I'm facing a hard decision.

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by Detecto92, Mar 26, 2014.

  1. Detecto92

    Detecto92 Well-Known Member

    On the low end, my coin collection is worth around $1,100.

    I would like to move, sometime, and my "K-job" isn't really making me enough money.

    Confession, I'm nearly 22 and still don't drive, I do pay my parents gas, but I really can't afford $80 a month for car insurance.

    I only make around $500 a month with my job, and once you subtract $150 a month for TV and Phone, and another $100 a month in credit card payments, it's really not a lot of money.

    I could NOT sell my collection, and be at square one, or I could sell it, and be ahead $1,100.

    That's money to get tags for my car, gas it up for quite a bit, and have a little left in savings for the move.

    The hardest part about pulling the trigger? A lot of my coins are very unique, such as toning, that you don't see every day, and some of my coins have good eye appeal to.

    I'm not sure what to do, so I came here asking for your two cents, sell my collection and get a head start on moving (moving somewhere to go to college BTW), or just not sell it?
     
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  3. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    Ive had to sell some favorite coins just to pay a bill or other emergencies. I even had to part with some recently to pay for some dental work. Coins come and go and one of the great things about the hobby is they its an easier turn around then other hobbies.

    Do what your gut tells you, if it says to sell then sell and keep the photos for memories.

    If not, then find some other stuff you dont care about as much and sell. I have parted with trading cards, junk comics and other things before I resorted to some coins.
     
    Kentucky and spirityoda like this.
  4. tdogchristy90

    tdogchristy90 Dieu et les Dames

    Hey detecto,

    Couple questions. How many coins are in your collection? Maybe come up with a fair number, keep your absolute favs and sell the rest. That way you kind of get both options.

    Secondly is your tv and phone tied together? If not and you can get rid of it is ditch the tv to help pad the pockets a little.

    I'd just try to "pay your dues" now so you won't have to later. Based off that, from what you listed the tv and maybe only part of the collection need to go.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2014
  5. silverfool

    silverfool Active Member

    get rid of the credit card bill and the card. with that income you have no business running a credit debt that requires a $100/ month payment.
     
  6. jallengomez

    jallengomez Cessna 152 Jockey

    If you're spending over 30% of your monthly income on phone and t.v. then you should probably reevaluate phone and t.v.
     
    CBJesse, chrsmat71, green18 and 2 others like this.
  7. aubade21

    aubade21 Well-Known Member

    Are you in college? If so, I'd sell only part of my collection, and get a few hundred dollars (keep the best).

    If you're not in college, can you get a second job? Two part time jobs would help with the bills.

    Either way, it won't be easy. I put myself through most of college with two jobs. It doesn't leave a lot of time to do much else, but it's means to an end.
     
    Jwt708 likes this.
  8. Nuglet

    Nuglet Active Member

    Don't sell em.. dig yourself out of the hole in other ways. Don't buy more, just appreciate the ones you have... A lot of your "coins of the crown" are really cool and $1100 more bux wont change your life much.. it will be a temporary fix....
    I say just hold onto em as a cool thing you are into but concentrate on new priorities for awhile.. you can come back to your collection and build on it instead of scrapping the whole thing which may kill your interest in the long run.. who wants to start from square one later?
     
    rzage likes this.
  9. jensenbay

    jensenbay Well-Known Member

    Stop buying more coins. Save the ones you have. $1,000 cash is not your problem. Get another job and save as much money as you can, while the parents let you live with them. Stop the investment talk you brought up before. Make as much money as you can now. Have three jobs if you have to.

    How are you going to pay for school? You're already in debt. A bunch of student loans will only put you in a deeper hole. If you want to start to get ahead... work and save, then worry about the rest. All of this has be suggested to you before.
     
  10. Blissskr

    Blissskr Well-Known Member

    If you don't drive yet on your own, unless you move into a large city with public transportation readily available I think selling your collection and moving would be senseless. If you do move to a large city $1,100 isn't going to last more than a few weeks if your extremely lucky and you'd be hard pressed to immediately find a job with your skills that pays enough to live off either way.
     
  11. rzage

    rzage What Goes Around Comes Around .

    A lot of good suggestions . $1000 is maybe 2 months rent in a cheap appt . Also it will take some time to get the full value , even if you can so keep the coins and drop the credit card . Your parents are helping you a lot by letting you stay there rent free . Your main job is to get a good education . Do whatever it takes to get that education . Good luck on whatever you decide .
     
  12. Travlntiques

    Travlntiques Well-Known Member

    Excellent, those will bring the most $$$$! Attachment to material possessions kills the soul, Detecto, and more importantly nothing is more important than your own FUTURE. Forget about present wants as they WILL impact your future needs especially if your credit is in jeopardy! With a good job you can buy another $1,100 collection in a few weeks just with spare change. Now is the time to establish yourself as a fiscally responsible person, there are no re-dues in life! YOLO :)
     
  13. doug444

    doug444 STAMPS and POSTCARDS too!

    Start your own (mail-order) business of some kind, where you are now, something you know and understand well; everybody's an expert in something. Use the profits to pay off the credit cards first, as someone else recommended. I have no opinion on whether you should sell your coins, but clearly you cannot afford to collect coins. By the way, do you happen to be a natural-born salesman? That's where the money is, provided you have talent and great enthusiasm for your product.

    Do some hard thinking or all of a sudden you will be 30, in the same situation. And just for fun, would you consider enlisting in the Navy or Air Force, and let them send you to school for something you really like?
     
    rzage and Jwt708 like this.
  14. ken454

    ken454 Well-Known Member

    do what you feel is in your best interest, with that said let me just add that back in the early 90's i needed some quick cash, i had a few options but decided to sell off about 90 percent of my coin collection that i had acquired through out the 70's an 80's, i regret that decision to this day.....
     
  15. Detecto92

    Detecto92 Well-Known Member

    I guess your right about the part where if I had a good job I could just buy the collection back (sort of).
     
  16. BooksB4Coins

    BooksB4Coins Newbieus Sempiterna

    It's like deja vu all over again.

    Seriously, we've been here before, and for the same reasons, yet here we are again. Why? As you've been told many, my times before, with your present situation, you cannot have your cake and eat it too, so it's time to make a few surely difficult decisions and actually stick to them (this time). I won't even bother with the credit card issue because this should be a no-brainer; take the advice so many have so often given you. Do the same with the TV; you don't need it.

    Short of some sort of legal issue, there is absolutely no reason for an able-bodied 22 y/o man to burden his parents with having to drive him around, especially when he's owned a car for a few years now. As for a license, the last I knew one could get one at 16, so does this mean that for the last SIX years you, for whatever "reason", could not be bothered to get one? A phone is somewhat understandable, but on the other hand, you live with your parents and cannot drive anywhere without them, so is it really necessary?

    As for the coins, and as I've told you before, you don't NEED to own a single one to enjoy your hobby. If you want to keep a few that are special to you, that's fine, but you've sold off your collection before and now those coins are long forgotten, so surely you can do it again - whatever is going to get you out of debit; the sooner the better.

    Perhaps getting a better or second job would not be so difficult if you could legally drive, but whatever the reason, you must work with what you have, and clearly $500/mo isn't cutting it. You need to start making bog boy decisions and let go of the childish nonsense. You need to appreciate your job and do all you can to keep it instead of thinking you're being sexually harassed because you were asked to pick up a few boxes or calling OHSA over a damn paint can. You are not a manager or supervisor, so get it through your head that you were hired to do YOUR job, not theirs. In the end you didn't save anyone, but what you did do was needlessly risk your job and livelihood. Ask yourself this: if you didn't have mommy and daddy to lean on for all of your necessities in life, would you still act, think, and feel the same way if there were actual consequences from your actions? An Illinoisan winter is a cardboard box does not sound that fun to me.

    You've been telling us you're moving away to attend college for two years now, yet it appears that you're no better off or closer to making this a reality than you were then. I am sorry; Tim, but I don't buy it. If you cannot even take the necessary first baby steps towards independence, how can you expect anyone to believe you're serious about this now? You're right, Tim... you are facing some hard decisions, but coins should not be one of them.
     
  17. Nuglet

    Nuglet Active Member

    Keep the collection if you are gonna make decisions like a bog boy.. for sure.. images.jpg
     
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  18. Travlntiques

    Travlntiques Well-Known Member

    No way..... With a good job you'll be able to assemble a collection of coins that look more like this:
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/GREAT-BRITA...4431380?pt=US_World_Coins&hash=item19e911aa14
    Not mine, nor any affiliation. Just motivation to be the best Detecto you can be. Fix your FICO, stop paying interest, always have cash in the bank (but don't trust them with it), and find a job with a good retirement plan....not that you'll need it though, having a collection soon to be filled with gold Sovereigns :)
    If selling your collection meant fixing the first 3 things mentioned, I would do it in a heart beat. It's easier to stand still and make no change, but progress marches forward.
     
    green18 and spirityoda like this.
  19. spirityoda

    spirityoda Coin Junky

    I would keep your favorite coins. sell the ones you can part with. your main goal now is get a good stable job, get a car. no more expensive TV and get a cheap phone plan. move away from your parents house. wow... I wished I could have stayed at my parents until I was 22 years old. I was out at 19. save as much money as you can. get that credit card paid off first. you can always go back to buying coins once you are stable. I have been there having to sell a favorite gold coin, but sometimes life gets hard and I made that call. do I regret it ? sometimes... but it got me out of a jam. I can always get that coin back later on. your first choice is taking care of you first. If you do decide to sell your coins here on CT. let us know so we can help you out a little.
     
    Last edited: Mar 28, 2014
    Kentucky, green18 and Travlntiques like this.
  20. Jwt708

    Jwt708 Well-Known Member

    I mentioned this to him before. I enlisted in the Air Force when I was 20. Best decision I ever made. I went in with a semester of college under my belt and had only worked at a couple fast food places, as a laborer on construction sites, washed cars, and sold fireworks. I was not in shape...not fat but not in shape. In return for enlisting I got a paycheck, a place to live, food, job training, a job, free college, and have lived in New Mexico, Washington, South Korea, and England. I've traveled to various cities around the U.S. for both work and pleasure and have spent time doing my j0b in various countires including Iceland, Sicily, United Arab Emirates, Afghanastan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait...I might be missing some.

    I'm currently working towards a bachelors and in posession of an associates. I have ten years experience working aircraft and five of those in a supervisory position.

    The military can be a great opportunity. Besides everything I mentioned, it gives you a chance to be part of something greater then yourself and to do good work for your country. I thin the Navy recruting slogan is something about a being a force for good and that's true regardless of what branch of service you go into. When a disaster strikes, it's the military that responds and is there saving lives and helping people.

    I could go on about this, and would happily discuss enlisting in any branch with anyone who is interested.
     
  21. Mainebill

    Mainebill Bethany Danielle

    I collected coins since I was a kid I started my own business at 17 and that took all my time and money but I still bought a coin or 2 lived on my own since 19 before that I lived with my grandfather when I was 24 I bought a house sold 95% of my coins (and tons of other stuff) to come up with the $35k I put down do I regret it no not for a minute! For the next 10 years I picked up some coins and a few real nice ones the last 3-4 years I started getting real serious again and been buying far better coins then I could ever afford before. My advice sell the coins keep a couple favorites get another better job get yourself established maybe buy and flip some coins to feed your addiction (yes coins are an addiction we all have here ;) and when you really get yourself on your feet then start thinking about seriously collecting again. Me I'm 37 own 2 businesses a house full of antiques and fine art 4 vehicles (3 are basically work vehicles) a couple other pieces of land and a fairly nice coin collection. I barely finished high school got no education beyond that nobody ever helped me financially at all and I have no payments or debt the reason hard work and common sense I've worked 80+ hours a week 7 days a week for the last 20+ years
     
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