I’ve got a serious case of the Gimmes lately. Or maybe it’s the Iwandats. Translation: I want that. There are just too many cool gadgets and too little money to go around. Or maybe the problem is that I’m the stingiest spendthrift around. (Thank you high school English for that nifty word).
Don't believe me? (Or didn't bother to look it up?) I'll explain. I love to blow money. But only on things that are actually good deals and/or things I really need. Sometimes I have to really work at convincing myself that a $20 item is worth buying. And then I'll turn around and drop $300 without blinking.
Take my gadget obsession. I think I really really want a netbook. They're small, they're light, they'd fit in a large purse or small totebag. They're really only good for surfing the web and running basic apps, but I'm envisioning using it mostly for writing. Just Word, maybe even just Wordpad. Nothing fancy. (The ability to hit Wikipedia to link in the definition for a funny word is a bonus.). But they're like $300. And I own a laptop (a "desktop-replacement", aka "Freakin Huge" laptop, which is a pain to travel with). And I'd probably want a USB DVD player so that I could watch a movie with it when on the go, which adds almost another hundred bucks.
I'd also love an e-reader. Sure, I've talked before about how they're not high on my priority list. They're too expensive. $300? That would be great if I could buy new releases for paperback prices (preferably less), and feel like the e-reader is an investment, not an added expense. But $300 PLUS $24.99 a pop? No way no how.
And I have serious phone envy. I love my little sis' iPhone. And my friend's Palm-type one that has a built-in organizer. I think the idea of sending text messages could be really useful. And if I had a phone with Bluetooth, then I could hook it into the stereo system of our fancy new car to call hands free. But really, hubby and I pay $50 a month TOTAL for way too many cell phone minutes on our phones. By total, I mean, the entire bill. Together. Not per person. We don't send photos (my phone doesn't even have a camera). We don't do texting. Heck, my phone is off while I’m at work, so it doesn't even get much oral phone action. Do I care to triple that price, plus fork over $200 for a new phone (or more, for 2 new phones), just so I can feel cool for the 20 minutes a day that my phone is powered on and near me? No. But that iPhone has built-in GPS....
And yet, I recently bought a copy of Adobe Creative Studio 4. Photoshop, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, and a bunch more stuff. Half of which I don't know what to do with. List price: $1800. Thanks to some classes I'm taking, I saved more than $1400 off that price by qualifying for the student edition. That's the stingy part of "spendthrift" right there. I'm still psyched that I have this cool new software. And dismayed that I decided so quickly to blow enough money for either a netbook, an e-reader, or new phones.
But darnit, they weren't On Sale! (and, the software fills a slightly more useful role than the other toys in the list...there is even the slightest possibility that I could make some money off parts of it someday).
P.S. Now that I've admitted to the Photoshop purchase, ya'll will be expecting to see more fancy photos. Mayhap. Mayhap that now I own yet another time-sucking device, I'll have even less time to blog....haha!
4 comments:
Maybe I should read the whole post before I comment. But what fun would that be? I can relate 100% to your first two paragraphs. Well, through the thinking about a netbook. Not sure which paragraph that was. I too will spend a gazillion dollars on things and then not buy the ice cream that I want at the grocery store because it's $4 instead of the $3 that it is when it's on sale. I more-or-less impulsively bought a ticket to go to Israel for a friend's wedding and then "punished" myself by not letting myself buy the new television that I've been thinking about. Now I'm thinking about a netbook so that will probably push the TV out of the picture a little while longer.
Okay, now to read the rest of this post. :-)
Keri wants to get a netbook too. The St. Charles library system is raffling one, so we bought a couple of tickets for that. But assuming we don't win, we'll probably just go and buy one.
If we do, I'll be sure to let you know how it works out. =B^)
I really *really* want an iphone but after just looking at our monthly statement we spent HOW MUCH on eating out this month!?!! At least you know what you're spending your money on, ours has been slipping away. I've been holding off for over a year now, I'm guessing that by next year I'll give in. The only thing holding me back right now (other than cost) is that it doesn't have word on it, or any other type of notepad. Wouldn't you think they'd have something like that by now?
Anyway good luck, perhaps you can convince yourself that an on sale netbook is a super deal and buy it before you move on to something else. Seems like we do usually end up with the things we really want.
And what teacher taught the word spendthrift? I don't remember learning the word, which may be related to my own spending issues :)
RAK--that's totally me about the ice cream example too. I cut coupons and scrimp to save $6 at the grocery store, and then turn around and buy $20 worth of cute clothes for the kids that they don't need (but they're a good deal). Oh well, at least I'm aware of how unlogical I am some days :)
Bet--You'd think there would be some sort of writing app on the iPhone. I played with Ally's over hte weekend, and there were dozens (probably hundreds) that you could download for free or for purchase. And I know I read a report recently about e-book readers avaialbe on the iPhone (Amazon's Kindle format, probably). There isn't a great keyboard on those (some of the blackberrys, though, look kind of cool...).
Of course, along with the iPhone and the netbook, I also want the kind of job where I can work from coffee shops and be on the go and actually use my gadgets, instead of leaving them powered down in my car or in a cubby away from my work desk. The fact that I'd be paying a premium for services that I use once a week is the main thing holding me back.
That netbook, though, gets more tempting by the day for travel and waiting through kiddie activities. It would be even better if I wanted to pay for a cell phone data plan so I could literally surf anywhere, and not just places with free wifi...
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