Flex Thread!

It’s time to flex. Post something cool that you currently own, but preferably make sure it doesn’t link back to you in one way or another. Someone could steal your cool sh*t. Posting a small description of the item and why it’s cool is also welcomed.

 
This is a one-of-a-kind Halo Needler replica that I purchased from a user on Etsy a few years ago. This is probably the coolest thing I own at the moment.

@DevField  
That’s pretty fuckin sick~

The first day these were officially launched, I woke up two hours before the stores opened and I was going to go to my local GameStop to pick one up, but before that I went to Walmart because video games are 10% cheaper there.  
So as I went to go buy Breath of the Wild as my first game, these beauties were there too untouched.

@other Pony  
Sweet!

@Mikey  
I was so fidgety that someone was going to rob me (which made no sense because nobody lived in that town/no one was there at the time)  
But ye, I love there thing and I fear controller drifting so I bought a controller as well.

@other Pony  
Damn, I get what you mean~

 
Here’s my gaming PC that I built. Pic is old and I’ve upgraded it several times but it’s still a flex I think~

is it fair for me to flex having been able to actually create and work with this site

@Luna  
Yes

I was banned EIGHT times from Derpibooru, our sister site.

@Sky Spark  
Still rocking that i7-4790k?

I’ve had two desktop gaming PCs and one gaming laptop.  
My first desktop had an AMD FX-8320E. My current one has an i7-3770. My laptop has an i7-6700HQ.

Uh, I have a Ford Raptor I guess.

 
I got more in the bathroom.

I’ve also got a carrier and 2 sets of level III body armor plates, a high-power .177 pellet rifle for hunting small game, a 3800 lumen flashlight, a katana, 20 gallons of water, exercise equipment, fishing gear, a water filter, purification tablets, personal cooling amenities, firestarting equipment, $3,000 tucked away somewhere not in my place of residence, 2 “gas mask” full face respirators and filter cartridges, many tools and knives, a year’s worth of food for 2 people, radios, candles, portable lights, solar chargers, lots of medicine and first aid supplies, a small but tight-knit network of friends and family, and a modest but useful amount of knowledge in multiple disciplines.
 
I don’t find it necessary to “flex” my day-to-day fun stuff, but I thought perhaps my essentials might inspire someone to start getting the same.
 
Oh, and don’t mind the smashed guitar on the ground from the last post, or wonder about the lack of an actual firearm on this one. PTSD is just a bitch sometimes, and sometimes you don’t always have your proudest moments, but you know your limitations and that’s okay.
 
Just be prepared in as much as you reasonably can.
 
I did this all on a budget. I only live on about $12,000 or less a year. A little over $16,000 or if you count the portion of the rent that Uncle Sam is subsidizing.
 
Regardless, you’d be surprised what you can accomplish if you just spend your money wisely.

@Anonymous #83D9  
I’m still trying to learn the art of budgeting and desperately need to these days.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Every dollar must have a purpose. If it doesn’t, you need to adjust.
 
Also, try to pay for something once and only once, unless there is no practical way to do so, in which case maybe you’re better off bucking traditional wisdom and going to the other end of the spectrum to have sheer numbers on your side for particular items.
 
I can buy 1 Leatherman multitool for $75 and might lose it or break it anyway, or I can buy 3 Gerbers for the same price… But I can save my money another week, find some sales and get a deal on 2 Gerbers and a Leatherman only $25 or so beyond the original price of just the Leatherman alone. Best of both philosophies.
 
Find multiple income sources- do odd jobs for neighbors or donate plasma for extra cash.
 
Don’t beat yourself up when you screw up, or if you simply need to spend a few bucks or so here and there on something frivolous, especially if it’s for someone other than yourself… Just don’t make it a habit. Instead, take pride in the lengthy learning process and the slow but steady progress.
 
Sales and clearances rule. Have enough extra money and supplies at all times that you can wait. Then, only buy things when they’re on sale. Always check the clearance aisles/orange/yellow/red tags, etc. You never know what you’ll find.
 
I got a 4 pack of lightbulbs for 65 cents the other day. They usually cost 7 bucks. In a couple more years when my old bulbs burn out, I’ll be thanking myself, just like I do whenever any “unnecessary purchase” that I bought on sale years ago ends up coming in handy at some time, which happens to the majority of oddball sale items that I buy.
 
Often times they are used for repairs or working on a project a neighbor needs done. I didn’t need a caulking gun 4 years ago, but when it was on clearance for 40% of the original price and it was within my budget, meaning I hadn’t already bought too much “unnecessary shit” that week/month yet, then I knew it was a good buy and would come in handy someday like it did this week. (Made 20 bucks sealing a couple leak for a neighbor, 1000% return on my investment 4 years later.)
 
P.s. for the record, I actually like a lot of Gerber’s tools about as much as Leatherman. There’s an argument to be made for some that you don’t even need the “top of the line” when it comes to brands and products with a lot of things, and that durability difference just isn’t worth $50 period. Obviously durability is of huge importance, but it’s just something to note that you don’t always get 100% of what you pay for, and there can be many diminishing returns.

@MagpulDynamicPie
 
The main thing is sticking to the budget. If you say, “okay I normally save $100 a month, but this month I have to get these 5 more expensive flabberwockies than usual, then I’m going to only save $75 this month, I’m going to forego my normal weekly jumbushumbus treat, and bake my own bread this month in order to stick to my budget. Even though I could theoretically just barely pay for it all by not saving $75, I might have an emergency and have to use that $75. So I’ll do it for the flabberwockies and remember how important they are to me this month.
 
 
Bad explanation but I think you get what I’m saying.

@Anonymous #83D9  
That’s all good advice. For pretty much my entire life up until late 2018, I was the kind of person that never really looked at prices of anything. If I wanted something, I bought it. A rather sudden life shift flipped me around to the polar opposite of that reality and adjusting has been.. rather extreme.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
This is why the hood boys and rednecks don’t always fare as poorly in bad situations as people might think. It’s up to the individual and the mindset and experience/practice to a vast extent. Poor people know how to be poor. Although I do worry about mental health with a lot of people, and access to decent healthcare is… limited, to say the least.

@Anonymous #83D9  
Yeah. Went from being part of the 1% to below the poverty line in the span of about 8 months due to extraordinary, unforeseen events. And the whole Coronavirus thing just made it all the worse. Still have a lot of nice things, but in terms of liquid assets, I’m bankrupt. Never saw that one coming.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Also, don’t be afraid to push the limits of what you think is possible now and then when it comes to prepping and saving money. Don’t settle just because you saved more than the people around you or more than you used to. Think outside the box.
 
Case in point:  
Gee, the healthcare system keeps charging me a lot of money to wait in a line for 2 hours and then pay for a prescription when I get strep throat and such, but hey, at least I take care of my fish really well so they’re unlikely to get sick often in the first place, and when my fish do get sick, then I can treat their strep throat, boils, staph infection, etc. with a whole variety of legally obtainable “fish forms” of antibiotics.
 

 
Aw fudgemuffins, don’t you hate it when you forget to press the anon button or vice versa? /)_^ Oh wellllll lol. I gotta get some shut-eye anywho. Have a good one. 👍✌️

@MagpulDynamicPie  
Sorry to hear it’s been bad.

@MagpulDynamicPie  
I guess I don’t really know how to relate cause I’ve never had much money to begin with. Been below poverty level the vast majority of my life.
 
I do remember living on the street though. I went from getting by decently well with most of the necessary essentials, to being on the street with nothing but the clothes on my back and a synthesizer 4 years ago. Kept the synth at a friend’s place and snuck into a college, had good hygiene and blended in with the students and played piano in their practice rooms. Then I would sleep underneath the pianos. Bunch of suburbanite yuppies paid me little to no attention, as suburbanites generally do not notice finer details in their surroundings so long as they don’t inconvenience them directly in some way. (Lol, sorry but it’s the truth.)
 
That was the nights I could get down there. There was a few times I just slept on the street.
 
The point is that life is tough now, but I have much more now than I’ve ever had before only a few years later, so anything is possible.