creating knife funds! how do you save up?

[imbryan715]

i know alot of you guys will say just hit buy or pull out your wallett but i would love to know what some younger guys or guys with a tighter budget do to get that new knife

im a young guy but i got a taste for the good stuff like usa made spidies, ZT'S, benchmade , leatherman and even a chris reeve or two. so i find my self needing to save for atleast a few weeks if not a month or two for that nice new knife.

being 16 i need to pay for gas, truck and some of my food on a SMALL !paycheck so that does not leave a bunch of cash for knives and hobbies and other fun stuff so i have come up with these.

1. take every $1 bill out of your wallet at the end of the day and put it away in a jar or container

2. return your cans and bottles

3. pick up change. ( i have turned in over $120 in coins in that where around my house.)

4. sharpen my buddies $5 hardwear store knives that take a shaving edge in about 3 min. haha

5. save and sell firearm brass

6. stop buying $3 energy drinks and junk food ( IT ADDS UP! )

at the end of an average month i will have almost 175 - 225 bucks

you guys need to try this out. ( small paycheck or not ) and what are some things you guys do?

( i dont trade much at all so i tend to pay for 99% of my knives)

 

[Hauling]

If you're 16 you got a lot of years to get the good stuff. As for me, no wife, no kids and not a ton in the way of bills.

 

[imbryan715]

If you're 16 you got a lot of years to get the good stuff. As for me, no wife, no kids and not a ton in the way of bills.

yep alot of years to use those blades . it is a hobbie. i love to learn about all aspects of! and i have a very good eye for quality IMHO. i have found i just get no enjoyment out of those cheep $20 or $30 knives ( nothing wrong with them. just not my thing). like i said i do cover my expenses and i do save for my post high school classes. but im just seeing some ways we support our hobbies including knives.

bryan,
have a nice day

 

[CapitalizedLiving]

Get a good job, and keep your vices to a minimum.

 

[imbryan715]

Get a good job, and keep your vices to a minimum.

hahaha i was talking about the short term but that is the best advice! im already in traning program at our fire department so i hope a firefighters salary will be enough for my blade addiction. could we consider knives a vice? there as expensive as them at sometimes!

 

[Hauling]

hahaha i was talking about the short term but that is the best advice! im already in traning program at our fire department so i hope a firefighters salary will be enough for my blade addiction. could we consider knives a vice? there as expensive as them at sometimes!

haha knives are definitely a vice for me. At least as a firefighter you'll get good prices on Hinderers.

 

[Kousii2]

Hey man, your preaching words of wisdom here! Im on the same exact boat as you. Im 17 and have to pay for basically everything. I too like the nicer end knives. Those higher end Spydercos add up for me. I have a addiction to sprint runs too Anyways what I do is sell. I sell things on EBay all the time. Anything that could be sold that I don't use, I put up. Its a great way to make some cash. I also keep a change jar like you do and budget all my money on a spread sheet. That way I know how much I have to spend on my hobby (Knives) and how much to spend on the girlfriend, gas, food and anything else that I might need. I also like to trade my knives. That way I get a fresh knife all the time. Im saving up for a CR Large sebenza right now.

 

[imbryan715]

Hey man, your preaching words of wisdom here! Im on the same exact boat as you. Im 17 and have to pay for basically everything. I too like the nicer end knives. Those higher end Spydercos add up for me. I have a addiction to sprint runs too Anyways what I do is sell. I sell things on EBay all the time. Anything that could be sold that I don't use, I put up. Its a great way to make some cash. I also keep a change jar like you do and budget all my money on a spread sheet. That way I know how much I have to spend on my hobby (Knives) and how much to spend on the girlfriend, gas, food and anything else that I might need. I also like to trade my knives. That way I get a fresh knife all the time. Im saving up for a CR Large sebenza right now.

i never did think of a spread sheet! Im sure you can find some money pits in there. yea Im getting the feeling some of these older guys are not feeling our pain or don't remember it. judging by the reactions so far. heck if your a teen and find something that pays more than $8 an hour than you hit a gold mine haha

bryan,
have a nice day

 

[Railsplitter]

bryan,

I would say that you're doing pretty doggone good. When I was 16 (1977) it took me 4 months to save up $150 to buy my first car. Of course a dollar went a lot farther in those days but you are doing pretty good if you can meet your needs and still save up $175-$225 a month. That's not too shabby.

You're off to a good start in my opinion.

A little off topic but if there is anyway you can do it, and if you haven't already thought of it, start saving for retirement NOW. Seriously. Even it's only a small amount at a time. I promise you the time will come when you'll be glad you did. Very glad! I'm only saying this because I wish somebody would have pounded that into my head when I was your age.

Best of luck to you.

 

[imbryan715]

bryan,

I would say that you're doing pretty doggone good. When I was 16 (1977) it took me 4 months to save up $150 to buy my first car. Of course a dollar went a lot farther in those days but you are doing pretty good if you can meet your needs and still save up $175-$225 a month. That's not too shabby.

You're off to a good start in my opinion.

A little off topic but if there is anyway you can do it, and if you haven't already thought of it, start saving for retirement NOW. Seriously. Even it's only a small amount at a time. I promise you the time will come when you'll be glad you did. Very glad! I'm only saying this because I wish somebody would have pounded that into my head when I was your age.

Best of luck to you.

thanks for the advice! i know the pain of buying a first car or truck. i over spent on my other main hobbie and thats trucks! i got my self a 2004 gmc sierra 3/4 ton 2500 crew cab and lets just say that it was not in my budget. now i suffer 12- 15 mpg at a time. but i also take extreme pride in driving and maintaining it. if i would have bought an older truck i could have paid for almost all of my firefighter classes for my first year. so now im looking at some small student loans.

i will talk to my parents and consider starting my retirement fund a lot early'er than planned. like i said in an early'er post. i want to be a firefighter and am already in some training classes for high school students through my local department so if i stay on that career path i will retire young ( 50-55 )with good benefits

 

[Matt Markell]

I'm also 17 so I know exactly what you mean I've always been handy making things so I started making my own knives. I'm just getting to the point where I have some people wanting to buy them and I'm having an awesome time doing it :thumbup:

My latest creation. I have several others in the works

EDIT:

Trucks
I have a '92 K1500 Chevy Suburban I rebuilt the engine of. It's my main car and gets about 12-14 mpg but is a blast to drive!

 

[imbryan715]

I'm also 17 so I know exactly what you mean I've always been handy making things so I started making my own knives. I'm just getting to the point where I have some people wanting to buy them and I'm having an awesome time doing it :thumbup:

My latest creation. I have several others in the works

EDIT:

Trucks
I have a '92 K1500 Chevy Suburban I rebuilt the engine of. It's my main car and gets about 12-14 mpg but is a blast to drive!

those look like some great knives! what steel( hrc?) and handle material are you using? and are you getting a good strong fit and finish?? and how are you doing your grinds and blanks etc.....? you should try and team up with a local saddle maker and see if you can get some sheath's made. i bet he would sell them in his shop and i bet you could get some knives put in local mom and pop outdoor & gun shops. we have a gun shop around here that carries a few local makers model's and the more traditional old school hunters eat em up! they make some good looking skinning knives aswell ! if you keep them in small shop's you can keep the demand level managed because of school work while making some money and starting a name for a possible career. i would not sell them online because you wont have a name yet and that could hurt trust or confidence in the consumer and if they are popular the knives could become too much stress to you. if i was you i would make up about 10 similar knives and show them to knife people on differnt forums and see if a mom and pop outdoor or gun shop's would be willing display them in a case or behind the counter to measure interest and excitement in the product. and then get sheaths made and sell the knives at a good price if a market is interested. try and keep them cheep ( in the $75-$100 range if possible ) that would help sceptical people gain confidence to try them out if they see it is not the most expensive knife in the store and the know they are hand made locally and that gives people pride in the knife.

i would say if you love it and can afford the costs. try and get about 10 knives made and see if they sell locally and see what the blade forum guys think as well as the hunting forums think. if you have some interest. put together a small presentation and ask a few shop owners for some time to present and some display case space. they could either buy them from you or take a cut when and if the knives sell..... if i had this talent that is what i would be doing and i think you should to!

bryan,
have a nice day, and tell me if you think you want to sell some knives!?

 

[imbryan715]

i should add a correction. i have $175-$225 to spend on all hobbie's. so i am not buying a $200 knife every month. Im happy if i can get a $200 knife every 2 to 2.5 months

 

[Piper Maru]

These are quite interesting, yea you will be able to get some nice knives with that budget.

 

[Matt Markell]

Thanks for the advice! This one is ground from 1/8" 1095 with Dymondwood scales. It's 8.5 inc The fit is pretty good, I make sure that everything is as tight and clean as I can get throughout the creation process. The finish could use some refinment, I'm not certain I like the mirror polished effect. I'm working on some really good looking knives with a hand rubbed satin finish, I'm really excited about how nicely they are turning out.

I know a rather wealthy elderly gentleman who wants to buy some of my first knives at very generous prices . I'm going to use the money to upgrade the shop a little and then I am going to do pretty much what you said There are lots of local gunshops around that I am on good terms with and I hope to sell them there. Eventually I'd like to get a Knifemaker membership here and sell them to a wider audience.

Here's another knife, a smaller hard-use EDC:

And another pic of the first knife:

Cheers

 

[hank_rearden]

it's only now that i'm an e-bay buyer when i realized my credit standing has been too conservative and under-utilized.

 

[imbryan715]

Thanks for the advice! This one is ground from 1/8" 1095 with Dymondwood scales. It's 8.5 inc The fit is pretty good, I make sure that everything is as tight and clean as I can get throughout the creation process. The finish could use some refinment, I'm not certain I like the mirror polished effect. I'm working on some really good looking knives with a hand rubbed satin finish, I'm really excited about how nicely they are turning out.

I know a rather wealthy elderly gentleman who wants to buy some of my first knives at very generous prices . I'm going to use the money to upgrade the shop a little and then I am going to do pretty much what you said There are lots of local gunshops around that I am on good terms with and I hope to sell them there. Eventually I'd like to get a Knifemaker membership here and sell them to a wider audience.

Here's another knife, a smaller hard-use EDC:

And another pic of the first knife:

Cheers

i like both of them a lot..... especially the bottom one with the wood handle. it looks like a good skinner and possible camp knife depending on thickness. on that top knife i would like to see the hollow grind a bit higher. the shape more perfected( clean up the outline and shape) and the tang edges rounded off and coverd in more cord. and for a good finish for that EDC model i would just polish & buff it up and get it shiny!!!! and wrap it in red, orange or blue, lime green or black paracord and get some kydek made. ( i don't know how much kydek costs so it might be too expensive). if you want to make more you might go to a more " tactical" look and send them off to get a baked on black finish and offer it in those paracord colors i mentioned as well as black, desert sand and olive drab para cord for the black version. that knife on top looks like it would offer good control for hard edc cutting and safety in pirceing and stabbing cuts. i don't think of knives as self defense tools because i think knife fights are suicide as compaird to running but that says defense to me because it looks like a good slasher. and it reminds me of the smaller esee knives!

these knives have great potential.... keep on trying to improve the top one and save that wooden handled one. it is perfect!!!!!! just get a leather sheath made. start your own thread asking for thoughts and possible changes to the design's and also ask for name suggestions if you don't have anything yet.

bryan,
have a nice day!

 

[Magnaminous_G]

To the OP,

It's wonderful that you are thinking positively and keeping your mind on important things like personal finance, so I applaud you. Would it be correct to assume that you live at home and don't have to pay for rent or health insurance (or food if you eat at home)? If so, that means you can definitely afford to spend any free cash you've got on your hobbies. Whether you should or not is another question.

I’d be interested to know more about this firefighting program you are in. I did a little internet research, and in Michigan a starting firefighter probably makes around $30,000. That’s okay, but the real advantage of being a firefighter is that it’s a union job with great benefits and good retirement. Have you gone to your local fire department and talked to real firefighters about what it really takes to get in? The firefighters at your local fire department would tell you the accurate truth. It might be harder than you think. From what I know, fire department jobs are very competitive, and some even require college classes and EMT training to even be considered.

As for your financial goals, sooner or later it is 100% guaranteed that you are going to need more cash for something (a big car repair, moving into a new place, paying for trade school or college, buying new clothes/shoes, buying a suit for a job interview, etc.). Before you splurge on luxuries, make sure you have money saved up to pay for those other things. Those things sneak up on you.

You mentioned that you want to fund your retirement. If you get into a fire department (and that is no guarantee), that’s a good start, but there are still catches: it doesn’t pay *that* well. It pays okay… but it’s not actually that good, especially not at the beginning. And even though most fire departments still have strong union representation and full pensions for 20 years of work, you only have to look at the current political landscape in America to see that that could change soon. They’re trying to destroy unions, and in 10 years who knows what it will be like? Firefighters might have their unions broken and their pensions eliminated. And then it just becomes a normal job… only more dangerous. To fully fund a retirement, you need to max out your retirement funds. That means $17,000 a year into a 401(k) and $5,000 a year into a Roth IRA. That’s impossible on $30,000 a year.

That said, firefighters will probably continue to get pensions in most states and continue to have strong unions, sure. But the salaries will probably be frozen and advancements will come slower. To live a comfortable life on a middle-class salary in American in the 21st century means living BELOW your means in everything you do: everything from which neighborhood you live in to what car you drive to what knife you EDC. It sounds like you really enjoy living ABOVE your means, admittedly buying more car than you needed and thinking about buying more knife than you need.

Some things that raised red flags for me: "i have $175-$225 to spend on all hobbie's," How much of that do you plan to save for your required classes and EMT training? ...or is it all going to hobbies? "if i would have bought an older truck i could have paid for almost all of my firefighter classes for my first year. so now im looking at some small student loans." You are basically admitting that you are willing to accept debt in order to live a lifestyle above your means? ...

That’s a very dangerous path to start going down… and it's a bigger problem than figuring out how to save a dollar here and there in order to buy a Sebenza, my friend.

 

[Ankerson]

A good job and staying single and not having any kids is a good way to keep a positive balance in the bank account and have funds for hobbies.

Also don't live above your means to keep up with the Jones's, that will get one dead broke and in debt faster than most other things.

 

[Scott Dolan]

I do extra things around the house to make wifey happy, then when the iron is hot I whine just enough to get a stern look and a "yes" out of her.