The Sabbatical Ends: Results?

[Jon Westfall]

Well, as anyone who has followed the site lately may have noted, I am off of my tech sabbatical. In the last 10 days, I've purchased an upgrade to Resco Explorer, the WM 5 upgrade from Dell, and a case. Since my spreadsheet was lost early on, I can't give you accurate counts of how much I didn't spend, but I estimate it to be around $200 or so. Mostly a success, although some will argue it wasn't - I think it was a good way of teaching myself to distinguish between a PPC Want and a PPC Need. So now that it's over, and you've seen my results (And that of our originator), are you ready to sign up for a tech-buying sabbatical? Or will you decide to wait until new device season is over ;)

[surur]

$200 seems a bit little for a whole 3 months. I do not think its worth the stress and enforced abstinence. If you saved $500 I would have been more impressed.

Surur

[Phillip Dyson]

Good going Jon!

True, there were some disagreements about some of your choices, some of them coming from me(I admittedly can be a hard line purist sometimes :wink: ) , but all in all I think that if you accomplished what you set out to do then it was a success.


So, what I think would be interesting is if you track your behaviors 30 days out. I wish I did this myself.

Did you find it difficult?

[stevelam]

Or will you decide to wait until new device season is over ;)

Yes all I'm waiting for is an HTC Universal with a 6gb HDD, a Monahans (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/23/intel_demos_monahans/) Processor and a Stanwood (see bottom of page) graphics chip. Then I'll be happy.

[Julio]

Good going!

It really is hard sometimes to say "no" to ourselves. Some of these toys are just sooooooo tempting.

Personally, I have a small rule:
- If it is $20 or less - just buy it (usually covers almost all upgrades)

- Otherwise, wait a month. Note every instance where the item would have been needed or useful to have. This does not include nice-to-have or W!BIC instances. If there are several instances of real need, then I buy it.

I had to impose this rule on myself because it was just too easy to keep buying new items for my PDA. This also keeps my wife from rolling her eyes too much. :wink:

Julio

[rmasinag]

Er... does saving up for a Nikon D50 kit with 2 lenses count as a sabbatical? :)

I think it's not bad, but I agree on not learning the diff between a need and a want.

The Nikon is definitely a big want. The excuse being I don't have a digicam as of the moment, and taking pictures is a BIG way I relieve stress. 8)

[Jason Dunn]

Er... does saving up for a Nikon D50 kit with 2 lenses count as a sabbatical? :)

Actually, I think that saving for something is a GREAT way to curb impulse purchases - we live in a world of instant credit, where few people pay cash for things. The buy it on credit, then try to figure out how they're going to pay for it after the fact. So simply by putting off the purchase long enough to save up for it, you're miles ahead of most people. ;-)

[joefuture]

New device season is the perfect time for a sabbatical. As soon as you buy one, something else better will come out. Better off waiting for steady state again...

[PDANEWBIE]

we live in a world of instant credit, where few people pay cash for things. The buy it on credit, then try to figure out how they're going to pay for it after the fact.

Here here, I must say this is the one thing about civilzation today I DON'T agree with... Personally I would never buy anything on credit I can't buy with cash (with the exception of the big 3 House, car/including repairs but excluding modifications that are not "needed", school). I guess this is why I find it ironic that my friends who make 6 figures but are still in debt up to their eyeballs, but I who only makes mid 5 figures am debt free except mortgage and a car bill.

It all comes down to responsbility and control... 2 things that people seem to be lacking these days.

[Jason Dunn]

It all comes down to responsbility and control... 2 things that people seem to be lacking these days.

Indeed! Maybe I should start Budgeting Thoughts. ;-)

[bigkingfun]

Actually, I think that saving for something is a GREAT way to curb impulse purchases - we live in a world of instant credit, where few people pay cash for things. The buy it on credit, then try to figure out how they're going to pay for it after the fact. So simply by putting off the purchase long enough to save up for it, you're miles ahead of most people. ;-)

Here I was, all ready to go down to my local camera shop and pick up a D50 or a Rebel XT on credit. Now you've made me rethink my digital SLR purchase. I don't know if I should thank you or curse you :wink:

Plus, to top it off, we had the "what are you running" post a few days ago. It's really a "here's something interesting that you don't have yet" post. Too much temptation :twisted:

[merk1821]

It all comes down to responsbility and control... 2 things that people seem to be lacking these days.

Indeed! Maybe I should start Budgeting Thoughts. ;-)


Hmpphh......Im still waiting for Laptop Thoughts... :cry: :cry:

[Phillip Dyson]

Maybe I should start Budgeting Thoughts. ;-)

You could do it Jason. But don't be surprised when all of your sponsors start pulling their support. They'll probably state "conflict of interest with the Thoughts Media conglomerate" as the reason. :wink:

I also agree with the saving for purchases. This is what it all comes down to. Decide what you want. Develope a plan to purchase it.

[PocketPC Addict]

Indeed! Maybe I should start Budgeting Thoughts. ;-)

careful there Jason. I think you might be confusing a want with a need.
:wink:

[Jason Dunn]

Hmpphh......Im still waiting for Laptop Thoughts... :cry: :cry:

It's still churning this one around in my head - I've got two other sites I want to launch before that one. ;-)

[Brad Adrian]

Actually, I think that saving for something is a GREAT way to curb impulse purchases..

Great advice, and something that we've always tried to instill in our kids. With few exceptions, they have to save their allowance for major purchases and are not permitted to "borrow" future allowances.

That said, it's been about a year since my last device purchase, and it's KILLING me!