On 2/12/2019 at 6:22 AM, gimruis said:

I bought my own first boat (new Ranger RT178) in 2015.  I did this BEFORE I had any children knowing that the chances of a new boat would go down significantly if the child came before it.  Boats are pennies on the dollars compared to a child, that is the raw truth!

I did the same. I paid cash but I don't blame people who finance them. Everything I enjoy cost $$$. I'm not going to be afraid to spend and not enjoy life for fear of what could happen. I'm lucky that my wife loves fishing (she grew up on Clear Lake). We have a lot of great times on the water and hopefully our son will enjoy it too and we will have memorable times together. I also live in a reasonable, paid for house. I'm often tempted to move but the average houses around here are $900,000+. I always wonder how people afford those. 

There are good deals everywhere im a electrcian and make fairly decent money, i bought a 93 Ranger fish and ski in pretty good shape just needed a motor, i only paid 700.00 for it and found a good 150 for 400.00, im a budget fisherman but keep an eye out man. I cant see how guys spend all this money on boats and can afford to use them, if i had a boat payment i wouldnt be able to afford gas for it lol