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Personal finance is a journey. Each of us makes wrong turns along the way. Nobody’s perfect. We all have weaknesses — one of mine happens to be technology. Yesterday I succumbed to a long-term urge: I bought a video iPod.
I had been resisting this impulse for months. I don’t need a new iPod — my old iPod mini works fine (though its battery life is rather weak). But when my wife said she wanted to take an iPod on her trip to Colorado, something clicked inside, and I went to buy a new one. I spent the afternoon loading it with music and video for her.
Purchasing this iPod won’t hurt me financially. I can certainly afford it. But it detracts from my long-term goals. The $250 I spent on it is $250 I won’t be able to put into my IRA this year. It’s $250 that won’t be used to pay down my home equity loan. It’s $250 that won’t be saved to remodel the kitchen.
I feel guilty for buying this. I used to make purchases like this all of the time, but on credit when I couldn’t afford it. Part of me remembers that, and so I feel bad for having made this decision. I understand that being frugal doesn’t mean that I have to deprive myself, but an impulse purchase like this feels a little too indulgent.
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November 5th, 2006 at 4:05 pm
We all need to be aware of the impact of our purchases and to be wise with what we have but if we never allow ourselves to enjoy our money it becomes our master.
If your wise choices to this point have allowed you this luxury, you should feel free to enjoy the benefits of those wise choices.
November 5th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
WEAK! Just kidding. I know the feeling of buying something and feeling that guilt.
It sucks doesn’t it?
November 5th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
I don’t think these purchases are the devastating ones if you can afford them, and I don’t see this as a real impulse buy. You waited months after all.
It did remind me of an article I saw by David Sedaris. I’m sure you’ve seen it, but just in case:
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060508fa_fact
November 5th, 2006 at 5:44 pm
You shouldn’t feel guilty, after all the reason we save our money is to enjoy it, not to let the saving be the controlling factor in life. I bet you spent the last few months looking at different models, doing research and finding the best price so you know you sure didn’t waste your money. Good purchasse I’d say.
I find that by strict on what I buy, I tend to be a lot happier with the things I get because I have done the research, I know exactly what I want and I get a lot of use out of it. I don’t buy things that I use once and put away, that is simply not possible because I know exactly what I want and what it’s going to be used for.
Good purchase, I’m jealous my (Gen 4) iPod is looking a little old now but I know it suits my needs perfectly and I have no reason to upgrade. I use it every day and it still works fine.
November 5th, 2006 at 6:18 pm
Don’t feel guilty, you deserve to have some fun.
November 5th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
I’m curious — how is your effort against the ol’ battle of the bulge going? I find that when I’m trying to be smart with money and food, I find myself sometimes making impulsive* purchases.
* Not that this one was or wasn’t, just curious if you ever experience the same thing.
November 5th, 2006 at 7:06 pm
If you owned some Apple Stock, the sting probably wouldn’t have been so bad. Invest in the companies whose products you buy and use regularly.
November 5th, 2006 at 7:17 pm
Sweet dude! my personal accountant (my id) always approves tech purchases. Now you need to fill that sucker with some killer videos. How about some workout videos?
http://www.strengthradio.com
November 5th, 2006 at 7:35 pm
Today, after two years of wanting to get a kitchen radio/CD player (to install under a kitchen cabinet, as I can barely hear my living room stereo when I’m in the kitchen), I relented and shelled out $55. Since I hardly ever spend that kind of money on household goods, I felt kind of guilty about the purchase. However, a good friend of mine reminded me that: (1) this is not an extravagant purchase, as I hardly ever spend money on things in general; and (2) I’m still saving over 20% of my income in tax-deferred investments, so it’s not like this purchase will kill my savings ambitions.
Perhaps I should note that the store gave me $20 worth of gift cards because this radio was a floor model and it’s missing the remote control (which I won’t need)….
Ultimately, we should allow ourselves to buy *some* medium- or big-ticket items once in a while. Instead of seeing the funding of your IRA as the opportunity cost, perhaps the real opportunity cost is a weekend getaway which you won’t take now, or a couple of fancy dinners in 2007 which you won’t have. If you are saving and investing what seems to be an adeuate amount, why worry about it?
I understand the worry, though…. I’ve been planning to buy a digital camera for months now, and still haven’t done so. I have the $300+ set aside to make the purchase, but it’s just hard to let go….
November 5th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
You should feel horrible! Your grandchildren may have benefited from your saving after your dead and gone! You should have left that money alone. I mean we’re not supposed to enjoy our money, that is for our children and grandchildren to squander long after we’re dead, and spent our lives not experiencing life! You should beat yourself in the face with a hot iron!
November 5th, 2006 at 7:52 pm
LoL, just joking. You have to enjoy life…You seem driven to save every penny you find. Isn’t possible you actually deprive yourself to the point that would make most people mad? I find myself trying to do some of the things you talk about, but end up with contempt for myself. How does one break the mental cycle of instant gratification, and when does prolonged gratification become satisfying? It seems every time I save a decent amount of money some tragedy comes along and sweeps it out the door. (washer goes out, some major repair work ect…) How does one combat these experiences and still save money?
November 5th, 2006 at 8:33 pm
Those $250 can only go towards one of those other purposes
Just enjoy it.. no point in getting rich without enjoying life every now and then even if it means it takes a bit longer.
November 5th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Now I just need to figure out how to convert my favorite Seinfeld episodes (e.g. “The Marine Biologist”) from my DVDs to iPod format.
November 5th, 2006 at 11:54 pm
“Now I just need to figure out how to convert my favorite Seinfeld episodes (e.g. ‘The Marine Biologist’) from my DVDs to iPod format.”
The answer: Handbrake.
http://handbrake.m0k.org/
November 6th, 2006 at 8:35 am
NOOOOOOOO! Tell me you are joking! The true 6G video ipod is going to be out before xmas!!!!
j/k. That’s, imho, the bigger worry about buying a new gadget — that there’s always something better just around the corner, if you can just wait a couple months.
So the obvious question I have is — Did you get the applecare plan?
November 6th, 2006 at 8:42 am
I understand how you feel exactly. I am a fellow frugalist who gets bent out of shape buying anything over $50 that I don’t really need. I think that is the point that most are missing here; that you don’t NEED another Ipod, you have a perfectly good one right now. When I just want a newer shinier version of something I already have that works fine (cell phone, camera, etc) I have a VERY hard time upgrading. But, if it is something I need and will get VALUE out of I have no problem parting with the money. A good example is my new 19″ lcd monitor. My old one broke and I’d been wanting a big lcd. Perfect opportunity to scoop up a nice new dell for under $250 and a decision that I have absolutely loved. Also I recently bought an external hard drive for my laptop as a means of mirroring my data to prevent against data loss from hd failure. It only cost $75 but didn’t bother me because of the utility it will perform for me.
So for me, the VALUE that an item gives me is inversely proportional to how bad I feel purchasing it.
November 6th, 2006 at 8:42 am
Do you have a mac or a PC? if you have a mac, I would suggest using iSquint. its free and works pretty well, although I’m not 100% sure it goes from dvd though.
November 6th, 2006 at 8:44 am
P.S. the ipod is an asset unlike a dinner out which is a service. You can resell the ipod at anytime and recoup a portion of the cost. I sold my 4G ipod after the video ipods came out. It was a 20gb about 1.5 yrs old. I sold it for over $200 on ebay with a few accessories and my full library of music. Not bad I thought.
November 6th, 2006 at 9:30 am
live it up man.. it’s just an ipod.. you deserve it.. later
November 6th, 2006 at 10:30 am
Yes, it’s an indulgent purchase, but you’ve shown that you’ll get good use out of it. There are a lot of other things you could have spent $250 on that wouldn’t have gotten near the mileage of the iPod. So think about it like that and you’ll feel better.
November 6th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Congratulations! You went from buying stuff because you felt like it, to feeling guilty for depriving yourself of stuff (remember when you needed to keep justifying to yourself why you weren’t buying stuff?) to questioning if a purchase was really necessary.
That’s the get rich slowly way: changing our habits little by little so we can achieve the goal of finantial independence.
I’d recommend to take the ipod as a trophy. The way you felt about buying it shows your success. No just don’t repeat it ;).
November 7th, 2006 at 7:45 pm
I stumbled on to site quite by accident. I like it. Good job. Especially Nov. 5, 2006 entry Personal Finance Breakdown: New iPod. I’ve been teetering. The feedback from your other readers helped me out. I will purchase one and not feel bad. Merry Christas to me! Keep the good info coming.
NorCal Ray
November 8th, 2006 at 11:34 am
[...] But there is another, wiser than I, who struggles with the same thing as my dear, sweet husband. TECHNOLOGY!!! My DH struggles with wanting the latest and greatest in all forms of technology. But it looks like JD from Get Rich Slowly, I just love that name, has been wanting a new iPod and he bit the bullet and did it. Good job. The biggest killer of thrifty living and frugal spending is totally killing your desire for new things. The success to thrifty living and frugal spending is making those new purchases with cash and not credit when available and determining if you want it or you need it. That was my grandma used to ask. [...]
November 8th, 2006 at 11:36 am
Turns out, you have a popular topic here. But I know how you feel about spending money because you feel like you are robbing from Peter to pay Paul. Don’t think that way. Just know that every once in a while, buying a feel good is ok in my cheap spending book.