The most expensive/valuable thing you own?

[mr. tegu]

That is not a house or a car or a house necessity like air conditioners, refrigerators, or other appliances, etc. It would be boring if everyone just had to say their furnace or something. Furniture, electronics, TVs and things like that count though.

It’s clear what expensive means. But by valuable, meaning something’s monetary value, not just personal value.

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That'll work. I have to figure out how to convert my wife from absolutely hating the idea to tolerating it.

My wife had to convince me... . I like it much better than I thought I would, and it's the perfect size of 2, get's decent MPG, and can go most places easily.

[Fat Elvis]

It would be pretty interesting if chiefsfan58 replied to this thread....

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Buehler445

Is that a thing for you? It’s not for me.

I’m not a nostalgia/souvenir/heirloom guy.

...

I dunno. I’m just me I guess. I can’t think of anything I can’t live without.

I do like your idea of a rifle though. That’s a good one.

You have dirt - you don't need a watch.

And ultimately that's kinda why I've never pulled the trigger on the watch. I mean a legit submariner or something like it is a $15-20K watch. Well hell, I can get started on building my hobby ranch with that. Go find 5 acres in the sticks w/ a creek running through the middle that has old farmers contiguous to it. Sit on that until I can just keep buying up the adjacent properties as those farmers retire/die and then the boy gets old enough to help build it. Get that up to 80-120 acres and then dam the creek to create a lake. Put an A-Frame on it and it's rock and roll time. In the years/decades that follow you can start adding wings to an A-Frame as money/need dictates. Then you can go forward/backwards on those and essentially incorporate the original A-Frame as a central loft.

Long after I'm dead that could be a several hundred acres with a 4-5K square foot cabin on it and a name on the fence. Proper timber/land management would turn it into a hell of a hunting/recreational area for generations of future 'Nuts.

Better legacy than a watch anyway...

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by displacedinMN

Very common.

My mom was sentimental about everything. Border horder.

When we cleaned out the house, a lot went in the trash. Hated to, but neither my sister, myself or any relative needed anything from 1966. or anything else.

On the flipside, when my mom sold her place and moved to Florida, she sent me my baby book, childhood photo albums and first PJs in the mail.

Nostalgia ain't really her thing.

I feel like there's a happy medium to be reached in there somewhere.

[Iowanian]

change of answer.


I have 24 gallons of gasoline in cans in my shop, bought and Paid for.

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by Coochie liquor

One of my favorite Pacino lines. “All I’ve got is my balls and my word, and I ain’t breakin em for anybody!”

It's a great line but Tony is such a terrible person lol

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

If we're including collections then it would have to be my record collection. The vast majority consists of 1st or limited pressings. I'd say I drop 300-400 bucks a year on albums. Its likely not worth as much on the resale market as the music I enjoy is shit so its likely me and 43 other dorks around the world that would even be interested in it.

Outside of that it would have to be my home audio setup to play my shitty music on.

I bet I dropped a quick grand on records last year just trying to get a decent little collection started. Still one at like 40 or so and had to slow my roll once I figured out how much I spent so quickly. And my shit isn’t even special just ones I wanted for random listening.

It’s not a poor man’s hobby and I don’t think I’ve bought any in the last three or four months. That reminds me I need to run by the record store sometime soon.

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by Pablo

I bet I dropped a quick grand on records last year just trying to get a decent little collection started. Still one at like 40 or so and had to slow my roll once I figured out how much I spent so quickly. And my shit isn’t even special just ones I wanted for random listening.

It’s not a poor man’s hobby and I don’t think I’ve bought any in the last three or four months. That reminds me I need to run by the record store sometime soon.

Yeah new vinyl is definitely not cheap. I'm sure there's some FOMO type marketing that goes into the pricing, but I recall a conversation I had with a guy who ran a small record label several years ago saying there were only a small handful of pressing plants left in the US, so not a lot of competitive pricing out there on materials and manufacturing.

I try to buy something like once a month or keep some kind of cadence in place to scratch the itch without going overboard.

[Hydrae]

Originally Posted by PackerinMo

A pet hippo.

Did you get that for Christmas?

[flinchfree]

One of these two.

[FlaChief58]

This will be as soon as she gets here

[lewdog]

All the plants in my yard I guess. They all mean a lot to me in the place I chose to put down roots, double meaning. All together I’ve spent quite a bit of money on plants and trees.

[Buehler445]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

You have dirt - you don't need a watch.

And ultimately that's kinda why I've never pulled the trigger on the watch. I mean a legit submariner or something like it is a $15-20K watch. Well hell, I can get started on building my hobby ranch with that. Go find 5 acres in the sticks w/ a creek running through the middle that has old farmers contiguous to it. Sit on that until I can just keep buying up the adjacent properties as those farmers retire/die and then the boy gets old enough to help build it. Get that up to 80-120 acres and then dam the creek to create a lake. Put an A-Frame on it and it's rock and roll time. In the years/decades that follow you can start adding wings to an A-Frame as money/need dictates. Then you can go forward/backwards on those and essentially incorporate the original A-Frame as a central loft.

Long after I'm dead that could be a several hundred acres with a 4-5K square foot cabin on it and a name on the fence. Proper timber/land management would turn it into a hell of a hunting/recreational area for generations of future 'Nuts.

Better legacy than a watch anyway...

Fair. However I’m still pretty savagely capitalistic w/r/t the land. Sure I’m going to inherit some land and I own some outright. The stuff I have outright I obviously control. The stuff stand to inherit certainly has legacy, and at this point a fair bit of legacy that I’ve directly contributed to. But that matters little to me. I mean sure it’s nice like a good pillow but that matters not if there is no roof. To the point, when it comes down to it I won’t suffer fools or subsidize mother****ers for the opportunity to farm family ground.

In short, a watch has fairly low stakes. You’re looking at securing it and keeping damage off. The land is my livelihood. I have real stakes there. Now, there are barriers to exit. Most notably a minority share in the asset. But also I have a lot of long term investment. My soil test P, long term no-till and overriding weed control strategies are all productive, expensive, and well above market replacements. But the bottom line is I need to optimize returns to equity on the ground because margins are thin. That is a much different approach than a watch or a vase. And I certainly don’t view it as an heirloom or a legacy.

Good call on the ranch if that’s your thing. But I’d recommend getting to it if that’s what you want. It’s continually surprising how much it costs to obtain and develop real estate.

[displacedinMN]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

change of answer.


I have 24 gallons of gasoline in cans in my shop, bought and Paid for.

I think we need to make CP a closed site.

Posting stuff like this on the internet may get attract the wrong people to your house

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

This is an interesting question. Setting aside my house, my business, and my wife's car, my initial guess would be an autographed photo of the Mercury 7 astronauts. The last time I looked, I saw similar photos for sale at $5,000 or so, and figured that was the top end retail so it would bring less in the real world.

But a couple of months ago I saw an episode of Antiques Road Show where some fellow had a book that was autographed by a bunch of astronauts from different eras. The appraiser made some comment along the lines of "If this was an autographed photo, it would probably be in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, but it's worth less as a book."

That guy had a Neil Armstrong in his book, which is valuable, but I have a Gus Grissom on my photo, which is a rare autograph. So having all seven Mercury guys on the same photo is a rarity.

I doubt that I could sell it for $15,000 since Antiques Road Show is pretty generous with people, but I'm thinking I could maybe get half of that.

I don't collect autographs, by the way. I just stumbled into this one 30 years ago and have had it ever since.

I got interested in this and started poking around. I posted some pictures of this photo on a web site that is devoted to space collectibles, and those guys are really knowledgeable about autographs.

They loved it. They confirmed that the autographs were legit, and it's a photo that hasn't been seen before. My photo is a bit of an oddity because it's a group photo of the seven astronauts plus two administrators, with autographs of all nine. I wasn't sure if the two administrators would tank the value for astronaut purists, but these experts said that the administrators added to the interest for serious collectors. One of them estimated that it would bring between $12,000 and $20,000 at auction.

That's a big win for a $20 purchase.