ORIGINAL: RVM
Depends on where you live and your spending habits. I'd imagine someone on $16k a year could fly .60 size planes and still pay their bills, so long as they were really careful and didn't live in an expensive part of the country.
I don't find this statement very realistic, sorry. At 16K you are barely scraping by on housing/utilities as far as I can see. And most of us like to eat every few days. I can't put a minimum amount on this really but 16K is IMO rediculous.
Everyone needs a place or thing to vent (hobby) but RC is far from cheap. Expenses can be held down but never cheap IMO. Small electrics may be the cheapest way to go but
MAY be the least fun to some. Even these take an initial investment though.
NorfolkSouthern - I do wish you success in rebuilding your finances. I've struggled with that in the past too.
NOT any fun.[:@]