Budgeting for knives

I have a slush fund for those knives that pop up that need an instant decision. (I established this habit from my past collecting of vintage guitars, I still have a fund waiting for a '69 Stratocaster)

I have the adjustable expenses that I can modify based on how much I have (ie food, saving etc), but then I have expenses that are always the same (ie rent, cell, gas, insurance, internet, TV etc).

After the necessities are taken care of, I divide whats left into how many days I have until I get paid again. I then decide on my adjustable expenses to determine how luxuriously to eat and how much goes towards saving. I have 2 saving categories, short term, and long term. Long term is saving with no goal, just for the sake of saving. Short term is to buy stuff that I want.

Most suggest deciding a fixed amount to save, but due to the nature of my work, my income varies so I don't have this ability. However I do assign percentages... as for saving, 60% towards long term, and 40% to wants and knives (mostly knives).
 
gdwtvb said:
When I was younger, and not yet a father, I used to spend around a hundred dollars a month on knives. I wish I had put that money to better use.
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Fantastic post, Grizz, very helpful for us young(er) guys who aren't married yet. Do you mind telling us what you would have done with the money, if you could do it again? That might help some of us avoid making mistakes!
 
When I see a knife I like, I check out feedback on it as much as possible and see if I have the money for it. If I have the money I get it and if I don't then I don't... Try to not get anything that is too similar to what I already have and only money put aside is for wife and kids. I gotta use the scraps...

I have probably owned over 100 knives that were mostly Christmas or Birthday gifts from ages 5-18 but the past 10 years or so I've only purchased around 10 of them. I like to experience them more and hear about other people's experiences with their knives than to fawn over the newest, coolest and fill up another box'o'knives.
 
I don't have a formal budget. If I have extra money and there's a knife that catches my eye, I buy it. If I don't have the money, I skip it.

I also tend to buy in spurts; my interest in (and time for) knife collecting waxes and wanes against all of the other hobbies, interests, work, family...
 
honestly there are a lot of good advice/suggestions and comments already posted..

but I'll add my non (cents), early on I also bought a lot of brands I never heard of only on the net, then to get them in hand didn't really care for it and would trade it off for another, buy sell, etc..

eventually I've come to realize about 99% of the knife industry is hype, for example.. in the fixed world, I'd pair up $6 tram and a $8 mora against any custom any day, apples to apples in size etc.. there's your budget :) not nowhere near as cool but just as functional in the bush..

folders on the other hand is a whole other animal, there's NOTHING you can pair up a quality folder to.... I've sold about every 'brand' knife I own kept some spyderco's and the likes, the hype is pretty much over for me as I've come to realize it as so...

but its still so cool to get a new knife, which I do from time to time, but mostly now I just buy supplies, big bummer there.. :)
 
I have a Amazon.com Visa Card. so when I collect enough points I use that to purchase my knives. I got a Spyderco Bushcraft G-10 for 25$ after using my collected points.
 
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