Case of the Gimmes
Nov 13th, 2007 by Nut
I totally stole this from An English Major’s Money post from a couple days ago. In it, she talks about how she wants a new Ipod and a new digital camera and then she gives her answer to the problem. In other words, what she’ll do instead of giving into the impulse.
The Gimmes: An illogical, nonsensical yearning for something due to our nature as imperfect humans, no matter how much we tell ourselves that we don’t need them.
Here is mine:
Gimme a flat-screen, HD TV. First of all, what the hell am I thinking? I’m actually trying to cut back my TV viewing habits, not make them worse. I just need to tell myself this over and over and picture my place with a huge, awesome TV—I would get less done than I do now. Scary.
Gimme a new computer. I always want a new computer. But this one I’ve learned to manage a bit. I go to Dell.com and actually build a system or two. Then I look at the price tag and ask myself, “what will I do with all those crazy features?” There’s only one answer: play videogames that, right now, I don’t have the horsepower for. So this will cut into my productivity as well.
Gimme a smaller, newer digital camera. Mine is old (still 4 megapixels, which is enough) and huge, which is the main drawback. It was such a rewarding buy though. I saved up all my money from working one summer while in college and dropped over $300 on it. At the time it was a huge deal to spend that much money on one thing. But it was worth it. What did I do? I gave my fiancée an awesome digital camera for her birthday (I think) and she always has it wherever we go, so the pictures I would like to have are being taken. Plus I get the satisfaction of doing something nice for her.
Gimme travel, travel, travel. This one I have no defenses for except lack of money, which is as good a reason as any. This is one thing in my life that, if I have the money, I will spend it on traveling. This one is just too rewarding for my spirit to talk myself out of.
As you can tell, it’s all mental. It’s all about not giving in to temptation and just reasoning it out in your head. I have the money in the bank for all of these, but I don’t spend it (another reason why ING is great, impulse buying is nixed) because I know I really don’t need all those things. Besides, once the pile is high enough, then I’ll be able to travel even more!
Open an ING account and get a $25 bonus!
