How much did you spend on pens in 2005?

[Dillo]

My (personal) net figure for last year is actually negative . But it won't be for next year .

 

Martin

Hi,

 

Mine is negative too. I sell more than I buy.

 

Dillon

[French]

I also had no pens before 2005

now

1 Lamy Safari

1 Esterbrook SJ from Southpaw

1 Esterbrook J

1 Rotring Core

1 Pelikan GO!

1 Wallity piston filler

 

so less than $150, but I'm thinking of buying either a Lamy 2000 from Pam Braun, a Pelikan M215 w/italic nib from Richard Binder or a Dani Trio Densho raw ebonite, and I'm trying to sell the SJ to finance part of it.

[Betty]

Because I'm new to fountain pens, I had a lot of catchup to do and catchup I sure did! Probably $350, and not counting my upcoming Sailor 1911 & Danitrio Densho Raw Ebonite

 

I don't think I will buy in 2006 (who believes me on this one?)

[Stylo]

I averaged $31.75 per pen bought in 2005 ...

I can't believe you got away with dodging the real question

 

Now what multiplier do we need to put in front of that $31.75 average?

 

For me, 2005 has been the year I spent the most ever: a few dollars shy of $500 :blink: And for only a total of four pens.

[Betty]

I averaged  $31.75 per pen bought in 2005 ...

I can't believe you got away with dodging the real question

 

Now what multiplier do we need to put in front of that $31.75 average?

 

For me, 2005 has been the year I spent the most ever: a few dollars shy of $500 :blink: And for only a total of four pens.

Quality over quantity though Or for $500, you can have 5,000 BICs...he he he....

[Cam]

Once totalled up, I spent over £1200 (over $2000) on about 100 pens.

 

Now I just need to sell most of them ...

[Bill]

I spent less on pens in 2005 than my wife did on cigarettes.

 

In fact, I could buy one of those $1000 jobs every six months and still have money left over...though I wish it weren't so.

 

Bill

[saturation]

I just bulk bought 8 bottles of Quink ink for $30. I go through one bottle before a year's out. I thank fellow pen afficionados for giving me freebies: 2 empty Levenger bottles and 2 empty Mont Blanc bottles, which I prefer and fill with Quink

[JRodriguez]

It hurts it hurts. I spent probably about $1300 - but I also sold about $1000 worth of pens and pen stuff! So that makes it alright doesn't it?

[Guest Denis Richard]

Around $200 net

[satrap]

I plead the Fifth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:bunny1:

[Stylo]

Around $200 net

That leaves too much room for accounting trickeries!

[Guest Denis Richard]

accounting trickeries!

That's a pleonasm, isn't it ?

[Stylo]

That's a pleonasm, isn't it ?

I had to look that one up I guess nowadays it certainly is

[Guest Denis Richard]

That's a pleonasm, isn't it ?

I had to look that one up

You're losing your French touch.

 

I think it is funny that "pleonasme" is very often used in French conversation (not just the rhetorical figure itself, but the fact to point it out, as in "c'est un pleonasme"), while "oxymoron" almost never is , and in the U.S it is the exact contrary. I'm not sure what this says about our two Great Nations. :blink:

Edited February 16, 2006 by Denis Richard

[Sciopod]

I honestly don't know.

I honestly don't care.

Bills all paids, kids all cared for, their college all planned for, money in bank, money in Savings, money in 401K.

 

1. I honestly don't know.

 

2. I honestly don't care.

 

3. Bills unpaid, kids need new shoes, no money in bank, what savings?, don't know what a 401k is but I'm sure I haven't got any money in one.

 

Ah well, two out of three isn't bad!

[Oxonian]

Hi Sciopod,

 

In the UK the theft by the taxman is done at source and on a weekly or monthly basis as you earn it, a 401K is I believe the US IRS's way of making the taxpayer suffer, there is all this money in an account in your name and you can't do a thing with it because the taxman gets it all at the end of the tax year but I suppose any interest paid on it goes toward your tax bill.

 

Now on the question asked in the original post.

In the UK we don't have a Constitution, so we don't have a fifth ammendment to it and so we can't take the rights given under that statute and refuse to give an answer to a question on the grounds it may incriminate us. :ph34r:

 

Fortunately as can be seen from the various replies above the English language is subtle and flexible in that it allows us to avoid the question being asked or to give an answer that means absolutely nothing whilst still being truthful, if not entirely accurate.

 

My reply is in the same vein, 'I've spent more than I ought but less than I would have liked.

I have more pens than I can use at any one time but not more than I can use in a year.

I would have a lot more pens than I have if I hadn't sold or traded a fair number in the course of the year.

If pressed for a figure I would say more than £100 but less than £1000.

 

If pressed further and in the spirit of the question, with arm metaphorically twisted, I would say that net about £400 but then quickly add that that is only just over £1 a day and so a lot cheaper than drinking or smoking.

 

Thanks for giving us al lthe chance to practice our excuses, reasons and justifications in case we should be asked by anyone that matters or has the ability to impose sanctions.

 

Cheers, John

[sonia_simone]

A 401K is an investment account for retirement that you fund before you pay U.S. taxes.

[Oxonian]

Hi Sonia,

Sorry about that I obviously misunderstood what my cousin was telling me, we had started off talking about taxation rates and I remember that she didn't sound too pleased about having to pay so much into hers to keep it to the level she needed to.

Here we call the statutory one National Insurance(9% of gross earnings) and like our tax it is taken at source, the voluntary version a Private Pension Scheme which is like the 401k tax exempt, unless you die early when I assume that whatever you have put away is assessed for Inheritance Tax.

 

Cheers and once again my apologies, John

[wood-of-1kind]

Most of my pen expenses were for the purchase of pen kits that I use for my pen turning hobby.