There are some things that we want and other things we need. Water is something I need, Dr. Pepper is something I want. Food is something I need, a burrito is something I want. You get the point right? Just because we want something, doesn’t mean we HAVE to have it.
I actually wrote on June 8th, 2008 about the importance of delaying gratification. The post centered around my desire to buy a really nice SLR digital camera. It’s something that I have wanted for about two years now. My birthday was in July and I decided to utilize my birthday wishes to satisfy this want. I asked Mama Ninja for a generous contribution to my SLR fund. She told me should would transfer money in to my account when I was ready to make my purchase.
Well in case you haven’t noticed it’s September and I’m still digital cameraless. For some reason I have a continuous internal conflict with myself when it comes time to getting serious about buying the camera. I’m totally scared I am going to have buyers remorse. I would dread dropping over $1,000 on a camera and then getting bored with it after a couple months. I guess I’m a Bi-polar Ninja because I definitely go through phases when I really want it, and then think it’s a big waste of money the next day.
Mama Ninja is still patiently waiting for me to make a decision on what I want for my birthday, but I’m being a little bit of a drama queen. I’m definitely holding back on this purchase and I don’t really know why. I can afford it, I’ve wanted it for a long time, Mama Ninja will help contribute, and I really want it. All valid reasons right!? WTF is my problem? I like being frugal, but I don’t want to be the weird person that never enjoys their money. What are some thing that you want, could justify getting, but at the end of the day choose not to get? What have you done in similar situations? Have you dealt with buyers remorse? Help a Ninja out!
Hey Ninja,
I'm going through the same thing – I too want a dSLR but keep delaying forking out the money. I think my problem is, I get bored very quickly with technology (eg. iPod) so I've learnt my lesson when it comes to paying for pricey things.
I live by the phrase "When in doubt, don't".
it stresses me out just thinking about buyers remorse… I get it bad! and for small things too… once you've decided to save and be frugal, I find spending my money makes me a little sick now… *sigh
so hard to find the balance
Bullsh*t Ninja – I NEED DR PEPPER. I'm convinced my body is 18.4% Dr. Pepper (and 12.7% Rockstar, thanks for asking).
However, I limit my enjoyment to one of each (max) per day – for both health and financial purposes – and I NEVER spend more than $2 on a Rockstar (I'm buying them at $1 currently, YAH COUPONS!) and $0.25 on a can of Dr Pepper (I dislike beverages in plastic bottles). =)
I want one bad too, but I have a lot of other places I need to spend the money I really don't have ie: home improvements, vacations needing paying off.
In a perfect world if it was me and I had the money slated for that, I'd buy it. I would have buyers remorse for sure because it was a large hunk of money. In the long run I think I'd regret not bringing it with me to some beautiful tiny little island with amazing views. But then where you and I differ is, I have less discipline in saving money than you 😉
I love my DSLR camera. You shouldn't hold back. I love, love it. Plus, my mama always told me its not good to be a drama queen. 😉
Dude 😉 DSLR's are awesome but with the advancements in technology, you can get a great entry level DSLR for well under $1000. We bought a Nikon D40 a few years back and have loved the crap out of it. Its the awesomest camera ever. The newest revision of the Nikon entry to mid level cameras just came out, the D5000 and guess what, there isnt much of a change from the D40 and the D5000 except that now the D40 can be had for around 300 if ya keep your eyes open, and the D5000 now costs about $1300. You won't regret getting the D40, its such an amazing camera and even after about 3 years using it, we are still surprised at the picture quality and features we discover. We even use the camera professionally for weddings and events.
We get buyers remorse, just like everyone else, but there are two things I never had it for. One is our brand new car (purchased 5 years ago), and the other is our Nikon D40 which we paid nearly $1000.
Whenever I want to buy something, I try to count how many times I think about wanting a material possession is, over say… a 2 month period… and assign a dollar value to each time I think about that item.
If it costs 100 bucks, and I think about it more than like 50 times in two months, I feel like its pretty justified to pay the cost of item because it obviously brings my life equivalent joy.
I think 2 things make me nervous about a purchase like this. 1) That I might drop it or somehow break it. 2) That I won't use it as much as I think I will and will feel bad seeing it sit somewhere knowing how much it cost. Those are what make me delay a purchase of this type of item.
I really wanted a new computer for a long time. Mine is really slow, the laptop battery only lasts 20 minutes, and the screen is too small to work from home. My justification for a new computer is that I work from home a lot in the evenings/weekends. However, after some thought, my boyfriend and I decided I could use his brand-new computer when I had to work from home (we live together). Saved us $1500 for the time being.
Just buy it at a place with a good long returns policy, ie. 90 returns and then love it, use it, and if you become bored of it during that time, return it. Otherwise you keep it and if you change your mind later I'm sure you can sell it on Craigslist for close to what you paid. For me, the not-having-it-but-want-it-so-bad desire goes away once I have it.