Struggling with "Blow That Dough" Mentality

[Dawg52]

Buy it. All my life I have purchased cars with no frills added. Next SUV I buy will be loaded. Of course I will still try to get the best price I can negotiate, but I'm going out in style.

[bclover]

late to the party. Op, some thing you said originally stood out with me. you said you are uncomfortable getting in and out of the old boat. that's when my guilt usually ends. I'm with everyone else with the "life is short" thought but it's especially too short not to make yourself comfortable in your life.
Don't discount the little things in life, I struggled with the same feelings dropping a wad of cash (no where boat money) on a new mattress.

Get the boat, get the comfortable seating. NO way would I give it a second thought if what I currently had was not easy on the back.

[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclover late to the party. Op, some thing you said originally stood out with me. you said you are uncomfortable getting in and out of the old boat. that's when my guilt usually ends. I'm with everyone else with the "life is short" thought but it's especially too short not to make yourself comfortable in your life. Don't discount the little things in life,... .

+1
I once sat through a sermon where the priest's point was "life is short and you should only make time in your life for the best things" that is, don't waste a moment on things that aren't working for you or make your life harder.

[Palmtree]

In the past year we've spent a 3 week vacation in Slovinia, Tuscany and Paris. Another trip to Belize in May. In the past month we upgraded our kitchen range and bought the new fridge my wife's been eyeing for years.
We also live on a lake and she's been hinting about selling the 18 ft runabout and buying a pontoon. I'm a few week shy of 59 years old and I trying to hold out till I'm 60!

[aja8888]

Heck, I bought a BMW convertible at 75 years old, drove it for year and sold it for what I had in it. Now I am shopping for another TOY!

GET THE BOAT!

You only go around once!

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Koolau I face similar "blow that dough" issues based on "Just because I CAN afford something doesn't mean I should actually spend the money." Case in point is upgrading travel from coach. I just don't see the utility for the money. It's true that first class is WAY more comfortable than coach, but is it worth 3X the coach price? Even though I can afford it, I just can't seem to pull the trigger. YMMV

+1 and I frequently flew first class and business class when I was working but each time I book travel the value proposition isn't there for me to spend the extra moola to fly first.

[RobbieB]

I enjoy blowing dough on first class. Don't travel often and am 6-2 and 230 lbs. Makes the difference between looking forward to the vacation vs crap out and crap back.

[dixonge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff BTW I redid the math. I could not buy 20 without getting to a 4% WR...only 14. But I still think I should buy the boat.

So basically you have a 13-boat buffer built-in.

Have you bought the boat yet

[Willers]

Having owned many boats in my lifetime I can say that the best sound in the world is hearing the motor start after floating all day. New reliable boats are worth every penny. Enjoy!

[RobbieB]

My boat will be a used version, but with a good motor. My boat "dude" has never let me down. Gonna be slipped in the delta and wet mopped with river water as needed. Blood from chicken livers staining the gunnals.

The fish don't know what you got -

[zippy2020]

I worked for a short while for a semi-retired independent CFP. He - let's call him Phil - was a character, but he loved working with his clients and helping them in all kinds of ways. It was eye-opening to see how an ethical adviser really can make a difference for people.

I've always remembered one of the things Phil said - "Half of my clients I have to stop them from spending too much money, and the other half I have to encourage them to spend their money to make their lives easier!"

We saw a very poignant example of the latter in one elderly couple who had been clients for over 40 yrs. They were delightful people but getting on in years, and were childless with no family except a few distant relatives on the opposite Coast.

The husband - a big (like 6'4") husky (around 260 lbs) ex-Marine - suffered an accident and had to have surgery. He would be released in a week to go home, but would need considerable caretaking for the next couple of months.

The couple decided once he was home, she would take care of him. We're talking helping him get out of bed and get to the bathroom and back again, plus getting dressed and shaved, eventually going downstairs and eating, etc.

Only trouble was, she was about 5'5" and maybe weighed 110 lbs. soaking wet and if she was holding a few barbells.

It took Phil two separate talks to convince them that yes, they had the money to hire professional caretakers and that it simply was not practical or safe for them to be still trying to be economical in their mid-80's!

Afterwards the couple thanked him and admitted they couldn't have gotten through the convalescence alone, as they had originally planned.

As he told them, "This is what you saved all that money for! To help you have a comfortable old age!"

So.....yup, I'm in favor of your buying that boat, too!

[jjuneau]

Buy it. Once you have it, you will be glad you did. A person close to me (grew up during the depression) died with a huge portfolio. Nice for his heirs, but no benefit to him.

[pb4uski]

Bottom line.... did you save your money to enjoy your retirement years or to hoard it for the benefit of your heirs. Easy decision IMO.

[morriss003]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff I live on a lake. I have an older, yet serviceable runabout. As I age, and as my cronies age, we are finding it harder and harder to get into and out of the thing. Also the seating is not as comfortable on our backs as it once was, especially for me, the pilot. So, I want to buy a pontoon "party boat", aka "floatboat". Not an old beat up one with a crappy motor, but a nice new one with a nice new motor. I am looking at one that fits my needs. I can pay cash. I could literally buy 20 of them without diminishing my "nut" to the point that I'd have to go to a 4% WR to live the way I live. Yet, I struggle internally with the idea of spending that much money on a toy. I thought I was over this, but I'm not. I'm going to do it, I just wish I felt more joy about it, rather than something more akin to guilt, or dread. I remember my dad, the consummate depression baby, remarking to me that while he furnished his Florida retirement condo, he felt terrible guilt, expressing to me that his mom must be "rolling over in her grave" with all of the money he'd been spending. I tried to soothe him by suggesting that his mom might be happy to see him enjoying the fruits of his success. Now I tell myself the same thing, but I'm not sure it's working. It's not so easy to change one's stripes, after all, is it?

Is it possible to lease one?

[GreenEggs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HadEnuff I have a verbal agreement to buy the boat. Also a verbal agreement to sell the old boat. Waiting on parts to convert my boat lift (hoist) from deepV hull to accommodate the pontoon boat. I should be blowing that dough before Labor Day.

Congrats on getting the new boat. We just bought a new tritoon a few weeks ago. It was my first brand new boat & I struggled with the idea of spending more on a boat than my car cost, as I shopped I realized that was just how it is. I did a lot of shopping & research, and ended up saving $6,000 by buying it from a dealer a few states away.

I just finished converting out lift from a V-hull to fit the 3 tubes. Hydrohoist wanted $2,000 just for the parts! I decided to DIY and spent about $200 on lumber & hardware at Lowes. It took a little head-scratching and a couple afternoons, but I got her up on the lift yesterday.

We,ve been loving the boat. It really smooths out the choppy water. Great for cocktails & dancing (we have a college girl) and our dogs love it too. I'm 55 & figure this boat could easily be the last one we need to buy. Everybody's happy, so it was a "good" purchase.

[Shardo]

Going through the same thing looking at $25-28K for a used truck. Ugh.

[eytonxav]

If I was younger a cigarette would be nice, but now at my age, a pontoon makes a lot more sense. Congrats, enjoy your new boat!

[GravitySucks]

A cigarette. That's really blowing the dough.
I wish I could afford to smoke!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 If I was younger a cigarette would be nice, but now at my age, a pontoon makes a lot more sense. Congrats, enjoy your new boat!

[Rianne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pb4uski +1 and I frequently flew first class and business class when I was working but each time I book travel the value proposition isn't there for me to spend the extra moola to fly first.

Here's an option. Instead of buying 2 seats, buy 3. Say you get a great deal to Europe (have to be able to pick your seats). You can secure window/isle/isle and have more room to stretch out on the extra seat plus bring 3 carry ons.

[pb4uski]

^^^ Interesting idea... but if no one checks in for the center seat so there is no body in it the airline might fill it anyway... and the gate attendant might balk at two ticketed passengers with three boarding passes and three carryons.

I'm skeptical that the gate attendant would accept three boarding passes from two passengers.

Have you actually done this?