Looking for perspective; How much do you spend on knives a year?

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kram115

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Jan 21, 2011
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Some times I feel like I'm spending too much on this hobby. I set aside an amount each month to spend on knives and NEVER go over budget so it's not like my steel addiction is hurting me financially. Plus I'm pretty frugal otherwise. Also I don't have kids so I don't have many expenses.

I just did the math and my knife budget is only 6% of my income (before taxes). Help me alleviate my guilt. What's your percentage?
 
You should ask this question in a non knife forum. Then you will truly see your sickness :)
 
No one wants to addmit to themselves how much our love of knives costs us. I'm not really sure of true amounts I spend myself. I will say that I believe some years I have only bought knives as gifts and spent nothing on knives for myself. But I know I have spent thousands of dollars some other years and would have gotten more if I could have come up with more funds. And yes, I know that I have some of the best knives made already but I still want more(and you probably do too).
 
I've heard everything from $50 in a year to $40,000 in 10.

The only bad amount to spend on knives is the amount which is greater than you can afford. Does that mean you should go buy up every knife in sight if you have a load of spare cash? Probably not. But having a hobby is healthy, so long as you don't let it control you.


I feel like I've bought a ton of stuff this year, but my collection to date is only around $500 worth, roughly.
 
I don't think I've ever set down and tried to figure the percent I spend. I may do that. I don't share what I spend to my friends as it is none of their business and I quickly grew tired of having to explain it.

Now that I am single:D and my son is 27 with a good job of his own (though I still give him money each month), I have never worried too much about it. As long as my bills are paid, my savings remain untouched, and I'm able to fund a 401K on the side, I feel justified in spending what I do. Though I do try to keep it under $400-$500 a month, and some(very few though) month's I may only spend a $100.

If there is just something I cannot do without, a knife I have to have or I may fall over dead if I don't get it, I usually just take the plunge and get it. The highest I've spent for something like this was $1200.:eek: Now it took saving for a month, and the seller willing to hold it, and it worked out! And currently there is another one that I'm saving for until the end of the month that will set me over the established self-imposed limit, but hey, I gots to have it!!!:thumbup::D
 
I'm ashamed (even on a knife forum) to say what I spent in my first full year of collecting knives.
 
I spend the majority of my discretionary income on blades. I probably buy about $20 in music per month, $40 in books per month, and $300 in knives per month. I will not disclose percentages.
 
I don't spread out my purchases throughout the year. Last year I went from 1 knife to having a collection of 13ish within a month or two. Then I sold off my collection towards the end of the year, and just last month I went on a knife buying spree and I'm pretty much done.

Spent around $1500 so far for 5 folders. There are quite a few knives I want to get right now, but it's not $ that's holding me back, it's the guilty feeling of having so many knives most of which won't be carried/used.
 
Six percent of gross income seems reasonable to me, for just about any hobby. You plan for your expenses. You have a budget you don't exceed. You're in control.
 
I've spent a lot (for me) in the first few months of this but I catch and release most of them. I'm only looking for my personal top 10 users(or 8 or 7, whatever). No desire to collect and keep pristine, etc.
 
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No fixed pattern here to calculate percentage. My knives are users, not collections. Got some, sold some at a loss, sold some at cost, a bit at profit.


On the buying side, this two months I spent more due to upgrade to real Spyderco: the Resilience.

That's other than sharpening materials (stones, sandpaper, etc.).

To be realistic, most don't need that many knives, but as a hobby, it gives pleasure to balance the stress of work, etc. So as long as it doesn't control us, it's fine.
 
Haha...... 600$ This week. Shame on your for making me think I spent this much in a week.
 
A lot more than I used to, since I started participating in BFC and discovered sprint runs and dealer exclusives. Over the last four years I would guess that I've spent around 2K per year.

It's not as bad as it sounds though, since I've also probably sold around $1500 each year of the ones that have fallen out of favor or that I just didn't care for once I had them in hand.

I prefer to focus on the net rather than the gross :)
 
I dont know if I can give a specific dollar amount, but here's my normal routine.

Get a knife, love it to death, test it, trade/sell it

Take new knife/money, enjoy new blade. In the last year I've spent about 250 dollars on knives, but mostly I trade and sell
 
I have been buying knives since I joined bladeforums in 2009. I took them all out a few weeks ago and I was amazed, I did some quick math and the number I came up with was in the $40,000 range. That's just knives, this forum also got me into ARs and watches. I have a M&P 15 that I have about 4000 into and I got a $8400 Rolex all because of this god forsaken place.
 
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