$4000 Squirrel

lol...sounds kinda like my family
I personally hate being indebted to anyone but you kind of have to play that game in this life...credit cards and so forth are necessary evils. But even while you are playing this game you have to have fun or life isn't worth living!
This store near my place sells buffalo meat regularly, I've been meaning to try it. Probably tastes better than $4000 squirrel patties

I don't even think their was enough of the squirrel left to make one patty...

What a waste of a shot and money. Going into debt to fund your "fun trips" is childish and immature. That $4000 could have gone to pay for things with a higher priority. I must say while I do spend quite a bit here and there, I don't spend my food money, car insurance/payment money, utility money, etc.

As for your buddy's trip, if it cost that much, I'd bet it was one of those "guided trips". Which in any case, he should have gotten something better than an exploded squirrel.

Out of curiosity, was he hunting for meat or for a nice lovely dead trophy head to hang on the wall? If it'd been the latter, I've seen some people around here pass up big doe after big doe waiting for that buck that never came. I just never saw the "beauty" in the heads on the wall. Sure they're nice, but I prefer something more useful. Most of those old bucks aren't worth eating anymore anyway, and to me, its a waste. All I can envision is the carcass of that old 16 pointer that ran around our neighborhood for years...crudely hidden under piled up brush with his head and feet removed by a chainsaw, and the body left to rot.

Now that 10 pointer that ran broadside into my car last fall, his head would have been on the wall in a heart beat, complete with my car's busted headlight. That would have been a $3600 buck, had he just died for me. But alas...he had to total the hood and right half of my car and run off looking for love in all the wrong places.

My brother-in-law has been elk hunting since the start of the season out in Montana and hasn't seen a one. They're just so much smarter than your average deer. But at the end of the day yesterday he, his father, and his brother came back with a mulie each. So all in all, it wasn't elk, but it was meat in the freezer.

Elk is really good compared to venison. It is almost indistinguishable from really lean beef, and makes a mean crock-pot bbq for sandwiches. Mmm. I picked up our doe from the processors on Friday, 45lbs worth, so not too shabby. And after she ate all of the flowers and vegetables, its so nice to "trump her" as I enjoy every single bite.



Ready for my Joejr impression?

That's one thing that drives me batty about Americans in general, lack of saving for a rainy day. We have an "emergency fund" that's hidden away that'll take care of almost 3 months worth of food and utilities should one of us get hurt and not be able to earn a paycheck.

credit cards and so forth are necessary evils

Argh! Credit cards are NOT necessary. People need to realize that. If you didn't spend what you didn't have, people wouldn't own a credit card or be in debt up to their eyeballs. I don't own a single one. I have a debit card, which is tied to money I have, so to me that doesn't count. If I don't have $5 to buy that trinket at the Dollar Store, I don't buy it on credit. I just do without until next week.

We have taken out loans from family for the down-payment on our home and all in all, they are wholly better than loans from a bank or using credit cards. They charge us the interest rate they would have earned had it been sitting in the bank, and that's all. So I guess it all depends on who your family is and how they are with money. Plus, when its time to reciprocate, I feel a lot better knowing I helped family for a worthwhile cause than some schmuck to shoot a $4000 squirrel. =P

Nope, it wasn't guided.

You've got to consider the couple hundred dollars he paid for gas to get from PA to CO + the new tent he insisted on purchasing + the new scope he insisted on purchasing + the new gun to go with that scope he insisted on purchasing + the ammunition for the new gun to go with that scope he instead on purchasing............

He went for the trophy and the meat I guess...

Mostly I think he did it to upstage my hubby. That's why he's so in debt and broke all the time...He thinks to be "cool" and "fit in" with my hubby he has to best him in the amount of guns and ammunition and BS like that. He's far from it. *lol* But if hubby ever CONSIDERED blowing 4 grand to go out to Colorado, he better be hunting for a new spouse whilst he's out there!

Originally Posted by blckkat

*scratches head* His money? He took out a $2000 personal loan for the trip. Has a $2500 credit card maxed out and a $360 SUV loan to pay every month.

In the end...We're having a good time picking on him for his $4000 squirrel!

Lucky man. I wish I could say my credit card was maxed out at $2500.

Originally Posted by shed'n my skin

credit cards and so forth are necessary evils

I have to agree with Misty on that one. And boy do I speak from personal experience. I am 26 and going bankrupt next year because of my husband's abuse of credit cards. Combined we probably have well over $100K in credit card debt. Applying for credit cards and using them for useless crap is almost like being an alcoholic. We had to quit cold turkey and it took us getting that far into trouble for us to quit. If my husband was a hunter, I could see him wasting $4000 on a hunting trip, he's wasted more on stuff before.....many times.

On the other hand, I've got absolutely nothing against hunting. I've never been hunting, if someone offered me the chance to go with them, I would in a heartbeat. The chance to hunt and kill my own meat for my family and friends... it would be a very interesting and awesome experience. If you're wondering why I don't just go out and do it myself, its just that no one in my family is a hunter and I don't know anything about it. I've never even shot a gun before... unless you count a rubber band gun

Well that's my take on it.

Originally Posted by Taceas

Argh! Credit cards are NOT necessary. People need to realize that. If you didn't spend what you didn't have, people wouldn't own a credit card or be in debt up to their eyeballs. I don't own a single one. I have a debit card, which is tied to money I have, so to me that doesn't count. If I don't have $5 to buy that trinket at the Dollar Store, I don't buy it on credit. I just do without until next week.

We have taken out loans from family for the down-payment on our home and all in all, they are wholly better than loans from a bank or using credit cards. They charge us the interest rate they would have earned had it been sitting in the bank, and that's all. So I guess it all depends on who your family is and how they are with money. Plus, when its time to reciprocate, I feel a lot better knowing I helped family for a worthwhile cause than some schmuck to shoot a $4000 squirrel. =P

Well, credit cards ARE a necessary evil, sorry to say. Just because you have the luxury (or perhaps it's not) of borrowing money---what I'm assuming wasn't a few thousand dollars---from your family doesn't mean that most people do, or would feel comfortable doing so. While I don't necessarily see anything wrong with borrowing money from family, it IS nice to be self sufficient. What would you have done if your family wasn't able to let you borrow money? Would you have had a loan at 8% or something ridiculous because you didn't have any credit?

Without a credit card, it's very difficult to build....credit. If you don't have credit good luck getting a car, house, etc. There's a very big difference between having a credit card and using it responsibly, and using a credit card like a 'tard.

To say credit cards are bad thing is totally wrong, imo. Like anything else, they're bad if not used correctly and with some intelligence.

Thanks Joe (of all people!) I think you said what I was trying to. I have only one credit card, it is not maxed out and I try not to use it at all but it's there in case I have an unexpected thing come up, like truck breaking down.
I tried to rent a car once before I had the credit card and was told you can't rent without one. Not to mention shopping online, etc, everyone asks for them.
I used to owe an old debt and took me like 3 years to pay it off before I could get the card. Now that I've fixed that I get these junk mail offers every day offering me more credit cards, but I throw them out because one is enough IMO.
I'd like to own a house someday, I think of the credit card as a necessary evil because it will aid me in establishing credit so I'll be able to qualify for a loan.
I wish the world worked on cash only but it just doesn't... I still say the squirrel hunter had the right to do what he did and it wasn't what I would have done, but still not my place to judge him.

Well the only loan repayment we have to deal with is the mortgage on our apartment. Our car we bought for cash about a year ago and the MC purchase we've been drooling about is finally going ahead this weekend because we actually HAVE the cash to spend on buying the bike, registering it, paying for the first years insurance, getting kitted out with new helmets, boots, etc.

I could not imagine going into debt (credit card, loan or other) to buy myself a treat or take a holiday. Only for important purchases like...ummm...a house!

I know it's not a luxury everyone has but if I don't have 'x' amount of money to buy that thing or experience I want, I wait until I've saved it up and then I enjoy my treat without having to stress out about the next 60 months repayments.

Personally I think that public schools should drop alot of the useless crap they teach and start teaching students personal finance. Would do them alot more good than knowing how to make useless things out of wood or how to set a proper table. When I was a senior in high school I had a class in "marriage and Family Living". I had to plan a wedding. With few boys in the class, my "intended" was another girl. (This was in 1980, long before the debate on Gay Marriage lol). Did that class help me when it came time to plan my own wedding?? HELL NO!!

Yes, you NEED credit cards, you pretty much cant buy a house or a new car without a line of credit. And just TRY to reserve a flight on an airline.

Personally, I am 43 years old, own my house AND the building my business is housed in outright with no mortgage. Own my car outright (yes its a crappy 1996 Ford Taurus wagon but its mine mine mine!!) and have no credit card debt. I use credit cards but pay off the balance every month. And my husband and I are far from rich. Together we earn less than 40k a year.....