Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Am I the Only Poor person Here?

+1 on this one as I've often found myself thinking the same thing. If the chips were down and somebody I care for needed help, nothing would be sacred!

I often wish my Dad was still alive so I could thank him for all the things I never understood.

Stay in love then, because despite the fact it ain't cheap, it's much cheaper than divorce, trust me on this. Especially when you're kids want to be with you instead of mom, and you wind up playing Mr. Mom, along with all the other things a man has to do. Don't ask me how I know all this, LMAO.

Didn't know ya had a brother...

I think your kids are lucky to have such a generous pop. I hope they have or will learn the proper appreciation for that.

That's why I didn't have a problem being a gigolo for a few years.

Kids are expensive and should come first. Mine are grown with kids of their own and good jobs. Until that happened I had one centerfire rifle with a Bushnell 4x Banner scope, a 12 gauge shotgun and a 22 rifle and pistol. That was it and all I needed. Probably still all I need but...

Scott you are just all right in my book!

Funny bastard, I'd say more but I need to make a Cabelas order.....

Laffin ...

I have a son in college and daughter in diapers. After my duaghter was born I left a high paying job with at least 2 weeks travel a month to work 5 minutes from home. The income adjustment has been tough, I can't buy whatever I want when I want it but I will never be able to put a dollar value on the payback! Time with your kids is priceless.

Steelhead has it right about never selling a gun, but I know what would go last!

Never married, one child, expensive attorneys........luckily the the latter two didn't come along until my early 40's...By then I had tried out most of the toys known to us boys, got to hunt on two continents, and discarded the toys that weren't worth it.......


Besides, you don't NEED $1000 bino's and custom barreled rifles to consistently kill big critters......indeed, those high dollar toys sometimes get in the way........


Casey

Back in 1994 my wife lost her job and almost died. We had major medical bills well in excess of $100 large. I sold every gun, knife, scope, bullet it took to pay the bills. Before all that happened she used to give me grief about buying guns even though I always said they were just an investment and they were. Now if I see a good deal, she asks me why don't you buy it. They are nothing but wood and steel.....

Yeah, I've learned that financial strategy too......



Casey

Using credit to buy something you can't afford is only acceptable if what you're buying it a true necessity ... I can't recall the last time I bought on credit, something I couldn't pay for at the end of the month. IOW, I use my CC the same as a debit card, simply because it's easier than carrying around the cash, and helps keep my credit rating high for when I do need/want to buy a new vehicle, home, etc...

anyway, regarding the super whizzbang customs, I only have two real "customs", and it's taken me almost 4 years to get those two together ... it's not like I just forked over $2000 at once, in exchange for a rifle ready to hunt ...

it's amazing what you can do, if you just save a few dollars here and there over the course of a year ... those small amounts that don't seem to matter at the moment add up big over time, and more quickly than you'd imagine ...

It's the best strategy by far!

this whole thread brings tears to my eyes.

not because of the things i lost, but because of the things i never had, and because of the things your children now have, and will always have...

while on his deathbed my father said to me, through all the alzheimer's and dementia, "...I gave you a cattle ranch, and look what you've done for me!!!"

he was suffering from a heart attack, and being tended to by the folks at Scott & White up in Temple.

the things in life are not important as the people in life. i was always a "burden" to my dad. he frequently spoke to others in the coffee shops and bars, and one of his favorite sayings to his friends was, "...i hope i'm as much trouble to him when i'm old as he is to me now...".

dad was not joking. he never joked. his idea of a joke was, "...what did the little dog say when he sat down on sandpaper... RUFF!..."

he was a man that thought music, of any kind, was "bullschite". ergo, we never listened to much. no caruso, no pete seegar, no willie nelson, johnny cash, no nothing... we had books, however. books, and books, and books...

what kinda gun you want? lemme know. maybe we can work something out...

-tom

Those who HAVE the toys, post about them. Those without generally don't say much about those particular toys, but do talk about what they DO!

Where are you going fishing???

Seriously, been there and done that. I have 3 kids and a couple about to go to college. I'm proud that I can help with the tuition but it's going to be a tight 4 or 7 years coming up at el rancho. Fortunately the gun and ammo supply was put in well in advance. I don't have alot of toys but I have enough to tide me over. I'll try to make a couple hunts on the cheap in the next several years but nothing expensive for sure.

My advice to anyone is to never use credit....unless for a mortgage. Build up a cash reserve so that the inevitable emergencies can be paid as you go instead of using plastic. Live by the simple rule of don't have the cash, don't buy it.

I have never bought a new rifle (for myself). I did buy a new Shotgun (Rem 870 on sale and with a rebate total cost $160). I have been the fortunate recipient of three new firearms, as gifts (Stevens 311D 20ga., Ithica SKB 12ga., and a Uberti 1873 Cattlemand 45 Colt). These were all from my father. All the new firearms that I have bought except the 870 were for my sons. The rest of my guns were bought in pawn shops, gun shows, from individuals, or were customized by me. There are some that I inherited from my grandfather and others. I have only sold or traded away four guns (Falcon 25 auto, a 32 Auto, a Chinese SKS, and a sporterized Jap 7.7). There are several of these guns that are not worth any money. I have told my boys as much also. The value they hold as heirlooms is greater than than the money they are worth. If it ever comes down to needing the money that selling them would generate I expect that my boys will have the wherewithall to get that money from somewhere else if that is all they need. These are guns that belonged to my Great Grandfather and have been kept through thick and thin by those who certainly could have sold them at any point. I have told them that the guns belong to them but they are not theirs to sell. At the point that they could be sold they should give them to their children.

Yes, they are things, but they are things of heritage, of family. They are not worth money.

There is poor and there is poverty. There is rich and there is wealth.

Alan