I have to be careful not to look at laptop computers. I really really want one and have wanted one for awhile now. But my debts come first. They have to because otherwise I will never pay them off. I am currently living within my means but I need to start living below my means if I want to pay off my mistakes and start aggressively saving for retirement.
Even looking is dangerous, I start getting really interested and thinking how I could afford it and that is when I realize that I am still finding big projects to spend money on.
Right now my best motivation is wanting to buy a house next winter. It works even better than the debt because the amount it would cost for the laptop could be saved up in just two months, but that would put me two months behind on saving for a house and I want the house more. I don't want to have to sign another year lease for an apartment because I bought a laptop.
It does worry me about getting a house though. It would be so easy to find big projects for my house and it would be so easy to make excuses for why we need it. I already know that I will have to budget so that we have a limit to what we can spend on the house each month.
No worries though, my desire for a laptop hasn't resulted in me buying one for the last two years, it won't for another two. I have a plan and I intend to stick with it. After all, I can hit only $2000 in credit card debt by the time we buy next winter which means being debt free two months after. I won't give that up for anything.
Temptation
December 5th, 2007 at 05:58 pm
December 5th, 2007 at 06:15 pm 1196878553
Personally, I'd love something like an Vaio TX or an OQO 2 with 3G data plan. MMmmmm.... internet anywhere.
But uh, yeah, I completely understand about temptations, and almost every other day, I get tempted by something. It's not easy, this frugal lifestyle.
December 5th, 2007 at 07:37 pm 1196883456
As to daily temptation, I don't have many. I don't like shopping, so I never go to stores except when I need something. I really have a lot of toys already and don't feel the need to acquire more. My biggest daily temptation is eating out because I am lazy and I have mostly cured that habit.
Nope, my issue is I fixate on something I *WANT*. Then when I finally give in and buy it, I then fixate on something else I *WANT* and so it continues. If I bought the laptop, I would suddenly find something else I want. So not buying the laptop saves me a lot more money than the cost.