Nobody cares how much you spent for it

I am not going to get into the details but someone bought something expensive and was bragging about how much he paid for it.

I didn't want to rain on his parade so I kept quiet about it but the truth is he got shafted. He paid too much.

The truth is that there are a lot of manufactured goods out there that you are just buying a name brand on and the off brands are just as good or even in many cases better.

Some years ago when I began my career as a competitive shooter I saw the normal M-14 on the line was made by a certain company that wanted an arm and a leg for one.

I wound up getting a better one for less by simply buying a well made receiver, a good barrel and a surplus parts kit along with a National Match stock. Then I had a friend barrel the action and assemble it for me one evening for a bottle of bourbon. I came out well ahead of the game and wound up with a better rifle than those off the shelf.

Of course, there were few M14 makers out there at the time.

I also did well when I bought my sailboat by avoiding the big names out there that were in vogue at the time.

I was on the west coast and was looking for a deep water cruiser. Most of the manufacturers in the area were building light racing boats and even on the used market they commanded premium prices. The very few serious makers of cruisers were totally off the charts money wise.

I took an alternative route. I looked around for a solid boat that was built in New England and wasn't very popular locally. It wasn't a part of the cool racing type that was in vogue at the time. Nor was it really a weekender. It was somewhat of a spartan deepwater cruiser.

I bought her for a good price. 

I wound up with twice the boat for half the money and equally as important, she was designed for my specific purpose.

I can't help but think that my friend that is boasting wasn't really thinking when he made such an expensive purchase. He could have done a lot better.











To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY