What do you do for a living?

[Safari Dave]

It's really amazing how there 3 simple rules can, at least, keep you out of poverty:

1. Graduate High School
2. Do not have a child until after you are married
3. Do not quit a job until you have obtained a better job

In the U.S.A., that is really about all it takes to avoid being poor.


If you do one other thing, most will consider you "rich"...

1. Don't borrow money to fund anything except your home.



It's AMAZING, how far that will take you!

Many people think I'm "rich," but, I've never haven't had a substantial inheritance, never owned a new car, worked as a local government employee most of my life, and my wife was a public school teacher until she retired.

The first 3 rules, and not wasting money on "lifestyle" will take most people surprisingly far...

 

[Safari Dave]

Now the rest of the story comes out! Lol. A good life!

The "side-gig" has always seemed to just about break even every year.

I've never made hardly any money on it, but it has afforded me some great deals on fishing tackle, fishing trips, and I've had the opportunity to meet many "legends" of the sport!

I took out a $15K HELC, my partner used a "student loan."

31 years later, somehow, we are still in business...

About Us – Unicoi Outfitters

www.unicoioutfitters.com

 

[MarkB]

34 Yrs in Navy, as others drank dumb rum I looked for ways outside military to make money grow. Overall investments went well, retired at 52, now have cash flow and pensions. I never waste what funds that I attain. Buy a truck, built it as you want then keep it, repeat after 20 years. Decide your toys properly so no need to change often. IE Boats, quads, trailers, camper.

Your (OP) young, going to Africa for safari has little to do with money and ALL to do with drive and determination to go. Make a plan, stick with it and GO. No dope or smoke also helps you keep funds.

MB

 

[Certus]

I work in vegetation management as a labourer (well, team lead but do all the hard work also). Work 47.5 hour weeks. Buy cars outright (always old and only what we can afford without debt, and only have 1 car). Bought the cheapest house at the time.
Still can’t afford to go on a hunt. Ah well!

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

By profession I am a metallurgical engineer in the minerals processing side of that field. I was funded through university by the Rhodesian government and paid back my time with the Zimbadwe government for the four years. Then started a company with a partner and been 'self employed' ever since. Lost the company twice as Zimbabwe tried and failed at various social experiments, but the latest incarnation was designed to be virtually bullet proof and doing well.
My needs are not great and all the toys are there. It is about passing it all on, and by it I mean not just the company, but the ethos, tools and wisdom to perpetuate it.
I am also on the steering group for our small church, which is very satisfying.
I have enough to hunt, but as you know my wife gets an equivalent reward for everything that goes on my hunts or guns! We both like adventure travel.

 

[lhook7]

I went Army, college, then work. The company I work for is a fortune 100 construction/technology company and and I have been with them for 21 years. I am the associate director of data center construction.

 

[Happy Myles]

I am 86 and hoping I don’t get 86’ed. I have been a lucky man but think it is time to hang up my guns.

 

[elkocountygun]

It’s all about priorities….

I work with guys that own new a new RV, jet boat, snow machines, timeshare in Cabo, and drive a new pickup every 5 years… then ask “how do people afford to hunt in Africa”???

ditto

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

A 7 day plains game hunt for 4 or 5 trophies, all-in (including the hunt, lodging, air, tips, and taxidermy) is less expensive than a guided elk or moose hunt in the western US. It isn't cheap, but it's less expensive than most imagine who aren't familiar with such things.

Most of the folks here are upper middle class, with a smattering of 1%-ers.

If you can afford to save maybe $350/month, you'll have the money for a nice hunt in South Africa or Namibia every 3 or 4 years.

The missus and I do very well for senior technical/low-level management. I drive a 13 yo truck, she drives an 11 yo car. We've been steadily plowing as much as we can save into real estate, and I set aside the aforementioned money into a "hunting" account. Other than mortgage, we have no personal debt. We live below our means, quite well below it.

@sgt_zim
My wife and I are just into the middle class area and a long way from upper middle class.
But we worked out buts off for years and are pretty well debt free and own our own home with very few expenses. The wife's car is 6 years old and my old 1997 4x4 diesel will stay with me for as long as possible or I die which ever comes first. I like it because it's simple to work on, ultra reliable, goes every where I want with NO fancy computer to keep it going. I like simple in the bush as I know it will get me back home.
Saving any excess money into a separate account for holidays and hunting is the best way to get things done in my book.
My philosophy is work to live not live to work. As long as we have enough to live on and keep the wolves from the door and save a bit as well we're happy.
I'm a retired long haul truck drive and disability worker and my wife is in a govt job that she has been doing for 40+ years and she will retire in a couple of years at 65.
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Thanks! You hit the nail on the head. I should have specified more clearly. I completely understand with the right timeline and budget anyone can go to Africa, NZ, Europe and more. I am very interested in those older than me (I am 26 haha) in how they got to where they are and what has driven them to their success as a hunter and professionally. I know that may be personal but I am just wanting to be able to do it my self one day. What sparked this thread was reading one from earlier today where every one was posting all their plans for the year and wow! I saved up for a hunt up north for bears this past year and it was my first foray in big game outside of deer so reading about people taking trips 2-4 times a year, I am just trying to mimic that one day. I know I rambled on but I hope that makes sense.

Cheers

@Redheadkentuckian
I'm young compared to some on this site but I'm sure a lot will agree with me. I'm 67.
I got where I am with bloody hard work. Forklift for loading trucks back when I started were few and far between. It was just pure muscle and hard work to load trucks. Yes it was hard graft but to me I loved the job so to me it was a job I got to travel around Australia and got paid to do it.
Young People whinge and and bitch about interest rates now. When I bought my first house interest rates were 18% but we survived.
Um not including you but a lot of young people nowadays wouldn't know what hard work was if'n it but then in the arse.
Find a job you love, work hard, live simply ( you don't have to keep up with the Jones) and save as much as you can. I'm not saying don't enjoy life, but when you go to buy that cup of star bucks coffee think, do I want that or will I put the money away. Not having that cup of coffee every day is almost $2,000 you can put in your hunting/spending account each year.
Bob

 

[Hunt anything]

@Bob Nelson 35Whelen, extremely wise advice!!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Oddly enough, I drink enough rum to supply a small Caribbean nation.

@CBeck
Problem is you need to drink the only palatable run on earth BUNDY RUM.
Bob

 

[CBeck]

@CBeck
Problem is you need to drink the only palatable run on earth BUNDY RUM.
Bob

Sadly, not available in the us….but I’d be glad to drink it if it was

 

[JG26Irish_2]

Electrical engineer, inventor, business owner. I am an energy systems geek and inventor or co-inventor on five US and two international patents. Those did not make me rich but did not hurt either. About 20+ yrs ago, I left a cushy job to form two new companies and to work on my ideas. If you are willing to take the risk of being a business owner, any modest business that is moderately successful can build significant wealth. I do not drive new cars, but I do drive good ones and keep them for a long time. I do not amass debt and am not chasing the latest fads out there. I did invest aggressively and was rewarded with a decent nest egg.

When I started my companies, I was still racing motorcycles and that was an expensive hobby. Even though I had some sponsors and could have had more, I gave up that hobby because I knew that if I busted myself up and could not work, the capital from my investors would be at risk and the firms could fail. Now, I am semi retired. I sold the tech firm and am winding down the engineering consulting firm. May still do some part time energy consulting in Africa when the opportunity presents.

 

[HookMeUpII]

@Redheadkentuckian

Young People whinge and and bitch about interest rates now. When I bought my first house interest rates were 18% but we survived.

I'm a bit younger and work in the field of finance. I heard this a lot when I bought my first home.

The problem is you probably bought your house for sub-$100,000. I hear the same thing from a lot of my clients in your age range. Many are out of touch with the market. My father bought his home around that time for $125,000 and it's now worth about $1.5-2.0mm best guess. He (we) put tons of sweat equity into it, granted.

7% on the 30 year is pretty bad when the average starter home here is $600,000.

The problem, right now, is the market is upside down in terms of value, inventory, and rates. With rates at 7% we should see homes about 20-30% less than what they are listed for. The problem is: There is no inventory. You have people (like myself) with a 3.25% mortgage and almost 100% equity over purchase price in the home. What is the incentive to sell? The only incentive is if they get an absurd price where they say "Let's tough it out, stretch ourselves, and go up market."

I'm an outlier because I do well and in another 1-2 years will probably head a good way up-market so it's a bit better. There's still competition there though. We watched a $850,000 listed house that was beautiful, get bid up over $1.1mm. It was nice, though. 3500 sq/ft, movie theatre in the basement, detached garage, etc. It was in a more reasonably priced area. Northern NJ that's a $2.5mm house.

I unfortunately live in one of the worst areas for home values: NJ. I bought my home in 2017 for $349k and I honestly thought I overpaid. Marriage and kids on the horizon, I put my head down and sucked it up. Nope. Same house across the street went in October for $605k in a bidding war. 3BR, 2BA sub 2000 sq/ft home. My $2300 a month mortgage payment is laughable.

So while 7% rates aren't historically bad....7% rates and homes that are listed for $1,000,000 but really worth $750,000 are. Same can be said for other parts of the country. A home listed for $750,000 but really worth $500,000 is another example.

I am not entirely convinced that there won't be some sort of real estate collapse or major correction. In places like Florida, which were first to peak during COVID, there is already trouble brewing. Inland, off the water, the higher end stuff is now averaging like 60-90 days on market with multiple price reductions. You're beginning to see "motivated seller" more often in the listings.

 

[MedRiver]

I haven't hunted Africa yet so maybe shouldn't comment, but the main reason I haven't made it over is because I have a weakness for Alaska and enjoy a hog hunt in Texas semi-regularly. I am on an "every other year" schedule/budget to hunt Alaska. With a daughter near El Paso now I am sure there will be more Texas hunts as well. I am sure comparable funds would get me a decent plains game hunt on a regular basis.

To feed my family and my retirement plans, I appraise Farm and Ranch real estate. I have been with the company for 21 years and I would say consistency has been pretty important to whatever little bit of success we have had. I live in the same house, have the same wife, and have invested in the same retirement accounts for most of my career. My wife had our 1st when we were in college so I worked a lot and slept a little so we left college with very little debt that was paid off quickly. I am kind of the poster child for consistently investing in my retirement accounts via autopay and forgetting about them. I have done a little real estate investing but it was more opportunistic than strategic.

We have six kids and made the decision early on that my wife would stay home while our kids were young so we never have had much "extra" money from just my job. We avoided consumer debt, tithed to our church, didn't go on extravagant trips and tried to buy decent used vehicles and run them as long as possible (I am finally selling my 2009 suburban that just hit the 1/4 Million mile mark and my other vehicles probably have a 1/2 million combined miles). 90% of the time I drive an older Toyota Prius to the office and don't mind the ribbing at all from my coworkers.

I hunt a fair amount at home in addition to my limited travelling. Hounds, horses, tracked vehicles, trailers, electronics, etc. all cost money. If I hunted less at home I could travel more but not willing to give up those opportunities with my kids and friends.

To finance the "fun" I have done a lot of stuff on the side. These days I have that pretty well whittled down to dealing guns (FFL), a little nuisance & fur hunting/trapping and selling a few gun/hunting articles. I used to buy a fair amount of fur in the round, process it and sell it. With current prices I do very little of that and don't miss the late nights in the shop.

 

[Doug3006]

I'm a bit younger and work in the field of finance. I heard this a lot when I bought my first home.

The problem is you probably bought your house for sub-$100,000. I hear the same thing from a lot of my clients in your age range. Many are out of touch with the market. My father bought his home around that time for $125,000 and it's now worth about $1.5-2.0mm best guess. He (we) put tons of sweat equity into it, granted.

7% on the 30 year is pretty bad when the average starter home here is $600,000.

The problem, right now, is the market is upside down in terms of value, inventory, and rates. With rates at 7% we should see homes about 20-30% less than what they are listed for. The problem is: There is no inventory. You have people (like myself) with a 3.25% mortgage and almost 100% equity over purchase price in the home. What is the incentive to sell? The only incentive is if they get an absurd price where they say "Let's tough it out, stretch ourselves, and go up market."

I'm an outlier because I do well and in another 1-2 years will probably head a good way up-market so it's a bit better. There's still competition there though. We watched a $850,000 listed house that was beautiful, get bid up over $1.1mm. It was nice, though. 3500 sq/ft, movie theatre in the basement, detached garage, etc. It was in a more reasonably priced area. Northern NJ that's a $2.5mm house.

I unfortunately live in one of the worst areas for home values: NJ. I bought my home in 2017 for $349k and I honestly thought I overpaid. Marriage and kids on the horizon, I put my head down and sucked it up. Nope. Same house across the street went in October for $605k in a bidding war. 3BR, 2BA sub 2000 sq/ft home. My $2300 a month mortgage payment is laughable.

So while 7% rates aren't historically bad....7% rates and homes that are listed for $1,000,000 but really worth $750,000 are. Same can be said for other parts of the country. A home listed for $750,000 but really worth $500,000 is another example.

I am not entirely convinced that there won't be some sort of real estate collapse or major correction. In places like Florida, which were first to peak during COVID, there is already trouble brewing. Inland, off the water, the higher end stuff is now averaging like 60-90 days on market with multiple price reductions. You're beginning to see "motivated seller" more often in the listings.

…..and the average US income in 1980 was $21,000. Prices for consumer goods surged 13% from 1979 to 1980. Everything is relative.

 

[HookMeUpII]

…..and the average US income in 1980 was $21,000. Prices for consumer goods surged 13% from 1979 to 1980. Everything is relative.

I'm just going to leave this here. And by the way, this only drags it out to 2022.

The black line is the log computation smoothing out a normal relationship between median household income and median home sale price. The blue line is the actual correlation.

You can see 2009-2012 well below the log which is the mortgage crisis. Then you can see 2004-2007 well above the log which was the bubble.

And if you look down at the 80's, slightly above the log, but not abnorm. Drag the chart back into the 70's and the actual median income v. median home sale price is below the log.

I don't even want to see what it looks like currently. Given the nature of history repeating itself, we could be in for another housing crisis of sorts.

EDIT: What I will add is that extremely high rates in the 80's probably offset affordability. With that being said, yes, people make more now but it's essentially one in the same. 7% rate on a home that's $250,000 over priced is no better. In fact, you're better off with the rates because you can refinance...vs. losing 20-30% value off your purchase price in a housing crisis. You'd have to really put on your thinking cap to figure out how to regenerate $250,000 worth of lost equity/value on a house.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

@hank Buck
The greatest hunting trip I had in my life was sharing it with my non shooter wife and my son. It added so much more to the experience to share it with the ones you love.
Bob

 

[Doug3006]

Those extremely high interest rates in the 80s sure made a difference! The average monthly mortgage payment in 1980 was about 44% of median monthly household income. In 2024 that percentage was 33%. It’s still expensive to get into the home ownership game, but not more so than in 1980. Interest rates aren’t going down anytime soon. In fact, with us boomers pulling our money out of higher velocity investments to seek security, money is only going to get more expensive.

My advice to young people is it save and invest until you can afford 20% down on a reasonably priced home. Then, work like hell to pay it off as soon as you can. You’ll be glad you did.