# How do you prioritize your purchases?



## jwmay (May 20, 2021)

I find myself with a mile long list of stuff I think I need to buy.  I've bought, and given away or sold a lot of one time use items.  A rotary table with chuck(free), two mill vises( fifty bucks), some too large hss bits(free), a couple lathes(I might have broken even on them)...the list goes on.  Anyways, I don't have or want the space necessary to keep every treasure I meet.  I've got several taps and dies that have never been used, used indicator holders and parts, partial sets of this and that, random things I can't even ID with certainty.  All of it filling valuable shop space.  It irks me.

I am just curious how you decide what stays, what goes, and what you'll never buy, even if you'd love to have it.


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## rabler (May 20, 2021)

I base it on what I'm interested in working on.  I do this for fun, so when I decide I'm going to work on something, and I run into something I need for that project, then money is spent on it.   One exception is buying materials, IF I think I will use more of that material (i.e., it's something I'm likely to use down the road) then I'll lean toward buying a larger quantity since there is a price savings if I buy enough to use a local source rather than 1 foot lengths from a online retailer.  I use Wright Steel in Evansville, that's probably a bit far for you.


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## JimDawson (May 20, 2021)

jwmay said:


> I am just curious how you decide what stays, what goes, and what you'll never buy, even if you'd love to have it.



_What goes?_  I don't understand   

_Never buy?_  Can't think of anything.

If I need it or find a good deal on it even if I don't need it, I'll buy it.

Maybe this is why I can barely walk through a 1200 sq/ft shop.


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## BGHansen (May 20, 2021)

It's tough to part with stuff that you have no known use for, but it gets easier after a few sales.  I had a really nice Atlas 7B shaper with the factory vise, but I only used it twice ever.  It was taking up space, had to chose between keeping it or buying a Bridgeport (bought the BP).  I also had a really nice Rockwell 10 x 36 lathe with a taper attachment, 4C collets, etc.  But I also had a Clausing 12 x 24 and a Grizzly 14 x 40.  The Rockwell was taking up space, wasn't being used anymore so I sold it.

I guess if I had something with a plan to use it, I'd keep it if I had the space.  I picked up over 200 1/8" wide by 3" diameter horizontal mill cutters at a shop closing for $3.  What the heck would I ever do with 200 of them?!?  I kept maybe 10 and sold the rest.  I had a 100 lb. propane tank and a 30K BTU ventless gas heater for taking the edge off in the winter.  I stuck in a 125,000 BTU propane heater this past fall, no need to keep the 30K heater or tank anymore.

Remember, you can't take it with you and when you pass on, it'll become someone else's problem.  My dad left my brother-in-law and me quite a job throwing stuff out after he passed a couple of years ago.  I had a large toy collection accumulated over 10 years before I started selling it off.  I'm down to a manageable number now though I'd like to get rid of the rest of it so my wife doesn't have to fiddle selling it.

Bruce


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## benmychree (May 20, 2021)

I started selling unneeded tools on EB, and when something comes along that I think I might need, I buy it.


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## Shootymacshootface (May 20, 2021)

I usually weigh the cost and usefulness of an item. There are times when there is no workaround and you have to buy something to finish a job. I am lucky to have a son that actually is a machinist, and if he doesn't have it he can usually borrow it.
But, I like tools, if I want or need something, I will make room for it. Bedroom closet, in the hutch with the wife's china, under a bed, my kids will have plenty to sort through when I kick the bucket.


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## benmychree (May 20, 2021)

"my kids will have plenty to sort through when I kick the bucket."
I think that is universal!


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## FOMOGO (May 20, 2021)

I only buy what I need. Apparently I need everything. Mike


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## benmychree (May 20, 2021)

FOMOGO said:


> I only buy what I need. Apparently I need everything. Mike


Don't we all --- ?


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## mmcmdl (May 20, 2021)

FOMOGO said:


> Apparently I need everything.


Me too ..........................................until I have it .


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## silence dogood (May 20, 2021)

My wife and I have been trying to downsize. Amazing how much stuff after 50+ years of marriage  will accumulate. So it goes into three piles.  Pile no. 1:  the stuff that you really need, easy  Pile no 2:  stuff that you don't need. easy  and then there is the enormous pile.of  trying to make up our minds.


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## Braeden P (May 21, 2021)

I need money to buy more tools so I will sell my duplicates and use that money to buy more tools then sell the duplicates and that the cycle!


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## rabler (May 21, 2021)

1600 sq ft of house.   1000 sq ft workshop.  600 sq ft storage building behind that.  750 sq ft garage for working on vehicles.  Another 2200 sq ft of workshop under construction.   Priorities!


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## macardoso (May 21, 2021)

I have a lot of hobbies so I have come to an agreement with the wife. She doesn't get mad if stuff comes into the house, but I try to get rid of something equally large from the shelves in the basement. That way I am not accumulating stuff. 

For example, I brought home an industrial robot and recycled an old oscilloscope and box of misc. parts I thought I might make something out of.


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## C-Bag (May 21, 2021)

rabler said:


> 1600 sq ft of house.   1000 sq ft workshop.  600 sq ft storage building behind that.  750 sq ft garage for working on vehicles.  Another 2200 sq ft of workshop under construction.   Priorities!


id be in deep yogurt if I had that much room. I just keep bumping into deals/free that I can’t pass up. But duplicates I know I’m not going to need I have passed on. Because I do such varied projects my machine tools don’t get used every day, but there’s no way I could get rid of them. I use my little 7b shaper as much as my mill/drill and lathe. All my stuff seemed to appear in the local CL as I was gathering stuff for the next project and my long range project list is covered by what I have.

The last year has been spent organizing and consolidating which serves to reacquaint with what I have and make it more accessible. I just wish I’d had this stuff decades ago.


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## Ultradog MN (May 21, 2021)

My priorities are quite simple.
When I have extra dough I buy machine shop stuff - or in the past, tractor stuff.
When I'm broke I sell stuff and buy groceries.


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## Dave Smith (May 21, 2021)

my priority is determined by if I can manage to get in the doors of my shops and move the stuff a little to make it to what I am after. I really have a problem to solve! so I know I need to get stuff I don't need out the door, trouble is I don't know what stuff I really don't have a future use for so I spend the day(maybe weeks) reorganizing everything so the walkway is ok and passable. trouble is I just packed everything tighter and harder to get to, not saying that I can remember what is packed where.
does this sound familiar to anyone? I know that when I get extra time I will fix some projects and use up some of my inventory. yeah someday!
when I get extra time I will look at all my extra stuff and design projects to use most of my extra stuff so then I can sell what I make to get extra money to use on bargains I find. any one who has been to my shops is very intrigued but know I need a lot of help with my priorities. I think I am getting tired and mixed up just thinking about priorities.
Dave


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## MyLilMule (May 21, 2021)

As soon as I get rid of it, I'm going to need it. So I just keep it.

If I don't need it NOW, I don't buy it, unless a deal comes my way and it's too good to pass up, and I know I will probably need it later.


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## Dave Smith (May 21, 2021)

MyLilMule said:


> As soon as I get rid of it, I'm going to need it. So I just keep it.
> 
> If I don't need it NOW, I don't buy it, unless a deal comes my way and it's too good to pass up, and I know I will probably need it later.


you sound as confused as me
Dave


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## projectnut (May 21, 2021)

BGHansen said:


> It's tough to part with stuff that you have no known use for, but it gets easier after a few sales.  I had a really nice Atlas 7B shaper with the factory vise, but I only used it twice ever.  It was taking up space, had to chose between keeping it or buying a Bridgeport (bought the BP).  I also had a really nice Rockwell 10 x 36 lathe with a taper attachment, 4C collets, etc.  But I also had a Clausing 12 x 24 and a Grizzly 14 x 40.  The Rockwell was taking up space, wasn't being used anymore so I sold it.
> 
> I guess if I had something with a plan to use it, I'd keep it if I had the space.  I picked up over 200 1/8" wide by 3" diameter horizontal mill cutters at a shop closing for $3.  What the heck would I ever do with 200 of them?!?  I kept maybe 10 and sold the rest.  I had a 100 lb. propane tank and a 30K BTU ventless gas heater for taking the edge off in the winter.  I stuck in a 125,000 BTU propane heater this past fall, no need to keep the 30K heater or tank anymore.
> 
> ...



That reminds me of the joke about the grumpy old stingy geezer.   He didn't get along well with any of the relatives, so in his will he demanded that he be buried with $10,000,000.00.  Anything left over could be split evenly by the relatives.  His equally grumpy wife didn't want the relatives to sneak into the cemetery and dig up the grave for the money so she wrote a check for the ten million dollars, stuck it in the coffin, and put the cash in her purse.

In one way his will was satisfied, he did take the money with him, however the wife got the last word unless he found someone on the other side to cash the check.


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## MyLilMule (May 26, 2021)

Dave Smith said:


> you sound as confused as me
> Dave


Not at all.


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