Let's Say The Financial Secretary (AKA...

[Yukondog]

Sell the old or not used gear. Save save save. I sold a lot of gear in order to buy KUIU swag last year and saved for over a year to buy a new pack. Put instant gratification aside and work at saving for items. You will survive without the latest and greatest, once you can afford it you will be more appreciative of your gear.

Matt

 

[bowhnter7]

Ok then.

I do it by working too many hours and getting paid overtime for it......otherwise I definatly would not work as much. I always think I'm done and have everything I need, yes every year this happens. Yet every year I buy new or more stuff. It's like crack......DIY, backcountry bowhunting crack but it doesn't kill you, it free's your mind and sets your soul at peace. It doesn't rot you teeth and body it drives you to become better physically and mentally.

 

[cmeier117]

I believe in making decisions on spending with the support of my wife, instead of hiding it from her. Thus the last 8 years she has fully supported me hunting several different states and spending more on hunting than any other hobby each year. It's just not something I worry about anymore, but I also know not to give her crap when she wants something.
I wouldn't think of "hiding" money from my wife, just destroys the foundation of the marriage, honesty and trust IMO.
To each their own I guess.

This is how I role. And to comment on your comment above about taking her out to dinner, nice weekend etc... That works great but after I did that all my money was gone so I couldn't buy anything for myself!

 

[Yellowknife]

My wife handles our finances (very well I might add), and we worked out a deal a long time ago where were she puts a small amount in my "play budget" every month. I'm the sole bread winner, and have two children under the age of three, so we don't have a lot extra, but I always know I've got something coming every month. When I get overtime or bonuses, more gets added in. If I want something expensive, I just have to buckle down and let the pot of money grow for awhile. I am also a patient bargain hunter and will wait for months for the right deal on something. My optics are all demo goods, and I'll buy out of season (i.e. a winter jacket in June), or last years close outs all the time. It's pretty rare that I pay more than 60% of retail for something hunting related

I try and keep value in mind too. Even though I love rifles, and would own a pile if I could, I choose to use a plain jane 30-06 as a "do-all" caliber, and spend the money saved on things that get me into the field like Supercub gas and Mountain House meals.

Clothing I can usually justify as coming out of the general household budget. I'm not big into camo or clothing "systems", so that helps. I also use my outdoor clothing year round for both work and play, so they don't really qualify as "hunting" gear.

Anyhow, that's what works for me.

Yk

 

[Curtis C]

Momma likes clothes, shoes, jewelry ETC. I like hunting gear and mountain bike parts. We both have our own allowances to spend how we like or save for more expensive toys. At times something cost a little more so we discuss that purchase.

Bonus Gear Budget, I work on cars for a living so I save all the scrap steel(brake rotors, pumps) as well as the aluminum parts(radiators, AC pieces) I sell that stuff about 4 times a year to help fund my hobbies. Scrapping funds the hobbies pretty well.

C

 

[dotman]

Momma likes clothes, shoes, jewelry ETC. I like hunting gear and mountain bike parts. We both have our own allowances to spend how we like or save for more expensive toys. At times something cost a little more so we discuss that purchase.

Bonus Gear Budget, I work on cars for a living so I save all the scrap steel(brake rotors, pumps) as well as the aluminum parts(radiators, AC pieces) I sell that stuff about 4 times a year to help fund my hobbies. Scrapping funds the hobbies pretty well.

C

I just scrapped two years of metal from cleaning up our property/remodel and earned a nice $400 bonus to just me, my wife is nice enough to let me have it all since I did all the work

 

[thru-hunter]

Well I sold 2.5 years of my life to work overseas and got some pretty decent gear put together from it, not to mention a new shop to put it all in along with a couple fly in hunts. Wife got new paint and siding on the house along with all new windows and I paid for her entire education in full.

The real return on the investment though is the wife working in a real career now since we still put all of our money together. Now we are at a point where our combined income without me going overseas is about 50% higher than where we have set our lifestyle. She knows what sacrifices I have made (tore up a 2010 DCUA sheep tag for instance) and fully supports my hunting obsession. Heck just the other day she saw my boots and told me I should probably look at ordering up some new ones pretty soon so they would be broken in before sheep season!

 

[Backpack Hunter]

My wife and I set it up in our budget so that I get a certain amount every week from my paycheck. Everything else comes from side jobs, bartering, selling gear, etc.

 

[dcestnik]

My wife and I set it up in our budget so that I get a certain amount every week from my paycheck. Everything else comes from side jobs, bartering, selling gear, etc.

Sounds similar to what I have. My wife and I make about the same amount. We have a joint checking account, joint saving account and we each have our own personal account. Each paycheck we have a fixed amount for all of our bills going to joint checking, a fixed amount going to joint savings and whatever is left over is for our own purposes.

 

[MJ from Oregon]

Its easier to ask for forgiveness than permission

 

[MOHunter]

I've been watching this thread as it's been interesting that it went to household finances. But to first answer the OP question - I watch for deals all the time. I pretty much never buy anything unless it's on sale/clearance. Watch the clearance sections online. Also, I get flyers about sales and sometimes you can get a great steal. I've recently found some good stuff on the one-a-day type sites, but you've got to be able to watch and act quickly. I don't do much trading because I haven't found a good avenue for it. The classifieds on here and other sites seem to be pretty good as well. Bottom line - watching for good deals is a lifestyle for me.

Now to the household finances discussion. I don't mean to sound holier-than-thou by any means, but I can't imagine keeping things from my wife. I am a financial advisor by trade and believe that I must practice what I preach - so here's what I practice.

ALL of our income, whether it's mine or hers, goes into one household checking account. Every bit of it is considered ours to determine together what to do with. We keep a very detailed budget for every dollar of that account. What has been the best idea ever for our personal/hobby spending is that we each get an "allowance". This is part of our household budget, just like our house paymnet, groceries, insurance, etc. What we do with our allowance is completely up to each of us. That's where all of my hunting and fishing toys/trips come from. Works great for us and I highly recommend it. Finances are the #1 cause of divorce in the U.S. This is important stuff to get right guys.

 

[BigSurArcher]

Try being a full time college student and hunting addict! Camofire, ebay, forum classifieds, and craigslist definitely help. There are some awesome deals to be had as you guys know. I justify my purchases by skimping on unnecessary things like expensive books for class, etc. Three years in college, bought maybe 4 books, 3.4 GPA. I've paid for my Swarovskis by simply using the books in the library. I use the school gym for free, so by saving on a gym membership for a while I paid for my Kowa spotting scope. Oh wait I sold that for $1100, $400 more than I bought it for on craigslist, and got a Nikon ED50 with $500 leftover to put toward Core4Element clothing and boots from REI which I will just trade in every time I wear them out. I have a birthday once a year which usually equates to some hunting gear one way or another. Here at the house my roommates and I have a nice vegetable garden which cuts down on grocery costs, justifying a few small things like broadheads and arrows. Any time I end up with cash in my pocket of wallet, no matter where it came from, I put in my pistol safe as my taxidermy fund. It's usually good for a mount every year or two as it adds up quick. Basically I'm just a cheap ass when it comes to anything but hunting, but it seems to work.