What to do with my guns, Sell or keep/ plan for the future

[kingson]

So I have been going over this in my mind for a few days now trying to figure out what the best course of action is. I like most people now days have a fair amount of debt and am finding it harder and harder to keep up with it. Each month brings stress on hopping that I have enough each month to pay them off and have some money left over. I could sell a bunch of my guns and wipe out the debt. I have a good collection of gun, bunch of Millsurps, a few belt fed and a bunch of non "normal" guns, I like guns that are different. I have guns that I haven't shot in 5-10 years, but I still like them. I am more of a collector than a shooter. I have bought guns that I like or thought that where cool, shot them ones or twice and then not shoot them again, there they sit in the safe. I think I like the fact that I have all these cool and interesting guns but I don't do much with them. What i have been thinking the past few days is it worth it to have all these guns and be stress out and in debt or get rid of a bunch of them and not have to worry about money as much. Would I truly miss them? I have gotten rid of some guns that I thought I wouldn't get rid of and thought I would miss them but I haven't really overly missed them. Sure I would like to have them again but I don't need to have them. If I got out of debt then I could do other things that I enjoy. I like old cars ( I guess i don't like cheap hobbies) and have had a bunch of them too, I currently don't have a fun car at the moment. With something like that I could use more I think. Thinking about sell them seems easy but when it comes to doing it , it might be harder. I think about if I sold them how hard it would be to get them back at the price I paid for them. The question is do I really need to buy them again. When I move to NH from MA I sold a bunch of hard to find guns in MA to keep them in MA. I though that I would just re-buy them when I got to NH. 10 year later I still haven't re-bought them yet, and I don't really miss them. I think I liked the fact that I had a collection of guns that where hard to get in MA. I think it would be hard a first to rid myself of some of my guns but over time I don't think I would care as much if I had them or not. I guess as I am getting older I'm looking at my life and what I want to live it like. Do I want to have a bunch of stuff that I like but don't do anything with or do I want to turn it into money and get out of debt and have less stress? You never know when you are going to die, could be tomorrow, could be 50 years from now, I don't want to work just to pay bills, there should be more to life than just that. Who knows maybe I'm going through a mid life crises. Sorry for the stream of consciousness writing, just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and if so what they did you do and how it affected you, good or bad.

 

[zboys]

Sell them if it'll help you live better.
I have had several hobbies thru the years and always said I'd never sell most of it, well i did sell much off and never regretted it like i thought i would. Its only Stuff.

 

[Buck F]

So I have been going over this in my mind for a few days now trying to figure out what the best course of action is. I like most people now days have a fair amount of debt and am finding it harder and harder to keep up with it. Each month brings stress on hopping that I have enough each month to pay them off and have some money left over. I could sell a bunch of my guns and wipe out the debt. I have a good collection of gun, bunch of Millsurps, a few belt fed and a bunch of non "normal" guns, I like guns that are different. I have guns that I haven't shot in 5-10 years, but I still like them. I am more of a collector than a shooter. I have bought guns that I like or thought that where cool, shot them ones or twice and then not shoot them again, there they sit in the safe. I think I like the fact that I have all these cool and interesting guns but I don't do much with them. What i have been thinking the past few days is it worth it to have all these guns and be stress out and in debt or get rid of a bunch of them and not have to worry about money as much. Would I truly miss them? I have gotten rid of some guns that I thought I wouldn't get rid of and thought I would miss them but I haven't really overly missed them. Sure I would like to have them again but I don't need to have them. If I got out of debt then I could do other things that I enjoy. I like old cars ( I guess i don't like cheap hobbies) and have had a bunch of them too, I currently don't have a fun car at the moment. With something like that I could use more I think. Thinking about sell them seems easy but when it comes to doing it , it might be harder. I think about if I sold them how hard it would be to get them back at the price I paid for them. The question is do I really need to buy them again. When I move to NH from MA I sold a bunch of hard to find guns in MA to keep them in MA. I though that I would just re-buy them when I got to NH. 10 year later I still haven't re-bought them yet, and I don't really miss them. I think I liked the fact that I had a collection of guns that where hard to get in MA. I think it would be hard a first to rid myself of some of my guns but over time I don't think I would care as much if I had them or not. I guess as I am getting older I'm looking at my life and what I want to live it like. Do I want to have a bunch of stuff that I like but don't do anything with or do I want to turn it into money and get out of debt and have less stress? You never know when you are going to die, could be tomorrow, could be 50 years from now, I don't want to work just to pay bills, there should be more to life than just that. Who knows maybe I'm going through a mid life crises. Sorry for the stream of consciousness writing, just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and if so what they did you do and how it affected you, good or bad.

It sounds like you already know the answer. Debt is a heavy burden to carry around, particularly as you get older and if your finances turn around you might be able to buy back in.

Best of luck.

 

[RHJJ]

I hate selling anything, but do what you have to do to keep a roof over your head.

 

[Asaltweapon]

The return key SHOULD be your friend. That was painful.

Age? Debt load? Value of collection in real dollars? I have stuff that is never for sale at any price. When I’m dead my wife or my estate can have the rewards for my stubbornness.
I suffered as a youngster. I’m in a comfortable place now. It’s all relevant.

 

[FPrice]

Re-evaluating your life and the things you like to do is something many of us go through. Not knowing your particulars it is difficult to make any specific recommendations.

If you are having stress in your financial life maybe you should look at your budget and try to cut back on non-necessary expenditures before you start selling things. You might still have to do the latter but my advice would be to keep that as your last option.

You also need to do some hard thinking on where you want to go in the rest of your life. How much is shooting (and having guns in general) going to be important to you? You mention liking old cars. Again, you have to look at what you can reasonably afford.

Getting rid of guns is probably not a real popular option on this forum.

 

[sfd10]

Would you work with a local shop or try Gunbroker? I've got a Supermatch M1A with a Macmillan stock on the shelf at a local shop. Not getting any results.

 

[PineTar]

I think the stuff you have not rebought in 10 years is a good indicator that you don't "want/need" them.

Living in debt sucks and you are not alone. Clearing some debt does wonders for you overall happiness. I say move some hardware.

I would put your collection into a couple of list of 1. what you can easily let go, 2. what would be cool to keep as a shooter/collector and 3. a list of what you pretty much must keep list (+- 10% of the total). Start moving the easy stuff and see how your feel.

Economy is not hurting so you should not get bent over in the sale.

 

[01906]

I would definitely sell what you have to. The burden of debt can be overwhelming. Just the everyday stress could kill you. Doesn't matter how many guns you have when you're dead. If you could wake up debt free it would be like a weight lifted off your chest. You would be able to breath easier and enjoy life again and not have to worry.

I speak from personal experience.

When you get out make sure you stay out!

 

[mtnbiker26]

My two cents? Nothing matters but your health. Your body is really the only thing you own. Your biggest obligations are to yourself and your family and you need to be alive to fulfill those obligations. If the financial stress is really that severe then it's time to selectively unload some pieces, reduce your stress and start fresh. Sounds like you'll still have quite few guns left to enjoy at the range.

 

[slap shot]

Sorry, I got nothing. I actually read that whole thing in Roseanne Rosannadanna's voice.

 

[enbloc]

Save a couple (a battle rifle, a fighting pistol, a shotgun and a .22 rifle and pistol) sell the rest, and then...


CUT OUT THAT DEBT AND LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS!...

 

[headednorth]

Start in inverse order of what you like least and sell until youre at the point where you can sleep at night. In the long run, its all just stuff.

 

[fencer]

You have a bunch of guns.. some beltfed? Do you have two or three good friends?

First, google the definition of a paragraph...Then rent the movie "The Town" and watch it with your buddies. Start small with an armored car or two, but pick a good one. But be smarter than Ben Afflicted. Pull the job in a different city.
Problem solved! What could go wrong?

( Obviously, I am kidding , and the above was posted for entertainment purposes only.)

 

[not new guy]

Lightly used, non-normal guns you say? Maybe for sale you say?

 

[Asaltweapon]

You have a bunch of guns.. some beltfed? Do you have two or three good friends?

First, google the definition of a paragraph...Then rent the movie "The Town" and watch it with your buddies. Start small with an armored car or two, but pick a good one. But be smarter than Ben Afflicted. Pull the job in a different city.
Problem solved! What could go wrong?

( Obviously, I am kidding , and the above was posted for entertainment purposes only.)

Great movie. A bit too much Hollywood but what isn’t?

 

[slap shot]

Lightly used, non-normal guns you say? Maybe for sale you say?

 

[dhuze]

I always said if I need the money I’d sell some guns, but I can’t decide what I would sell if I needed to. Sometimes I think I’ll unload a few and when I look at them I can’t decide what id let go.
If you sell some and plan to rebuy them later, consider how hard they are to find again.

If debt was an issue I’d sell them without thinking. If it’s causing you stress you should give it serious consideration.

 

[fencer]

Great movie. A bit too much Hollywood but what isn’t?

Yeah it was a good flick. But the guy that played the FBI agent really botched the accent by trying to hard.. "... Knack ova a Stah Mahrket for a box a qwahtars...."
Jeremy Renner did a good job and he is from California.

 

[GB1911]

As long as you're making more money than what you spent on them you can sleep easier. When I buy certain guns I look at it like buying gold (hard asset). If times are ever tough for me I like knowing I can liquidate some guns at a profit, win/win situation. Right now the economy is good and people have some extra change in the pocket, good time to sell.

 

[Chevy 2 65]

Sell the belt fed ones, I bet they get a good amount of money.

 

[enbloc]

Lol. Turkey Vulture...

You need a California Condor for NES...

Or, at minimum, An eagle and a goat...

This one looks like a Griffin at the end as the eagle rides off on the back of the goat...

 

[falcon123]

You can't eat your guns. If you're in serious debt, just sell whatever you have to You can always start over. Many years ago I was in a similar situation and the stress killing me. My wife and I sold all our jewelery including our wedding rings. A few years later we were back on our feet and now my wife has nicer and more expensive jewelery. I'm not into jewelry so I opted for guns and other toys instead. Pick yourself up and do what you need to do to get back on track. If what you're doing now isn't supporting you, you might want to find another way. Good luck.

 

[headednorth]

Yeah it was a good flick. But the guy that played the FBI agent really botched the accent by trying to hard.. "... Knack ova a Stah Mahrket for a box a qwahtars...."
Jeremy Renner did a good job and he is from California.

Dude, that particular line was so badly done Ive come to think that it was the character purposely overdoing a bad Boston accent, kinda like the way someone would over do a Mexican accent for instance if they were messing with a Spanish guy. Like he was the FBI agent mimicking a townie. Also, he doesnt really do it anywhere that bad anywhere else in the film. Theres an endless supply of badly done Boston accents on film, but that one was one of the worst. Renner did do a decent job for a non-MA guy.

 

[fencer]

Ive come to think that it was the character purposely overdoing a bad Boston accent, kinda like the way someone would over do a Mexican accent for instance if they were messing with a Spanish guy.

I have thought the same

 

[Junior314]

Don't take this post the wrong way as I am not trying to come across as a know it all a**wipe but that is probably how this will come across anyways.

My wife and I had our ah ha moment about finances about a year ago and started to get serious about it. I set aside 4 guns that I never shot, had no interest in keeping and sold them. We did a budget (a real budget) for the first time ever and it honestly amazed me how much money we just threw away at eating out, Amazon Prime etc. We made way too much money to feel like there wasn't anything left at the end of the month. I have a book you may or may not be interested that can outline alot of this far better than I ever will on here. If interested PM me and I'll ship it to you.

My wife and I picked up a second PT job and will have her student loans paid off by the EOM. We have paid over $20k on them in past 7-8 months. Next up is my truck payment.

 

[fencer]

OP - sorry to derail. I would have a hard time selling off the collection. I would look for any other way I could think of to cut expenses. I would eat Kraft Mac n cheese for a year first.

 

[greencobra]

Sorry for the stream of consciousness writing, just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and if so what they did you do and how it affected you, good or bad.

going thru it now myself but i always seem to find a way and avoid selling my guns. i sold one last year to pay off the last of a tax debt that i owed the feds and didn't miss it after all. my truck will go before the core of my collection.

OP - sorry to derail. I would have a hard time selling off the collection. I would look for any other way I could think of to cut expenses. I would eat Kraft Mac n cheese for a year first.

for sure. health issues keep me from going to shoot when i want to but i still can't find a reason to liquidate down to just my favorite stuff. they're like children, you're not suppose to have favorites but love them equally...and i do.

 

[Thinking]

Listen to Dave Ramsey. He’ll change your life. On YouTube or Podcasts.

 

[Welder1]

No one has asked for a list in 28 posts?