Mean income.....

[Billinsd]

Haha $150K in Los Altos is like a $30K salary everywhere else . Her aunt has been a real estate agent there for almost 40 years, just say they get the same % as every other agent across the country. She makes more then most CEO’s in mid to large sizes companies per year, its just silly.

I'm used to it in California by the coast. When we moved to Newport Beach in 1980 we looked at multimillion dollar houses up in the hills. My dad who was a developer and Realter exclaimed to me how the same houses where $500,000 in the late 60s and how crazy he thought it was for a house to be half a million dollars in the late 60s and not have an oceanfront!!! What a great investment it was for those who bought those half a million dollar houses back in the 60s!! California was by far the greatest state in the union for such a long time until the 80s.

 

[carter33]

We never would have suffered through the housing bubble if the government hadn't blundered into the housing market, which used to function efficiently on its own. Politicians of both parties believed through government they could improve upon the market. Instead they made things far worse, by creating a bubble and then reacting by passing the disastrous and Unconstitutional Dodd-Frank law. Bada-be-bada-be that's all folks.

I agree that the government should have kept their hands out of it. The government certainly has a way of making a mess out of everything they entangle themselves in and I personally would like to see a reversal to the big government model that has been continuing to propagate in our country. That being said I also think that as a society we continue to devalue the principal of personal accountability and like to blame issues on x, y or z. In the case of the housing market bubble the people taking the loans were also irresponsible for doing so.

 

[Jon Boy]

I think it's all about where people put their money. I dont make a ton usually 55-65 a year depending on how much I want to work. I pay cash for most things. I've never worked more than 9 months in a year, although that's come at a cost of around 900-1100 hours of over time in the 9 months. I hunt. I buy expensive hunting gear that I use the shit out of around 100 days a year between big game/wolf/bear/lion/shed hunting.
I own two pairs of Jean's and 3 shirts that aren't hunting or work related.
I make it work and cut things that aren't of significance to me. I know guys that have 15k sleds or a 10k drift boat. That's a few years of hunting gear purchases and tags for me.

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[mxgsfmdpx]

I love that this thread has turned into a wanna be principles of microeconomics class at a junior college.

Guys coming in here with SO many assumptions and red herrings it’s literally making me laugh out loud at how ridiculous they sound.

I need my Michael Jackson eating popcorn gif for this thing.

 

[Azone]

This thread has definitely gone down a wormhole, but it's been a good one to follow. Getting some what back on topic, I sure do miss my cheap plastic stocked Savage 111 7mm rem mag. My dad got it for me when I was 13, I had some great memories and made a few damn good shots and kills with that rifle. It burned up in a house fire 11 years ago. So I replaced it with a model 700 CDL in 257 WBY that has killed everything from ground squirrels to bull elk and everything in between. My wife surprised me with a 7mm rem mag Sendero for my birthday a few years back, but that sucker is too damn heavy to take on a backpack hunt, again! It shoots like a dream but any more do to its size I choose not to use it as much. I have a safe full of guns that i really don't need or use because the .257 usually gets the nod. Since I have gotten serious about elk in the last few years I will be putting together a light, hard hitting .30cal after that there is not much that would be of use to me. That is until the next wild hair pushes through.

 

[JohnJohnson]

I've spent more money than I should have in firearms and shooting related activities. The two areas I don't regret spending money in are my suppressors and my binoculars. My custom rifles have been overkill and I have largely sold them off now.

 

[howl]

I own more than two rifles because I like rifles. It is an additional hobby. There is no other reason for all the guns I own. I don't even shoot them all. I have tried just owning what I need. Boring!

You can get all you need in a hunting scope for under $600 unless you hunt in one of the few circumstances where you need truly exceptional low light performance. $300, really. And considering you need to replace your scope every several years to account for worn components and aging coatings, spending a thousand or more doesn't make sense unless you just want to.

So, a more than adequate budget for a brace of big game rifles is $3000, with $1000 to be spent every five years to maintain performance. If you run leaner than that you just have to shop around more.

 

[Peaks&Creeks]

You guys have literally talked me out of building a custom rifle hahaha. Not that I was gonna put myself in debt over it, but I also enjoy saving for retirement. I just need that lightweight, left handed, 6.5PRC factory rifle to present itself at Shot Show and I’ll call it good.

Really though, I think marketing campaigns have gotten more clever, making us believe that spending more will greatly increases our potential for success, when in reality it’s fractions of a percent. If I was a competitive shooter I can understand building a custom, but truth is, for hunting it’s simply overkill. I think for most of us the researching components and visualizing our finished product is the best part of building a custom rifle, until you realize you’ve got $3K in parts that you now need a smith to assemble, and yet your “ultralight” is still not coming in as light as a Kimber or Barrett Fieldcraft


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[5MilesBack]

In the case of the housing market bubble the people taking the loans were also irresponsible for doing so.

Ya, but that's like opening a bag of candy in front of a 5 year old and saying "help yourself". Do you blame the 5 year old that takes it or the idiot that offered it up?

 

[16Bore]

You guys have literally talked me out of building a custom rifle hahaha. Not that I was gonna put myself in debt over it, but I also enjoy saving for retirement. I just need that lightweight, left handed, 6.5PRC factory rifle to present itself at Shot Show and I’ll call it good.

Really though, I think marketing campaigns have gotten more clever, making us believe that spending more will greatly increases our potential for success, when in reality it’s fractions of a percent. If I was a competitive shooter I can understand building a custom, but truth is, for hunting it’s simply overkill. I think for most of us the researching components and visualizing our finished product is the best part of building a custom rifle, until you realize you’ve got $3K in parts that you now need a smith to assemble, and yet your “ultralight” is still not coming in as light as a Kimber or Barrett Fieldcraft


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Ounces and inches amount to more money spent.

When I really started getting to “ballistics” and saw that things are so much more alike than different, I said to hell with all of it.

If you can read wind and hold for 16” of drift at 500, you can hold for 20”.

Yadda yadda yadda.....

 

[archp625]

My wife and I are what I would say middle class living just north of Kansas City, MO. We both have good jobs and work for the same company with good benefits. We don't have student loans or much debt besides our house. Thinking back the last 5 years of purchases there are a couple things I regret purchasing. We spent $2000 in furniture for our son that has yet to sleep a night in his bed, bought some leather couches that the damn dog sleeps on, and a new truck. I had a Tundra that was paid off but had to have a newer truck. I looked at used trucks but found a good deal on a brand new one for the price of a used one. I wish I would have just kept the Tundra and not have any car payments (wives SUV is paid off). All that said I wanted a new gun and glass. Instead of putting it on a cc I sold two of my cheaper guns for a little loss and just bought one nicer gun and glass.

I tell myself that I just need to buy ammo and tags from now on. I am set on hunting and fishing items.

 

[Don Qui Puncher]

What a great thread I recently asked the question of what first rifle should I buy. I started thinking Tikka 6.5,.308.30-06. Then I read on here the stocks are junk need to replace with xyz, so now I’m around 850+ or so, why not get a Mesa I don’t have to mess with. Well for a few hundred more on euro optics I can get a ridgeline. Now which cartridge 6.5 cm? 6.5 prc? Then I got on the .300WM or bust, now I’m looking at havok and ridgelines when I read somewhere the fierce fury is better for a couple hundred more. It goes on and on and on.... now I’m looking at the price of the fury and I can get a tikka 6.5CM with a stock or chassis for around 850, and if I want a 300 WM I can get a vanguard for under 500, can’t get the tikka 300 WM because of the twist rate and mag box, more tidbits I found here that lead to confusion. The vanguard, put on a stock and be around 800 and have two guns for 350 less than the fury and get another SWFA. Or get just a tikka/stock and spend the rest on optics. All this said I could have had the tikka a month ago and shot a few hundred rounds by now. This is the mental masterbation I deal with on a daily basis looking at the firearm forum.......

 

[Trial153]

I'm glad I did the financially responsible thing and became a bow hunter......

 

[KChunter71]

We are all on a website, rambling about a better gun. I think we're all doing pretty well in this life.

True story.

 

[KChunter71]

I'm glad I did to financially responsible thing and became a bow hunter......

Goals!

 

[robtattoo]

What a great thread I recently asked the question of what first rifle should I buy. I started thinking Tikka 6.5,.308.30-06. Then I read on here the stocks are junk need to replace with xyz, so now I’m around 850+ or so, why not get a Mesa I don’t have to mess with. Well for a few hundred more on euro optics I can get a ridgeline. Now which cartridge 6.5 cm? 6.5 prc? Then I got on the .300WM or bust, now I’m looking at havok and ridgelines when I read somewhere the fierce fury is better for a couple hundred more. It goes on and on and on.... now I’m looking at the price of the fury and I can get a tikka 6.5CM with a stock or chassis for around 850, and if I want a 300 WM I can get a vanguard for under 500, can’t get the tikka 300 WM because of the twist rate and mag box, more tidbits I found here that lead to confusion. The vanguard, put on a stock and be around 800 and have two guns for 350 less than the fury and get another SWFA. Or get just a tikka/stock and spend the rest on optics. All this said I could have had the tikka a month ago and shot a few hundred rounds by now. This is the mental masterbation I deal with on a daily basis looking at the firearm forum.......

This was kinda the point of the entire thread. It wasn't meant to be a "who earns what & who wrecked/is wrecking the economy" but it's been a lot of fun following along that twisty path!

I kinda posted this to question the simple logic behind some of the answered offered on Don Qui Puncher's & similar posts. It always, always starts with a simple request for advice, usually revolving around something like a T3x, 700adl, Model 10 etc.... Usually in a regular action length and it always seems to end up with folks going all batshit, suggesting big magnums, ELR rifles (hands up anyone who's actually shot big game beyond 400yds regularly enough to warrant a dedicated rifle...) On that note, I'd love to get an honest assessment of the percentage of game taken with ALL calibers, that 'could've' simply been taken with an iron sighted .30-30 I'd bet my truck that in real life far more big game is taken under 100yds than over 400.......

One thing has struck me in this thread, and that's how pleasant, respectful & non-argumentative it's been & that says a hell of a lot about this community & why I keep coming back.

Thanks for the ride!

 

[87TT]

I'm glad I did to financially responsible thing and became a bow hunter......

Hahahahahahahaaha!
Price a good trap gun lately?

 

[snowcamoman]

This has been a great thread to read. The morale of the story to me is that People are going to do what they want. Guys who cannot afford custom rifles (or whatever it might be) will find a way to get one if they want one. Guys who make big bucks will hold tight to their money and buy a cheaper rifle and be just as happy. Folks will prioritize and justify whatever they want to make themselves happy.

 

[Lawnboi]

I have a harder time understanding why someone would want such a light and rifle over understanding why someone would want to build a custom gun.

 

[16Bore]

Adopt an “80% return on 20% effort” attitude and see how your perspective changes.