How do you afford the things you love?

[dalv]

Squirrel away whatever spare cash you can every week. Doesn't matter how much, just make it a requirement to do every week! With one kid just out of college and another still going for two more years, extra cash is tight but I am religious about my weekly stash. Before you know it you have a couple hundred which gives incentive to cut elsewhere to get to the goal.
As I get close I stay out of the gun shop to avoid temptation - if I have a certain gun in mind, until I have the needed cash.
Currently got $500 towards my first AR. Figure I need $1000 to get what I want (I know I can build for less) so I'm halfway there! I'm cruising the want ads for private sales, quite a few out there probably better deal than from shop (and no tax!)
The wife is OK with it as I work off an allowance (yeah, even at 50 yr old!)so the basic expenses are covered first. Whatever I can scrimp and save, or spare cash I can muster, she figures is well earned.
Takes a while but sweet when you get there. After that you start all over again!

 

[Pants]

Get a purple Crown Royal bag and just drop your spare change in it. When it's full, it's $400 dollars (without pennies).

I'm a bartender so I get lots of coins on a daily basis. Usually takes about 4 months to fill it up. The average person maybe twice as long, but it's money you never think about until you have 15 pounds of it, and then it's a nice surprise.

Couch cushions, the ashtray in your car, your nightstand, etc. It adds up!!!

 

[Cannonball888]

Buy lots of mil-surp gear off the Net, make up a story for each item and sell it for 5 times the cost at a gunshow!

 

[williamthedog]

i work hard .
dont drink or get high.
dont eat out.
dont go to movies.
the few hundred bucks i save by living this way each month i spend on my hobby.

 

[p2000sk]

Recently got a poster in the mail from the Social Security Administration.
Poster reminded me how much$ I made each year.
Added those amounts up and said "whoa, where'd all that$ go?"
For each year, I recalled an estimated budget that inluded generous
expenditure provisions for the rediculous things I used to buy.

In regard to the Net after taxes (before all other expenses)...
I could not account for about half of the money that I spent.
Where did the money go? Youthful Fiscal Irresponsibilty.

Started to weigh what I want versus what I need.
That was never a thought of mine, before my newfound hobby.
I could buy a years supply of whatever,
or a family heirloom every year... choose wisely.

 

[cornman]

Did your grandparents think they needed dozens of firearms or other items beyond what they needed? We are a culture spoiled beyond belief, but that will change soon. A depression is very likley to be with us soon.

 

[rmarcustrucker]

Maturity is the ability to hold off on pleasure till your able to do it. It isn't easy for any of us, but we realize looking back that 5 years can fly by in a blink of the eye, so waiting till we've saved for our toys isn't as hard. Just Back away from the plastic! Cash only. Please! Neighbors kid just learned it the hard way and he didn't like my suggestion. MORE WORK!
Be happy you are like most of us. When your 18 your in your prime physically but PI@@ poor. You don't want to "peak" to early in life. It takes decades for most of us to accumulate our "wealth" in guns and money. Keep your Dept's down, don't forget to save a Little. ($300.00 monthly in a good growth money mutual fund will make you a millionaire by retirement age.) Like you care about that right now.
You've got the biggest cure to your financial troubles WORK. It's just going to take time to get up the ladder, get into your "life" career and your income will grow. If you happen to be the one to invent the money tree, let us know...wait the federal reserve already is doing that and causing our dollar do deflate in value. Oh and don't buy a house with no money down. A home is a blessing if you have a little extra money for emergencies, you see what happens when your credit is bad, banks and home buyers are greedy and the economy stalls? (No, no recession yet, you need 6 months of recessed GNP growth for that.) But we could be working to wards one.

 

[Feanaro]

I don't. At least, not anymore. Sckuul cuts into your money earning time, especially the college kind of sckuul. I used to do it by living with my parents and having a job. Few bills + income = toys.

Get a purple Crown Royal bag and just drop your spare change in it. When it's full, it's $400 dollars (without pennies).

I wouldn't wait until you had $400 to deposit it. Time spent in a hooch bag is time not spent earning interest.

Did your grandparents think they needed dozens of firearms or other items beyond what they needed?

No to the first part but yes to the second part. Grandparents on mom's side did a lot of keeping up with the Jones's, as did their parents. Grandparents on dad's side less so, because they couldn't afford to. But I assume that's only a fluke, as I'm sure generations past would never spend money frivolously.

 

[williamthedog]

if my grampa could have afforded a bunch of firearms ...he would have jumped on it!

 

[dewage83]

i live on my own with my girlfriend, and still have managed about a gun every month and a half sence i was not alllowed firearms in my communistic liberal household.i bought a .22lr, a sks, a pardner pump(not reccomended, buy a mossberg) and am BUILDING an ar. just save money, buy guns with cheap ammo, and like many have probably said you dont build a collection in a week. it will probably take THE REST OF YOU LIFE. crazy right. just think of new guns in the year 2020. you might add that to you list of MUSTS. so also you might want to look around for side jobs(im not sure how handy-man you are but its worth a shot. spring cleanups, fall leaves, ect) and start small. you have the rest of your life to own the expensive guns your dying for.

Even so, I think a few of the posters may underestimate how difficult it can be, in the present economy, to save much of anything at all. Around here, an apartment runs at least $500/month, gas is $3.25/gallon, and minimum wage is about $6.79/hour. Add in $100/month for food, another hundred or two for insurance, and maybe $50 for a cell phone. So 500 rent+50 gas+100 food+150 insurance+50 cell means you're spending $850 each month just on living expenses,

....yes i hear you. me and my girl friends bills, with out food or insurance, is around 1200 a mo.. WE LIVE IN A STUDIO APT!