Hello again Lemmy! I have another question.
Context: I took a motorcycle safety class, was nervous but enjoyed it, researched motorcycles, found a few I liked, talked to a dealer about them but ultimately, I couldn’t finalize a deal, talked myself out of it basically.
I was curious how others might justify a purchase that has no purpose other than wanting something.
For clarity, I don’t need anyone to justify me buying a motorcycle. I want to read about your thought processes for buying something you want 🙂
As always thanks for replying and have an awesome day/night!!
good budgeting takes away all the guilt in spending on wants. I look at my budget see if I have enough fun money to pay for it and get it if I do.
If I want something then I generally categories it in 1 of 3 ways. it is must needed, it will significantly improve quality of life, or it is just for fun.
If it is must then no choice buy or lease.
If it will improve quality of life then how much does it cost. there is no real formula but if it is less than my 1 day’s income then I’ll mostly buy it. Eg. Flying instead of taking 17-20hr train ride.
If it is just for fun then it has to be significantly cheaper than my 1 day’s income plus it should bring some enjoyment. Eg. going on fun trips, etc.
Edit - I’m currently mostly living on paycheck to paycheck + 3 months reserve in case of emergency. But if you are making much more and are able to save then of course go ahead and buy it.
Wait a few months or even a year. Go on with your life. If you still want it then, buy it. Also a good way to put money on the side for this specific item, then it will hurt less.
True, I would agree in general with this. In this situation I have the money but waiting too long might make me too nervous to try riding.
Right now the lesson learned from the safety class are still pretty fresh in the brain. But subject to spoiling if not used 🙂
Appreciate the response!!
I’m lucky enough to be able to budget for things I want. If it’s in the budget, no justification is required. If it’s in the budget but expensive, then I just have to figure out if I want it more than the other things I want (or will want) that I won’t be able to afford as a result.
Throwing out lots of stuff right now, I am absolutely shocked and disgusted by myself with how much trash I accumulated with such a low long-term value. I’ve switched to that japanese mindset: If it does not bring joy or has actual value, it’s getting removed from my life, either as trash or sold on.
So would I buy things I want but don’t need (i.e. not daily necessities like food, petrol, etc.) from now on? It highly depends. I will look into renting or borrowing stuff first if possible, then used stuff. Only if those are not an option, I will really REALLY think about where that thing will be in a year from now. If it’s most likely in storage or already binned and will have lost most of its value, I will choose not to shoulder the burden of owning it. There’s nothing to be gained but loss in such a thing.
On stuff that appears to keep value, boy do you need to evaluate a lot. General rule of thumb: Do you use it almost daily and similar items only slowly lost their value in the last years, consider buying it. Else avoid owning it, reduce cost.
On Tools, go for a base set of tools and a set of preferably multi-use tools on top. Everything else: Rent it. Why buy that special repair kit you will use once on your car when you can go to a hobby car workshop and just rent that thing? Sure, the rent is gone, but it’s way less than what that repair set would’ve cost you, which you will not sell on until it has lost most of its value, is outdated and whatnot.
Same for cars. Buy a cheap used one that’s easy to maintain and simply gets you reliably from A to B. Rent a beautiful car once in a while or for long trips. By numbers (including value loss, maintenance, etc.) you will most likely come out cheaper than owning an expensive car - without the risk of high repair costs on it appearing out of nowhere - as long as you keep it down to a few times per year. Something like once per month for a full weekend usually is fine, but this calculation is VERY country specific, so calculate your own total cost of ownership of a nice car and compare it to owning a cheap, easy to repair get-me-around car with occasionally renting really nice cars. Just be realistic with time frames.
Appreciate the detailed reply! I agree with your points. I don’t buy frivolously. Did enough of that when I was younger.
Your point in keeping value. That’s always a good way to look at it. In my case if I did buy it and a year later I sold it, I will loose money overall. There are a lot of soft costs you won’t get back. But the motorcycle itself would still have decent value.
Thanks for this!!
I let it simmer. If it’s still on my mind in a few weeks (sometimes months) without me setting a reminder of sorts, apparently I really do want it.
The other part is can I afford it. If it’s a bigger expense, I make sure to save up for it by setting apart what I can over a period of time. This also combines nicely with the “do I still want it” period.
True, this seems to be a common way folks are handling the purchase of things they want.
Appreciate you posting!
