafitmizer, yes it is things that are way out there and you probably won’t ever buy them but you better list them anyhow. For now, we won’t go there.
Let’s get back to explaining that list, Need, Must Have, and Later, and how it works.
- Need: the stuff you want so bad you have to buy it but not necessarily right now
- Must Have: put it on the bike going out the door, crash bars, rack, phone charger, morphing seat transgafitmizer, (okay not this last one), etc.
- Later: these are things that, as the money comes in, you know you will be buying but can wait a bit, like the morphing seat transgafitmizer….
On my list of things I have about a zillion things just in these three columns and I am constantly moving them back and forth and this is how you keep a balance for things. At the bottom of each of these columns there is a total, however, only the ‘Must Have‘ total goes into that first block of numbers because that is where your final cost will be.
Needs and Wants
In the other two columns, Need and Later, there is also a total but they are a bit of a moving target and you don’t need them in your out-the-door cost. Because there is a tendency to pre-buy stuff, when you wait for something that you want so bad it hurts, you need to have an idea of what that will cost. This is where all the moving around and moving target totals come into play.
To keep track of what I have spent and where I have spent it, to the far right of these columns I have listed where I find things, the URL, in blue, so I can find them again, and listed cost so I can compare. Looks something like this:
I must have the helmet going out the door but can wait a bit for the communications system. I color-coded them just so that I can see things at a glance, I tend to be visual. In the second example, my new helmet added roughly $800 bucks to the bottom line and that URL takes me to where I saw the best price.
Okay why, Mr. Bean, is in the first example your color-coding showing bright green for the helmet and com. units but it is different in the second example??? Welp, when you wait six months you start buying stuff that you think/know/convince yourself that you will die without NOW… So when you see bright green, that is what we bought now, and it is now ready and waiting.
That total is the scary one because the longer you wait, it can get pretty high and gather a lot of dust before it ever hits the road. Of course being a really smart guy, in my opinion, the trick is to keep the cost out the door, (what you need to leave the store), above the still remaining, (how much more money you need), totals.
There are a couple of other things I have added to my spreadsheet but with this, you can get a general idea of where things are going money-wise.