Here's the deal. I have more disposable cash now to spend on toys than I have ever had before. I ain't rich. I drive a 12 year old pickup. My wife drives a 4 year old Expedition we bought used for a good bit less than half what a new one cost. We live in a small, but comfortable old farmhouse. We are both retired, both working part time. We have rental income from another home. We don't have expensive tastes. We aren't debt free, but we have a very positive net worth.

I cash my check for my part time work rather than depositing it. My renter pays in cash. (Yes, I report it.) I try to keep cash in a couple of different safes for emergencies, and in case the s does indeed htf. It is this availability of a little cash that is my downfall. All sorts of neat guns come through the shop where I work. It is so easy to pull a couple hundred out of the safe and put a nice piece on layaway. I get a fair discount, so I'm actually getting some good buys. Then, there is the Georgia Outdoor Trader. I check it regularly, and every few weeks, something catches my attention. Yes, I really needed another SKS. After all, I got that 1200 rounds of 7.62X39 from the shop at a great deal, and who knows what is going to happen with the next ExOrder?

See what I mean? I have literally had to stop myself from buying guns the last two weeks. Well, I did buy the SKS Saturday. There are four handguns in the case right now that I could get great deals on, but I don't need them. They would take up space in the safe, and I would continue to shoot the half-dozen or so that I shoot most. There are three nice .22 rifles I could get for a song. They would just wind up crowding the safe, and I would continue shooting the Marlins and 10-22 I shoot now.

The guns I buy aren't real expensive, but as the feller said, $250 here, $500 there, $400 there, soon you're talking real money.

We have a nice Model 40 Lemon Squeezer coming out of pawn soon. What am I gonna do?

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Georgia On My Mind

I guess I can relate somewhat. I grew up poor and could only look at
the catalog pics of guns I wished I could own. Now in my "golden"
years, retired and financially secure the toys that seemed expensive
years ago seem cheap by comparison to common expenses like
insurance premiums, property taxes and utility bills. It's hard to resist
when you know you can easily have something that catches your eye.

I can relate to this. A few years back the milsurp bug bit me hard. I was snagging great deals left and right, but as a buddy put it, "If you keep saving at this rate you'll go broke in another month".

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Release the Kraken

Hey you guys! No one has ever proven with certainty that there is any sort of penalty for having a few more guns than you really needed when you eventually take your leave of this world. To quote the great Johann Strauss, "Enjoy Life!"

It means that mentally you are a well person. If you ever get to the point where you DON'T want to buy guns I'd seek serious help.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

To quote the great Leonardo Da Vinci, "You can never have enough guns".

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Know the feelin. Once in a while a certain gun really catches our eye we just gotta have. For me last year it was only a R/A 22 mag but the Compact really caught my attention. Just had to have one.

worse places to put disposable cash right now...

You know I've never seen a Brinks truck following a hearse yet..
Even the pharaohs didn't keep it forever!

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

Maybe so. I have never considered guns as an investment. I think they are a fair store of value, meaning you can usually get your money back, and most times, maybe a little more. Especially when I am not paying near retail. I get what I buy at just a tad over wholesale. I have enough friends/ family in the business that they could get a very fair price for my wife if I conk out. Spending $500 every couple of months on guns isn't nearly as wasteful as spending that amount playing golf, for instance.

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Georgia On My Mind

What am I gonna do? Carry on smartly, mister, sounds like you are on the right track to me...

...of course, this is from a guy that just bought a Cannon 64 gun safe to add to his two other safes because he has the exact same compulsive interests and at least a similar income... (retired Navy Chief, DINK, govt. contractor) If I see a deal on a gun that I am sorta, kinda interested in, the next thing you know the Mrs. is rolling her eyes (or claiming it as hers!)

A First World problem, to be sure. IMO, buy the Model 40, and if there's one you fancy, buy it too. Of course, many of us here have had a few follow us home, so you're kinda asking the wrong crowd, but there are worse problems to have. Now, gotta go put that case of 9mm I bought last weekend into storage

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50 Years of DSOTM

Problem?? what problem. Just got 2 more yesterday

My sickness started out with AR's then scopes then flashlights then knives then Jeeps then tattoo...behaved for a year now im into M&Ps after buying a Shield 9. Im already planning on getting its big brothers the 9C and 9FS I'm wondering what's next...

I have the same problem, which is why I badly need a second safe, just for handguns....You may also consider spending some of the cash on ammo or reloading if you not doing it already.

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OGCA Member.

A friend solved his collecting dilemma by creating a hardened, secure, man-cave, and freeing his collection to be respectfully displayed and easily appreciated.

He had the enviable situation of being born into a family that has served in the US military continuously since the revolution and inheriting a military collection spanning that time.

Maybe your problem is not buying guns, but displaying them properly.

It could be worse, you could be one of those people who collect Tupperware and Pyrex.

Y'all ain't no help.

I guess coming here trying to get help
for a gun habit is like a drunk going to
a bar for help getting on the wagon, or
a junkie going to his pusher for help getting
off the dope.

I guess I better find a knitting forum, or maybe
a butterfly collecting group to get someone to
make me stop.

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Georgia On My Mind

Why? Cuz it's a hobby, recreation and sport that you enjoy.

Don't rationalize the fun out of things with notions of practicality.

I don't need another gun either, but constantly search for another. I was given a Sterling .380 this past Thursday and gave it away before I got home. I simply do not care for the .380 a.c.p. There are a couple of guns I want, but doubt I will find them at a price I am comfortable with.

The way I see it everyone works hard and who wants to work just to pay bills? It's nice to treat yourself so don't worry about it and just enjoy life. Have about 5 different hobbies I cycle through since my budget only allows one at a time.

Nothing wrong with a hobby. You could spend it in a bar or casino.

NOT!

So, be responsible, buy a bigger (or another) safe!
Then, you can worry about filling it up!

See, problem solved!

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

And your problem is . . . What is it again?

Got more than I need ...... but less than I want........... but

I've been "drying out" for the past year or so............staying out of LGS...... Ok visiting less frequently.........truth is; not much of anything I want in the cases..........or the prices are twice what I would have paid 10 years ago......Scottish heritage you know

MY favorite saying lately is....." Glad I bought mine in the 20th Century!!"

What has "need" got to do with it?

It is the Bill of Rights and not the Bill of Needs.

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... a little behind in my work

Silly question.
There's some things a man jus' don' need to know.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Very simply, Because you like them and you can!

I fight the constant wish to buy an M&P R8, 686+, S&W 1911, M1A1, and 1903. Only being too lazy to train another wife prevents me.

Yeah, I know where you are coming from, but now I've got a guilt complex because I don't have room for any more, and I sure don't have room for another safe. The other side is the guilt I feel for not snagging the I-frame .32 snubby I saw at the gun show last weekend. I should have got it, but it was on the FIRST table I went up to, and of course, when I went back, it's gone. Dang it.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

You must have room in Your House to store it.Thats the best reason.

Not a bad thing at all sir.
I just retired in May and have been buying a few.
I always seem to find "another one" i would just
really like to try. Gotta check myself from time to time
much as you are doing.
It helps to remind myself that i seem to always grab
the 2 or 3 that i always do from the safe when i head
to the range or the woods.

Grandpa always told me "Beware the Man who only owns
one gun" he likely knows how to use it. And well.


Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

Some people spend more on going out to night clubs / casinos / etc. I can't stand those places. All they have is memories of their "fun" but I've got a new gun. Hey, there's a country song in there somewhere!

My problem now is that I find something at a good price, but it is a duplicate of one I already have. So I buy it telling myself I'm upgrading and will sell the previous one. Somehow, dog gone it, this never happens ...

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You're shy a few manners.

"I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to, I guess." - Red Green
"Well, probably not. Never mind." - redlevel

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Scoundrel & Ne'er-Do-Well

Go ahead and buy it and give these guys something to talk about.
On Guns, the White House’s Cluelessness Is Staggering | Power Line

Yankee, thanks for posting that! Great perspective!

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Economics and Psychology.

Economics says you will feel compelled to buy another gun if you believe that the utility you will derive from spending the purchase price on another gun is more than the utility you would derive from keeping the purchase price in cash or spending it on another item.

Why you think you will get a high utility out of another gun purchase compared to savings or a non-gun item is a matter of psychology.

You probably have felt good about previous gun purchases and you don't get warm and fuzzy thinking about the cash sitting in the safe. And given your situation, except for getting your wife things to make her happy, there are probably few non-gun things that you need to buy to make you happy.

Economics and psychology cannot be denied. Ergo, that cash is calling you from the safe to go out and spend it on another gun.

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Buy American
Vote Responsibly

The Hell you say!!

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Georgia On My Mind

What is the investment return on a slightly used pair of shoes, or a slightly used watch or ring? Not many things hold their value like a gun, except maybe gold or silver, and how much fun is a gold coin? So having a few extra guns is not a terrible thing.

Like I tell my wife, I buy guns because they continue to make them.

I haven't bought a gun in about 4 months, I do have an itch for a new gun though.

I can't decide on another rifle or a hand gun. HUMMMMM.

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Carpriver.