Limited Spending Desires

[Walt34]

When I startet working I was often thinking about what I would buy when I'd have more money.
But when my income grew and I / we had accumulated some savings these thoughts changed: I was often happy just thinking that I could buy the stuff if I really wanted.
And I was even more often happy to think that I did not really want to and that I was able to walk away from the marketing blabla of "better, newer, ..."

I think this is called developing wisdom and maturity.

Down in the basement here is a Sony Betamax, the best of the time. I did actually get a lot of use out of it but it is a definite reminder to not jump on the latest & greatest, at least not until the dust settles.

 

[Ozstache]

Ozstache, love the picture and am a bit envious of your plan to adventure ride in Oz. BTW, what are to two animals to the left ? One looks like a camel and the other a big ground hog ?

As you and others have already clarified, one is a camel (introduced, not native to Australia) and the other is a wombat (a mobile mega speed bump). Of the three animals on that sign, kangaroos are by far the most threatening on a motorcycle because they can move so fast and unpredictably. They are most active at dawn and dusk, but also venture nearer to roads at night, so it is best to only ride in clear daylight to minimise accident risk.

Your version of adventure travel sounds fantastic, Ozstache!

One of the new breed of so-called mirrorless cameras might fit the bill. By that, I am referring to the cameras that have a larger sensor (the same or similar size as is in many DSLR's) but don't have the flip-up mirror or pentaprism/pentamirror. The result is a smaller and lighter camera that has the image quality of a DSLR. They are not quite as small and light as the small sensor compacts such as what you have, but definitely an improvement on "traditional" DSLR's.

OTOH, if you're happy with the image quality you're getting from your current compact, then keep on using that and whatever you decide to do - carry on with the travel!

I had considered one of these mirrorless cameras, however the only real limitation of my trusty P&S (a Canon S90 BTW) is its 3.8x max zoom. If I want a greater zoom than that, with high quality, my research has found that bulk becomes a factor on even those smaller mirrorless models. Also, with the DSLR I owned before it (Konica Minolta 5D), I pretty much exclusively had an 18-55 lens on it for my style of photography (landscapes, low light, portraits), which is why I bought the Canon S90 in the first place - it was "enough"

And yes, I will certainly keep on traveling. When I finish the full time Masters degree that I am doing this year (the funding for which was a parting gift from my last employer) which is otherwise keeping me busty ATM, I will be going on a couple of month adventure holiday somewhere around the world for my "gap year/decade/half century"

 

[Major Tom]

Minor update. In addition to the small influx of unexpected cash that I mentioned in the OP, I learned yesterday that in a few days I will be receiving another unexpected small amount of cash. It is about $3K and represents a residual amount from an estate that was thought to have been settled a few years ago.

So I will be getting about $4k very soon. Not only would buying the camera not affect my budget - I will actually have money left over from this small extra sum. I still cannot bring myself to do it though. It's only a relatively small amount but for some odd reason, I feel that I don't deserve this money. FIRE'd hit the nail on the head when he mentioned there was some denied gratification going on.

I'd go to a shrink to talk about this, but I'm too cheap to pay the bills. That would make a good one-liner but it's actually true!

The good side to this is that I have 3 beautiful kitties here who make my day, every single day. I never mind spending money on good food and vet bills for them. The money I spend on my furry companions is just about the best money I have ever spent on anything. The return on my investment is immeasurable.

But I will get that camera eventually...............

 

[REWahoo]

The good side to this is that I have 3 beautiful kitties here who make my day, every single day.

Buy the [-]damn[/-] camera. It will have zero impact on your long-term financial security, and think of all the great photos you can take of those cats!

 

[W2R]

I would buy it simply because this money is pretty much unexpected "manna from heaven", and so buying the camera won't affect your previous budget at all. Plus, you seem to really want the camera.

I think you will find that most retirees do spend that much or more on hobbies, although they might be aghast at spending that much on a camera if they are not especially into photography. In order to find out, I started a new poll of retirees to determine how much they spent on hobbies last year.

 

[haha]

We all have to take other people's opinions with a grain of salt. When I bought my $1,600 camera, some people seemed amused that I would spend so much money on a "gadget". But many of the same people would have no problem dropping many times more money on things like vacations, ATVs, motorcycles, boats, RVs, second homes, etc... So yes, we all have our own priorities. Personally, I travel very little. I live a simple life in an apartment with little storage space so I spend nothing on home improvement, furnishings, tools, and outdoors toys. I rarely drive anymore so I don't waste much money on cars, gasoline, and insurance. I dress in jeans and t-shirts almost exclusively. My idea of fun is going to the beach (free), hiking (free), and walking around town (free). All I want is a reasonably fast computer and a good camera (and in the world of digital photography, $1,600 is not even that expensive) because I spend several hours a day using one or the other.

I think the categories that you mention above "things like vacations, ATVs, motorcycles, boats, RVs, second homes, etc" are the most popular and basically accepted as ordinary and virtuous spending for affluent upper middle class people. But if someone would show up here and say he spends a similar amount of money on his wardrobe people would think him daft. But really, is there any categorical difference between decorating one's self, and decorating one's home?

My spending is very similar to yours, as is my lifestyle- except I like to go out.

All winter GF and I patronize favorite oyster bar happy hours, and the rest of the year we go to other favorite places. I would have to have a lot less money than I do before I would stop doing this.

Ha

 

[W2R]

[...]I think the categories that you mention above "things like vacations, ATVs, motorcycles, boats, RVs, second homes, etc" are the most popular and basically accepted as ordinary and virtuous spending for affluent upper middle class people. But if someone would show up here and say he spends a similar amount of money on his wardrobe people would think him daft. [...]

I'm not so sure! I remember at least one female member who has mentioned buying quite a bit of clothing at middle to high end chain stores, and IIRC she spends considerably more than that on clothing. I would never criticize her for it, though, and it doesn't seem like anyone else here does, either.

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose! I would never spend money on vacations, ATVs, motorcycles, boats, RVs, or a second home, but I wouldn't criticize anyone for spending money on such purchases, or on clothing. I would be more likely to purchase clothing than the other items mentioned; in fact, I just ordered two more blouses from Land's End this morning. Trying to do my fair share to buoy up our economy.

 

[NW-Bound]

Do it Tom! Get that camera while you still care. Who knows, in another year or two, something might happen and you do not care anymore. Not to wish you bad luck or anything of course.

Yes, I spend quite a bit more money than $1600 on vacations, [-]ATVs,[/-] motorcycles, [-]boats,[/-] RV, and a second home, but as long as it fits in my 3.5%WR, I am not feeling guilty. If not now then when?

"All save and no spend makes Tom a dull boy." -- NW-Bound.

 

[haha]

I'm not so sure! I remember at least one female member who has mentioned buying quite a bit of clothing at middle to high end chain stores, and IIRC she spends considerably more than that on clothing. I would never criticize her for it, though, and it doesn't seem like anyone else here does, either.

Different strokes for different folks, I suppose! I would never spend money on vacations, ATVs, motorcycles, boats, RVs, or a second home, but I wouldn't criticize anyone for spending money on such purchases, or on clothing. I would be more likely to purchase clothing than the other items mentioned; in fact, I just ordered two more blouses from Land's End this morning. Trying to do my fair share to buoy up our economy.

Sure, I doubt anyone would say anything negative. Nevertheless, groups always have a ranking of approved activities, from most approved to least approved.

It would be very easy for me to come up with what I imagine to be such a ranking for this forum, and if we polled people as to what they actually spent on I doubt my ranking would be far wrong.

Anyway, it must be hard for you to spend very much shopping at Land's End.

Ha

 

[W2R]

Anyway, it must be hard for you to spend very much shopping at Land's End.

What nailed me was $8 for shipping, since I didn't have the $50 worth of items required to get free shipping. All in all, $37.xx including tax and shipping.

Since my last post I also purchased a $60 ring from Amazon. What? I never buy jewelry!! I am turning into a crazed participant in our consumer society this morning. Look out, Madison Avenue! Here I come....

 

[NW-Bound]

Speaking of spending money, wait till you remodel your bathroom as you talk of doing in another thread.

 

[Moemg]

Okay I looked at my clothing spending and I am $400 below $1600 for last year . I guess I had better ramp it up since I have no hobbies except spoiling my grandsons .

 

[W2R]

Speaking of spending money, wait till you remodel your bathroom as you talk of doing in another thread.

Oh I know! I may never be able to figure out how to do it, though, given my grand desires, totally inadequate room, and a floor plan that is not amenable to the necessary changes. It would be so much cheaper to just learn to love my bathrooms as they are.

I do have some other, much more minor remodeling tentatively scheduled for later this week and will post about it once it is done.

 

[Mulligan]

I think the categories that you mention above "things like vacations, ATVs, motorcycles, boats, RVs, second homes, etc" are the most popular and basically accepted as ordinary and virtuous spending for affluent upper middle class people. But if someone would show up here and say he spends a similar amount of money on his wardrobe people would think him daft. But really, is there any categorical difference between decorating one's self, and decorating one's home?

My spending is very similar to yours, as is my lifestyle- except I like to go out.

All winter GF and I patronize favorite oyster bar happy hours, and the rest of the year we go to other favorite places. I would have to have a lot less money than I do before I would stop doing this.

Ha

We all have our unique choices don't we. A perfect example is my GF and myself recently .... Me- "You spent $250 on a purse? That's crazy. Why would you want to spend more than $50 for a thing like that... GF- "You just bet $1000 on the Ducks to beat the Stars in a playoff series.. That's crazy!"


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[NW-Bound]

What's the Ducks? Stars? $1000 bet? Surely sounds crazy to me!

 

[Mulligan]

What's the Ducks? Stars? $1000 bet? Surely sounds crazy to me!

It is unless you are a crazy gambler out in Vegas. But like I tell my GF. Hey I got a shot to win money on this, you have no shot to make money on your purse! I live for another day as they just closed out the series with a win the other night (hockey). It comes out of my entertainment budget so I keep it under control. I would much rather have money to bet and spend in Vegas than own a new car. Not many would feel that way, but like I said most of us have our quirks, and this one is mine.


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[easysurfer]

For me, some things I splurge on, others I don't.

IMO, it's all a matter of personal priorities.

I learned my lesson last year buy trying to be satisfied by getting a manual treadmill that I really didn't want but I hoped was more cost conscious then one I really wanted. End result, I hated that treadmill (the fact that I almost passed out using it didn't help ) so ended up chucking that and getting the one I really wanted. Lesson learned, had I got what I really wanted the first time around, would have saved me the cost of the unwanted product.

One person's justified splurge might be another person's waste of money.

 

[easysurfer]

... Trouble is - I find myself still unable to pull the trigger. My thinking is that if I don't buy it, I'll have an even healthier cushion in my checking account. Unspent money represents potential to me - and I like the thought of all those possibilities just sitting there...

If it makes you feel any better, I've been reluctant to spend my hard earned cash back bonuses from credit cards. Guess I'm hanging on to that unspent money potential like you mentioned.

 

[NW-Bound]

It is unless you are a crazy gambler out in Vegas. But like I tell my GF. Hey I got a shot to win money on this, you have no shot to make money on your purse! I live for another day as they just closed out the series with a win the other night (hockey). It comes out of my entertainment budget so I keep it under control. I would much rather have money to bet and spend in Vegas than own a new car. Not many would feel that way, but like I said most of us have our quirks, and this one is mine.

Just teasing. I am sure some people would say that I am crazy for spending money on travel, and not just watching Travel Channel at home.

 

[Moemg]

Mulligan , The crazy part was your girlfriend telling you she spent $250 on a purse . If I told my SO how much my clothes or shoes cost he would be having angina so I save him from the stress and do not tell him .

 

[Mulligan]

Mulligan , The crazy part was your girlfriend telling you she spent $250 on a purse . If I told my SO how much my clothes or shoes cost he would be having angina so I save him from the stress and do not tell him .

Some things are better left unsaid, huh, Moemg. Probably my fault because I am the one that usually asks. Maybe I will become smarter and not ask. She got kinda ticked at me when I reacted to the price. She made sure to show me when we were in Vegas the $2000 purses. I swear they looked like $50 purses, also.


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[Mulligan]

Just teasing. I am sure some people would say that I am crazy for spending money on travel, and not just watching Travel Channel at home.

My elderly neighbor would agree with you most definitely, NW. She was telling me about her home renovations recently but commented she would much rather spend it on travel, but she can't because she is too frail and not mobile enough to do it.


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[aja8888]

Some things are better left unsaid, huh, Moemg. Probably my fault because I am the one that usually asks. Maybe I will become smarter and not ask. She got kinda ticked at me when I reacted to the price. She made sure to show me when we were in Vegas the $2000 purses. I swear they looked like $50 purses, also.


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I have a wife and two daughters....believe me, women need purses and shoes, lots of them.

 

[audreyh1]

That is so not an expensive camera! We have sunk far more into DHs camera gear over the years, and yet he is out there ALL THE TIME using it, which I consider the most important thing. And even my own camera body cost more.

But then again we saved to afford these heavily used toys, they have been our top priority. The fact that we are usually running under budget helps too, of course.

In other words - what you actually spend doesn't really matter - it's all about how it fits in the big picture of your life.

 

[audreyh1]

I have a wife and two daughters....believe me, women need purses and shoes, lots of them.

Not all of us, LOL!