A hypothetical situation

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Hypothetical numbers for dmx, were he to move out (assuming he already owns a vehicle):

$600 rent
$100 electric
$25 water
$250 insurance (guestimate)
$100 gasoline
$100 groceries (absolute minimum)
$50-100 telcom (phone/internet/tv, depending)

Roughly $1200/month at an absolute minimum, not counting eating away from home, depreciation expenses, furnishings, or miscellaneous.

Could he live on his own? Probably. The real question is whether or not it would be worth it.
 
In my situation I would be at a disadvantage and it would not be worth it.
 
This is straying a bit off. But to me it is worth re-stating; there is a BIG difference between being a 'mooch' (as in sitting in Grandma's house playing video games not doing anything productive)--and living with one's family while working/going to school without the added worries of trying to stretch a little money so thin it doesn't cover, is often a good thing. And if you can help family out by you being there--all the better.

I get the 'bootstraps' thing; it builds character to have to work for what you want in life. Some of us had no choice. By the same token, not much is gained by throwing good money down the hole on a rat trap apartment when you COULD be salting away a few guns instead that you MIGHT NOT be able to afford (or even legally acquire) a few years down the road.

If you keep the focus on the big goals of school and work, putting some money into quality tools that will serve you in years to come (like guns) isn't bad at all in my book. Moreover, if you are a help to your Grandmother, that's great.
 
Getting a gun that is no longer legal is not difficult to obtain by me since I have enough connections and resources in my area to acquire it but I would have to stash it away only for emergencies.But I prefer a gun that has no risks and being possibly stolen so I would only do it if all handguns were banned.

By definition I am productive and help pay off whatever debts my grandmother wants me to pay to help out so its technically paying rent but not in the 100's of dollars.
 
Exactly. By the 'legality' thing I meant (as in with AWB 1) weapons already owned were grandfathered and could be kept. Keeping 'legal' is a good idea.

I don't see it happening if we keep the preasure on--but it's nice to have weapons you might need on hand.
 
You mean walking around town with a rifle in your hand to put pressure on.
 
Get out of the house; get an education. Get a real job. Do you have an IRA? A savings account?

I agree that buying a gun can be a priority for those who do not have one and need one to protect themselves or their family but no matter what, after having two or three, buying another gun is about as important as buying a 50 inch flat screen TV. There's nothing wrong with buying either if you have the money but if you're mooching off of your parents you don't have the money.

I worked with a guy a few years back that never made more than 6 dollars an hour in his entire life. His wife made a similar wage. Even so, they owned their own home, they paid to put their son through college, and they had money to retire on. Don't tell me that $10 an hour is too little to live on. They lived within their means their entire life. Living within your means includes saving a little of what you make for a rainy day or for retirement. If you've saved money for a rainy day then when your job ends, you have money in the bank to carry you until the next job starts.

Learn to budget and learn to pay your own way. Take responsibility for your actions.

Let me tell you that there is a lot more to the measure of a man than whether or not he owns a gun, or ahundred guns. A man takes responsibility for himself, for his family, for his future.

Sell your guns. Keep one for legitimate self defense and sell the rest. Either use the money to get your own place to live or to fund a savings account for getting your own place to live.

I'm sure you're surprised at the responses you're getting here but I think that if you knew most of the members here, you'd find that many started as poor or poorer than you are now but have behaved like men and now they have the option of supporting a hobby - whether the hobby is guns or something else. Or guns AND something else.
 
Could he live on his own? Probably. The real question is whether or not it would be worth it.
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You're kidding, right? What is his pride worth? What is it worth to him to be a man instead of a mooching child?
 
You're kidding, right? What is his pride worth? What is it worth to him to be a man instead of a mooching child?
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I may be overstepping my bounds here, but from the sounds of it dmx is living with his grandmother, not his parents...and is helping to support his grandmother. Would you call that "mooching"? Or is one's pride more important than making responsible financial choices?
 
I get the 'bootstraps' thing; it builds character to have to work for what you want in life. Some of us had no choice. By the same token, not much is gained by throwing good money down the hole on a rat trap apartment when you COULD be salting away a few guns instead that you MIGHT NOT be able to afford (or even legally acquire) a few years down the road.

If you keep the focus on the big goals of school and work, putting some money into quality tools that will serve you in years to come (like guns) isn't bad at all in my book. Moreover, if you are a help to your Grandmother, that's great.
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What do you mean about things you might not be able to buy in the future, like guns? You're saying that, instead of moving out of Grandma's house to be a man, he should spend money buying more guns than he can carry in two hands? If you're implying buy them now before their banned, you're giving very bad financial advice. In England, guns worth tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars were cut up for scrap metal with no compensation to the owner. In New Orleans, collector guns were smashed in the streets or thrown in piles to rot and rust.

As an investment against the day when guns can no longer be purchased, guns are not a good financial investment at all. And if you're not referring to the day when guns will no longer be available, then the OP has time to buy guns AFTER he has learned to take responsibility for himself and his life.
 
Enjoy the times in your life when you can be spontaneous and get out of town for a week and be crazy. I didn't, and I wish I had. I spent all my energy from age 17-22 doing the get a car, get a house, get a wife bit. Now 26, I'm single again with a hefty mortgage on one income and too many material things, and all my friends have finished playing.
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Now 26, you're an expert in what an 18 year old should do to start life as an adult? Come back in another 26 years and tell us what you think of the advice you just gave.
 
"In England, guns worth tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars were cut up for scrap metal with no compensation to the owner. In New Orleans, collector guns were smashed in the streets or thrown in piles to rot and rust."

I would yell at the police and call them every name in the book if they did that to my guns especially if they dont fork over the cash they are worth and I would probably punch one of them in the face as hard as I could.
Those guns I have were still expensive and I put alot of time in getting them and they are my property anyone destroying them I will assault them to the point where they have broken bones.
 
I would yell at the police and call them every name in the book if they did that to my guns especially if they dont fork over the cash they are worth and I would probably punch one of them in the face as hard as I could
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Well, the yelling would probably only get you arrested; the punch might get you hospitalized or worse. Besides, you missed the point. My point was only that your financial or personal security will not be determined by how many guns you own; it will be determined, in large part, by your standard, every day, run of the mill, down at your corner bank, savings account.
 
Savings is my middle name I take my money seriously and I dont waste it on junk.
 
My point was only that your financial or personal security will not be determined by how many guns you own; it will be determined, in large part, by your standard, every day, run of the mill, down at your corner bank, savings account.
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All of which makes a number of assumptions about the stability and strength of the national economy. A gun, well...short of letting it rust, it's not going anywhere. I'm not even going to dignify the "turn your guns in to the police to be scrapped" statement. Dunno what things are like where you're at, but my bank only pays about 1-3% depending on type (money market, savings, CD, etc). Last year's average inflation was 2.85%, and so far this year inflation has been over 4% each month. So yeah, put money into a savings account and watch it decrease in value. There are plenty of better ways to invest, and I can't say that buying guns is much worse.
 
Don't listen to the advice you are getting here. There are some very snobby people posting on this thread.

Your grandmother probably doesn't want you to move out anyway. I lived with my grandparents AND parents in the same house(3 generations) for a few years when I was in my twenties going to college. It's financially smart. It's good for the family too.

My grandparents are dead now. I'm glad I got to spend the time with them that I did.

You should try to put some money away though. And make your purchases good ones. Always keep in mind that some day you may have an emergency and need to sell a few firearms for quick cash. So everytime you decide to buy something, think to yourself "how hard would it be to sell this at a decent price if I have to sell it real quick?". Don't buy the stuff that no one except you would want, because when you try to sell it, you won't get squat.

That's also good advice for buying a cars and houses too.
 
Quote by Run-DMXX:
I would yell at the police and call them every name in the book if they did that to my guns especially if they dont fork over the cash they are worth and I would probably punch one of them in the face as hard as I could.
Those guns I have were still expensive and I put alot of time in getting them and they are my property anyone destroying them I will assault them to the point where they have broken bones.
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I'd love to see the outcome of that little tantrum... :rolleyes:

I see an immature young man who needs to do some growing up.

"Helping" grandma is not "contributing", it's called pulling your own weight and paying your fair share. Give Grandma $400 a month in rent, every month, and see how it works out. You think you've got a lot of disposable income because you don't have to spend it on your lifestyle.
So you don't have a car, so what? Go to school, get a real job, earn some serious dough, and make your own way in the world.
As far as twentysomethings living at home being "the norm nowadays", that's only because of self-indulgent nonconfrontational weenie parents who would rather wipe Juniors' butt for him rather than forcing him to move out.
As far as planning on what to do once you inheirit the house and contents- if you were my boy I'd make darn sure Grandma's stuff got sold to take care of her in her declining health and the rest got donated to her favorite charity. Never ever plan on what you will do with your dead relatives' stuff. That's petty and materialistic.

You don't need more guns, you need more life.
 
So I should live in an expensive apartment with shady people and work twice as hard as now and be in charge of 100 responsibilities that could go wrong.I would have to work two jobs to be able to afford the expensive apartment which start out at $500 and then all the bills and taxes.I would rather join the Army then go out and waste a ton of money on apartments at least in a Army home I dont have to pay as much.
 
This is unbelievable. Anyone in their 20's needs to be living on their own. You worry about problems? Those problems will always be there-when do you plan to learn to deal with them?

Sometimes in life you can't have all the toys you want. Sometimes you have to start at the bottom and earn things.

The housing crisis is the epitome of this. People earning $40,000 a year wanting $500,000 homes. It just doesn't happen.

So man up, move out, live with a roommate, and try to get some self respect.
 
So I should live in an expensive apartment with shady people and work twice as hard as now and be in charge of 100 responsibilities that could go wrong.
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My guess is that sooner or later, that's exactly where you're gonna find yourself anyway. Might as well get an early start and learn how to deal with real life now, don't you think?

Also, if you can't ( or aren't willing to ) handle responsibility... you'd best stay away from both guns and the Army. ;)


J.C.

P.S. I left home when I was 17 and never looked back. Was probably the best decision I ever made.
 
My grandfather (the wisest, most sensible man I've ever known ) gave me some sage advise when I was young and it has served me well. He had a habit of speaking in parables to provoke me to 'think'. He told me once,
" Son, It makes a whole lot more sense to * save * what you can't afford than to * buy * what you can't afford." Contradictory?? Nope. He was essentially saying "Save until it hurts, then find a way to save more"! Fight that urge to spend $$ on things needlessly. Another thing he constantly stressed is that "young" dollars are worth more than "old " dollars". Again, investing/saving when you are young is a whole lot more "affordable" than waiting until you are 50ish. What you save now will be an investment that will be working for you when you retire.

Get your priorities straight and make wise decisions, invest your future NOW while you are young because no one else is going to do it and 'grandma' won't be around when you retire! To put it bluntly ..MAN-UP, GROW UP, and take responsibility for YOUR future. A decent Education is the Key to stable employment opportunities. If you do these things now, your shooting hobby will take care of itself. This may not be what you wanted to hear but then tactfulness has never been my strong suit..

Ron
 
There are a whole lot of people here who seem to think that living your life at a subsistence level is the only worthy or noble form of existence. There are just as many out there who regret not fully living their youngest years, as who regret in their later years not having saved more money.

This comes from someone who moved out at 18: it isn't all that it's cracked up to be. There are undoubtedly advantages and reasons for moving out, but doing so when you're unable to afford it is idiocy. Yes, you can work two jobs and go to college while paying housing, tuition, and living expenses. You can also become a workaholic, put twenty-five years in at a firm that doesn't care, and then die of a heart attack at 47. There's more to life than money.
 
I am already manned up I am working and paying taxes from my earnings.I will go to a technical school and get a career inline.

I am not ready to move out yet till I make over $2000 a month then I will consider it in some way but since I dont have a stable job and no way of knowing what job I will get on October why should I jump on the boiling water now when if I wait and get my stuff together and have a good career I will be ready for it.
You know how much it costs to repair a broken air conditioner or something goes broke in the car on the wrong day when I would need it.I need alot of money on hand and having an apartment with my salary is a joke because I wont be able to afford repairs then.

I know you guys mean good and try to give me advice to take care of myself and be a Man but if I dont have that much money and a career on hand.
How in the world will I be able to take care of expensive problems and deal with unexpected emergencies?
 
Stop spending money on toys. Here's the way of the world-no one ever has enough money. Emergencies always come up. It's about setting priorities.
 
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