OK, do I sell my collection?

[slackerisme]

Its not about the guns going bad. It's about getting out of debt. Getting out of debt provides tremendous benefits to your mental well-being and ability to handle problems/disasters.

I would cut back, particularly on duplicates and ones that are easily replaceable when cash is more available. Each of mine have a specific niche/function. Extras get sold/traded. I understand some have a hard time letting go, but safe queens that keep you in debt are not doing you any favors.

Now there is a problem I wish I had!

 

[chubbs]

As with most on here, things have came up that I preferred to sell a gun to cover as opossed to adding credit card debt. That being said, unless you are deep in debt, I wouldn't sell everything. Just like a diet make changes a little at a time. This way its a lifestyle change you will stick with in the long run. If you crash diet and lose a bunch all at once by starving yourself you will gain it back some day as you can starve yourself forever. Debt is the same principal, make changes to lower your debt a little at a time and stick with it.

 

[zippy23]

Its not about the guns going bad. It's about getting out of debt. Getting out of debt provides tremendous benefits to your mental well-being and ability to handle problems/disasters.

I would cut back, particularly on duplicates and ones that are easily replaceable when cash is more available. Each of mine have a specific niche/function. Extras get sold/traded. I understand some have a hard time letting go, but safe queens that keep you in debt are not doing you any favors.

In no way am i trying to be mean, just keep that in mind......paying off credit card debt sucks, i know, but almost no one(who has a job) cant pay off their credit card debt. You make your minimums, so how bout cutting some spending in other places? going out to eat, turn the thermostat down or off, take side jobs( in the past i found stuff on craig's list that paid me little bits of money for stupid stuff like moping floors of a home, cleaning out people's rental homes, etc). Selling your guns might be the worst idea. When will they be worth nothing? They dont go bad as stated, no i dont know how many you have, maybe sell one or two i dunno, but they are worth more to me than gold. They are worth more than money, piece of mind, protection, etc...Pay off the debt by cutting costs in other places. refi the home is needed! nah dont really do that, but just think where you spend money, internet, electricity, going out to eat, tv(i went cable free for 4 years, paid 19.95 for internet soo awesome), things like that. one thing you typed that might give some insight is...."safe queens that keep you in debt." Remember, its not something you bought that is keeping you in debt, if you buy something, have the money to buy it in cash. do everything you can not to use credit, unless emergencies, or if you become disciplined enough to pay it off every month and get the points(free money for using plastic is great if you have the discipline). its a spending problem(most of the time, and i'm not saying you personally, just exploring the truth of most). hold on to your investments, cuz that what guns are, get rid of things you dont really need. almost everyone could hold a garage sale and make $100 bucks nowadays!

 

[HavokCycle]

for a while i've maintained that if i get into financial trouble i can clean the safe out. guns don't depreciate much, its a rainy day fund i hope to not ever tap.

 

[rudyman]

Decide what you need ,sell all the rest pay off all your bills . You are a slave to consumerism.Owe no one anything you well have more than enough money to buy anything you want sone enough quit acting like the government.Do the right thing for you and your family.

 

[JettaKnight]

I have never sold a gun that I didn't wish I had back.

The you don't buy enough!

As far as debt goes, are you really ever out of debt? What I am talking about is as soon as I get out of debt something comes up and I have to put it on a card or finance something for some thing that has broken or has to be replaced.

This just sounds like poor financial planning.

Me, I have more guns than I need and not as many as I would like.

This covers 99% of INGO.

 

[Mrmonte]

The older I get, the less material possessions matter to me. You cant take it with you.

Firearms seem to have a mystical power to those who frequent the forums. Bottom line, they aren't that important. What's important is the time spent with your family and giving them the life they deserve. I could cut my collection in half at least right now and not look back if my wife needed a European vacation or the debt were piling up. Its just stuff.

That said, I am a hoarder myself. I get caught up justifying my purchases as investments too. Lots of stuff I don't shoot, some I just collect, multiple carry guns, HD firearms of various types blah blah blah. Ive even got a rifle for that Elk hunt ill probably never go on. Bottom line, its no different than a little old lady with a house full of Hummel figurines.

 

[Mark 1911]

I would try hard very not to sell unless there was some critical financial priority. Otherwise, if it's just about being debt free, you will get there without selling the guns. Think about it. How much can you get for one of those guns? How much longer would it really take to pay down the debt if you didn't sell? Probably not that much longer. And if you did sell, would you be able to replace it for the same price, or even at all? Chances are you will regret it. Bite the bullet and save a few extra dollars, you will pay off the debt soon enough. Keep your guns in the safe. Just my .

 

[lucky4034]

Start with the ones you can "let go"... even if its one or two and pay off your smallest card then take what would have been your payment and stack it on the next smallest card and so on.

You can do yourself a big service by really understanding the best techniques to eliminate credit card debts... especially if you have multiple cards to pay off. Just like anything else... make a plan and stick to it.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/getting-out-of-credit-card-debt.html

 

[rp8]

It really comes down to how quickly you can get out of debt without selling any of your firearms. If paying off your debt is not feasible without selling a firearm, sell what has the least amount of emotional value to you.

 

[Miles42]

Pick and choose there are some I really regret selling and others not so much. I am usually selling to fund another though LOL.

 

[JettaKnight]

The older I get, the less material possessions matter to me. You cant take it with you.

Firearms seem to have a mystical power to those who frequent the forums. Bottom line, they aren't that important. What's important is the time spent with your family and giving them the life they deserve. I could cut my collection in half at least right now and not look back if my wife needed a European vacation or the debt were piling up. Its just stuff.

That said, I am a hoarder myself. I get caught up justifying my purchases as investments too. Lots of stuff I don't shoot, some I just collect, multiple carry guns, HD firearms of various types blah blah blah. Ive even got a rifle for that Elk hunt ill probably never go on. Bottom line, its no different than a little old lady with a house full of Hummel figurines.

Well said. A lot of my firearms get little use, so in that respect they are not a tool but a collection. Now, there are guns that are tools...

I figure every time I sell a gun I have a chance to buy a new gun!

 

[Beemer]

OP do you know who Dave Ramsey is? I would not sell off anything that would be difficult to get again. However, that being said come up with some ideas to get rid of the credit card debt. I remember laying in bed at night trying to sleep and worrying about how I could get out of the whole, that was several years ago. By the way we do not use credit cards at all anymore.

 

[Hoosier8]

Well, I had to pull the trigger, so to speak, on a vehicle. I have a collection that I don't shoot so I am thinking about selling off about 1/2 of it. Going to go through them and see what they are worth but I can probably pay off the car by doing that. I like to have a certain amount of free cash available above my budget because I always go over anyway. I am at least in a position to have money left over at the end of the month after years of working.

Was driving a 93 Cherokee and the brake booster went out so I took it to Firestone to fix and they took out the right front corner driving it into the bay so I am waiting on their claims department to call me back. That was my Winter car and loved it. It has 262K on it and would probably go another 40K but it does look like it has gone 262K (GF calls it a POS). Don't know what I will do with that yet but I will miss it. Bought a used Toyota FJ Cruiser to replace it.

 

[jwh20]

I have two "weaknesses", firearms and motorcycles. But I don't have any guns that don't get used nor any motorcycles that don't get ridden If I had any guns that just sit in the safe and only get to come out once a year to be cleaned and oiled, I don't think I'd have any issues parting with them. Same with bikes, as much as I love them, having them sit in the garage is just not right. I'd much rather see either go to someone who will appreciate and, most importantly, use and enjoy it regularly.

 

[DRob]

I sold several guns this year. It was not about getting out of debt it was about getting rid of guns I didn't shoot. It was easy. I went through the safes and if I hadn't shot the gun for months, it went on the block. Several were 10/22s assembled when I had "the addiction" and some were just impulse buys which ended up being shot once or twice then left in the safe. Investment? Not hardly. If I had tried to make any money on them, I'd probably still have them. I don't own guns just for the sake of owning guns.

 

[CitiusFortius]

A rough estimate of selling all but maybe a few would wipe out my credit card debt freeing up cash flow now.

For the love of God sell the guns. Guns are toys, you shouldn't have a case full of toys and have credit cards full of debt. Sell Sell Sell!

 

[DRob]

For the love of God sell the guns. Guns are toys, you shouldn't have a case full of toys and have credit cards full of debt. Sell Sell Sell!

Wish I had said this!

 

[88E30M50]

My litmus test for selling something is simply: If I lost whatever it is I'm thinking of selling and I was handed an insurance check for the full value, would I run out to buy a replacement or simply move on without it. For instance, if I were thinking of selling my RIA and it was destroyed in a freak plasma-cutter-run-amok accident, and if I was given a check for the $525 it would take to replace it, would I buy a replacement? Probably not, so that one would be easier to let go of if offered a fair price. If a tree falls on my 88 BMW E30, I would replace it, so it's a keeper for now.

Then there's the counter argument that if you sell guns to pay off credit card debt, will you or your significant other recreate the debt down the road leaving you with no guns and yet still have the debt. Something created that debt and you need to be sure it will not simply recreate it once it's down again. It would suck to sell your guns only to find the debt climbs back up anyway. Guns represent a certain amount of value that can most likely be liquidated when needed. If you liquidate those assets now only to recreate the debt, you will be worse off down the road than you would be today.

 

[foxxie02]

sounds like Dave Ramsey school/class could be in order.... maybe .... just saying.