I concur on upgrading, and will frame that as a focus on quality... which of course is one of the things I like about P-F, the focus on vetted reliability by so many regulars. Maybe that's because my grandfather was an old world craftsman who appreciated quality, and I still have and use a number of his tools and other things to this day. I'm writing this at the old solid wooden desk I inherited from a favorite uncle who fought on Attu Island in 1943, he understood quality too and I have a number of his things although he was frugal and more about things that documented experiences. My dad on the other hand was a typical small businessman who bought lots of material things but often skimped on personal purchases. When he passed I threw out lots of broken and worn out junk, and there was relatively little worth saving. He gets much credit for teaching me to shoot safely at a very early age though.
It's a little premature to go into detail on why I'm simplifying, for now suffice it to say I'm semi-retired in the past year so have time to think things through instead of jumping from one client crisis to another. Obviously it's the first time I've done this so it's kind of an ongoing experiment. For now let's just say that I was fortunate enough for most of my career to be able to buy what I wanted, limited only by being one of those people hated by credit card companies for paying off the balance in full each month and not paying usury-level interest. Basically if someone on P-F got me interested in some new platform or caliber, more than a few times I researched it, thought it sounded cool, and went to the LGS and bought one the next day. I'm glad I got to try and experience a range of different things, but most of that stuff is long gone now.
All that's changed is that now I try to minimize impulse purchases, things are comfortable but now I prefer to sleep on decisions a couple nights and see if I still want it after that. Surprisingly often, the answer is not really.
A good way to try to describe where I'm trying to get to is to summarize my photography experience. I was a photojournalist in high school and college, after that photography was a creative balance for my often too rational day job. I always bought quality gear, that's a must for the level of abuse P-J gear is subjected to. Remember those brassy war correspondent Nikon F's with all the paint worn off? I still have one of those in the drawer, except mine got beat up domestically. Today I have one digital body, a different high-end top quality brand because I prefer to shoot rangefinder these past 25 years. There are two older film bodies still around, same brand, what were once my primary and secondary bodies. Each body wears one lens which rarely comes off, plus I have a couple other lenses for rare specialized use. But 95% of my current creative work happens with one body, one lens, and a brand known for reliability, minimalism and only the essentials. The gear is holding value, often appreciating in value.
That's where I'm trying to get to with firearms. It's going to take a little longer to decide what to keep, for sure I have too much right now. In the meantime anything new will be purely functional... like optics, for example. I'm probably done trying another platform every few years just because it sounds cool.
OK enough, time to go find more coffee. More someday, maybe, when I get it better figured out.