Sounds like the Colonel and I read the same book-
 

It is entitled "The Millionaire Next Door" and details the debt free and frugal lifestyle both Bruce and I were raised with- My Ford truck is a 97- 180,000 miles and runs like a Rolex-- It is my fourth Ford Ranger, all went 250,000 and then I traded them for another used one and wrote a check- no mortgage,. no car loans, I only have one credit card- it is a Exxon-Mobil card I got as a stockholder years ago- use it only for emergencies, even when I have the cash and gas was $.00 gallon--

I only buy "using guns" I can afford for cash outright- sure a 20 DHE or a 28 GHE would be fine 'investments" and with care, you can have your cake and nibble it too- I recently bought two 1912-1915 era Ithaca Flues Grade 1 DT extractor guns- a 20 and an 28- for about what a VH 12 with 30" barrels is going for on the "over-inflated" auction sites-- They are light, well balanced, have good stock dims, and the trigger pulls are sweet and crisp-

As far as bankers are concerned- my Granddad (who left me his Parkers and the hammer Purdey (wish I had kept that Purdey) always told me: "A banker will gladly loan you his umbrella on a sunny day without interest, but when it starts to rain, he'll charge you a plenty" A tough but wise Irishman, like old Joseph P. Kennedy- he predicted the big crash of Oct 1929 and the banks folding like leaves in the wind- he kept payroll cash in his big iron box Diebold safe at his machine shop (and paid off the beat cop- a brother irishman, go figure that- an irish cop) for night patrols on tough Canal Street- and went through the Depression with 35K in gold back bills in a fireproof strong box buried in the basement of their big home on Linden St.-- a cautious man, taught me to never buy "on the credit" but to use- CIF instead-- Cash In Fist-- You can't make much of a meal out of a AHE 16 quail gun if the bottom folds- you can use it to shoot the wolf at the door-:cool::cool:

I would not have the speacial Parkers and Parker repro's with out short term CC loans. 0% with a small check fee is do-able. This also gives me time to sell and pay back with other guns when I upgrade....Its a win/win for me...SXS ohio...(-:

Joseph Kennedy was a big supporter of Hitler, and a big womanizer, so I have a hard time thinking of him as 'wise'.

It's fine to drive an old car and live frugally - which is what I generally do - but like all things you need to exert some judgment into the process. It doesn't do a lot of good if you live an austere lifestyle and die with millions of dollars that get blown by your bratty nephew in Rhode Island.

This thread is a pretty good picture of the solution. One size does not fit all. Debt of itself is not a problem. It's having the resources, the will and discipline, a rational plan to pare/eliminate it over a reasonable period of time.

But he was a Damn Fine Bootlegger..... :corn:

I'm a Green Irish "Mick" not a "salami stuffer" soooo-
 

Joseph P. Kennedy, Henry Ford, Charles Lindberg- all endorsed "Herr Hitler" , Kennedy and Ford were rabid anti-Semitics, as was Hitler, Himmler, Heydrich, Goring and Goebbels- Kennedy was a master thief, con-man, married the Boston mayor's daughter Rose- who bore him nine children (most of them died a in a tragedy) openly flaunted his affairs with Gloria Swanson and other Hollywood stars, made his illegal millions as a rum-runner during Prohibition, bought one son the Presidency with the Daley machine in Chicago, bailed out with hush money the Kopcheny (sic) family after his gutless Senator playboy son left her to drown- but his greatest sin, IMO- was having a daughter lobomotized at Mayo without consulting with his wife- talk about ego--I only mentioned Joe in my analysis as he was mentioned in that book- I'm Irish Catholic, but have never revered the Kennedys--

Francis.... Kennedy, Ford and Lindberg repudiated their early public admiration of Hitler after Hitler's policies became clear and unveiled. Ford publicly apologized for his early anti-Semitism and mended ways with Jewish organizations. Lindberg said he had been misled by Hitler. I don't know enough about Kennedy to comment. All three helped in the US war effort and Kennedy's oldest son was killed over Germany. Just a little perspective on people who tried to mend early mistakes.

Not so sure about "Hank No1"
 

-- Ever read his newspaper "The Dearborn Independent"?? Ever hear of Orville Hubbard, the racist Mayor of WASP-y Dearborn? A "Fatty Arbuckle look-alive" he was Ford's stooge-no Jews or Blacks EVER lived in Dearborn back then-- Kennedy was a con-man who dominated his wife and family with his ego and rage for power- yes Joe Jr. died on a tragic and unneeded USAAF mission, and Jack did save some of his crew on PT 109--But Joe Sr. was a bound and determined man, he wanted to re-live his life only on a grander scale, through his sons- his daughters, as long as they married well to do Catholics, he mainly ignored- and he taught his sons by example to cheat on their wives, as he did on Rose-

Charles Lindbergh was Goring favorite American visitor, until 7/Dec/1941- Lindbergh flew combat missions in the Pacific- he refused to fly in the European TO, as he was from German stock (Lindberg- beautiful or fair- town or city-literal translation Auf Deutsch, meinen fleiger fruend--

:cool::cool::cool::bigbye:

It's a tricky thing to get your hands around....on one hand they made amends, but on the other hand did they make amends because they believed in the cause or because it was a political necessity?

I'm reminded of how Richard Nixon won by a landslide, but after Watergate you couldn't find anyone who voted for him.

Old "Sly Richard"
 

Nixon told the American people our troops were NOT in Loas or Cambodia-- one of my best friends from HS was in 5th SF Airborne on a "Company business trip" he was never found after his team vanished in Cambodia- Nixon lied about that and Watergate-He ranks with Warren G. Harding as one of the biggest "con men' to ever occupy the Oval Office--

Henry Ford I and his sons all examplify the "Cojones Grande De laton" concept that says "If your last name is one the bldg. you can do whatever the *&^% you want" Sam Insul, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Frick, J. Pierpont "Da Nose" Morgan, the Mellons and Rothschilds- all the Robber Barons were bigots in one way or another, or darn close-- You want to know how that Big Brass Ballz concept continues- the current Ford (Hank III) the head Fred of Ford- his family owns a big fishing retreat- on Michigan's Pigeon River- Vanderbilt area- sinc e1928 when Top Taggart tried to dam up his private stretch of the Pine River and was taken to Court and lost- we have the rule of the river- if an 8" log can float, it is open to all- But the Fords petitioned and even tried to bribe the DNR to close off the section of the public accessible Pigeon River that went by their vacation property- they didn't want the "Red neck canoists looking at their lawn" was the story I heard- The DNR turned them down cold-- money and power corrupt people- Nixon was just 'small potatoes" in the scheme of things- I