The other day BF expressed interest in a new DVD player. We presently have two (one upstairs and on in the basement near my treadmill), so the thought of getting a new one, when our two work perfectly well, was appalling to me.
"We could get one of those ones... stream Netlix... switch to Amazon prime cause Netflix is being stupid..." His argument was reasoned, I guess, but it just seems incredibly silly to pay money to buy something that is strictly not needed. There are plenty of other things I would rather bring into our household (though I can't really think of one besides food) before we go replacing items we already own. Then what happens? We get a souped-up DVD player and start realizing that watching movies that aren't blue-ray is completely unentertaining, they we have to re-vamp our DVD collection? It's a vicious, vicious cycle, and I want no part--No Part! I do not need to be able to look into the pores of the actors in order to enjoy a movie, and I stand by that.
When I was a kid, I got an allowance. I had a set amount of money coming to me each week, and once it was gone, it was gone. Because of that, I was very, very discerning about what I spent it on. I saved up for things I really wanted; I tried a new candy only after it had gotten a positive review from a trusted friend, and I did this automatically because I knew there was no worse feeling (having found out the hard way) than squandering my allowance on crappy candy bars, or some toy that broke right away, or silly string (total ripoff!). If I spent my five dollars at the beginning of the week, and then the local store got in a shipment of the must-have item like, for instance, slap bracelets, I would be out of luck and tragically uncool. I would be forced to beg my parents for an advance on my allowance (which they would never give me), try to hustle up a babysitting gig, or beg money off of my brother (and then get into trouble with my parents).
Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of that, the memory of how I used to really want things and spend in a more discerning way. Instead of saving up, now I just charge it and deal with paying it off later. The ability to do this certainly comes in handy when I have an unexpected crisis, like a car repair, but I should really be more thoughtful overall about with I spend my limited disposable income on.
I was kind of doing that when I started the smartypig account, but, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I've already actually acquired my new iPod even though the piggy is only 70% full. I set my rate of saving too low, but the experience was rewarding nonetheless. I'm going to look back through my budget and from now on, really stick with the spending limits I've set. Yes, I do really, really want this dress, but practically speaking, it's jersey, and may not look as flattering on my figure as it does on a dressmaker's dummy. I don't need to spend $7 on shipping to learn that.
Say no to the dress AND the DVD player!
"We could get one of those ones... stream Netlix... switch to Amazon prime cause Netflix is being stupid..." His argument was reasoned, I guess, but it just seems incredibly silly to pay money to buy something that is strictly not needed. There are plenty of other things I would rather bring into our household (though I can't really think of one besides food) before we go replacing items we already own. Then what happens? We get a souped-up DVD player and start realizing that watching movies that aren't blue-ray is completely unentertaining, they we have to re-vamp our DVD collection? It's a vicious, vicious cycle, and I want no part--No Part! I do not need to be able to look into the pores of the actors in order to enjoy a movie, and I stand by that.
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| OMG! |
Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of that, the memory of how I used to really want things and spend in a more discerning way. Instead of saving up, now I just charge it and deal with paying it off later. The ability to do this certainly comes in handy when I have an unexpected crisis, like a car repair, but I should really be more thoughtful overall about with I spend my limited disposable income on.
I was kind of doing that when I started the smartypig account, but, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I've already actually acquired my new iPod even though the piggy is only 70% full. I set my rate of saving too low, but the experience was rewarding nonetheless. I'm going to look back through my budget and from now on, really stick with the spending limits I've set. Yes, I do really, really want this dress, but practically speaking, it's jersey, and may not look as flattering on my figure as it does on a dressmaker's dummy. I don't need to spend $7 on shipping to learn that.
Say no to the dress AND the DVD player!
OMG slap bracelets! One year at Christmas, my sister got me a slap bracelet, which she wrapped in its flattened form. It was fun to slap it and watch it curl in the wrapping paper, waiting eagerly to see what colour it was going to be. (Spoiler: fluorescent yellow TIGER PRINT!)
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