Over my life, I've noticed that my expenses for living fall into one of three buckets:
Exciting buys
Wise purchases
Necessary costs
But I'm mostly curious about that first one...
What is your favorite kind of exciting buy?
My exciting buy might be a new musical instrument even though I have plenty, a new video game, purchasing art, a vacation, a luxurious meal, etc.
And less on the fun side of things, my other categories would shake out like:
A wise buy might be investing in a house or business, putting money away for savings, or spending a premium on a BuyItForLife kind of purchase to avoid buying a new one every year.
A necessary buy is probably the same as most others: housing costs, utilities, clothing, household goods, food, transportation, etc.
Yea it's definitely guitar pedals, microphones, cymbals etc.
I don't really buy anything else but necessities anymore. I would include wise purchases into that category. Hell I don't really buy music stuff too often either. I finally have more than what I need, after struggling for a long time, but through it, I've found I never needed it to begin with. Plus I'm not having children.
I am not the best consumer. Your ad targeting is lost on me! You hear that? Yea that's right. 🖕
That's awesome. I literally do not know how to do any of that.
Sometimes I think my own consumer tendencies kinda does the job tho. Like it doesn't know what to recommend, so it gives me the same shit I've already bought. Like literally the same guitar over and over again lmao.
Ngl, I'm "jaded". I been through the shit, but found peace. It does take practice, or trauma, or some type of moment. We fall into our lesser nature instead of our better. It's easy to do, and I fell really hard, all the way. Hated myself for it. But I'm all good now.
It used to be doujinshi (Japanese self-publication comics), now it's clothes and accessories. (Decided to change my style to a more goth/emo type and had to renew like half of my closet.)
Yooo nice. Speaking of which have you found any good fashion / fit sharing communities on lemmy/kbin/masto? Most of what I find is just "look at this celeb wearing Dior" and I am fr yawning
Steam Party Games, Cat and dog treats, house repairs, and weed baby. Just upgraded my electrical so I can power my new gaming PC w/ a dedicated circuit.
I’ve learned that I’m much more likely to splurge on food (like more expensive brands or new products) than on other things.
I’m not much of a spender overall but subscribe to the mantra of “if it separates you between the earth, it’s worth spending a little more (like shoes, tires, mattresses, etc.).
Seems silly now that I think about it but I guess I get most excited about buying sweets and snacks... Just can't beat the taste of some nice chocolate.
My whims are as shifting as the winds, so whatever I'm obsessed with at the time. Mountain bikes? Hell yes! Photography equipment? Sign me up! New telescope? I'd love one! New fragr6indont need? Yup!
Most of my purchases cover the first two. I used to spend lots and lots of time researching products that were the best I could get for the price. Usually with lifestyle goals - camping, traveling, tinkering. Things for my apartment to make it cozier. The best rope basket, the best rain jacket. The best onebag bag. The best travel sized everything. SFFPC parts. It honestly was actually out of hand. I was completely doing it to escape the stress of my job and life, spending hours looking at keycaps or pens or blankets. I have really particular taste but I've cut down spending a lot by just completely stopping my research and prioritizing paying off my credit cards.
So if anyone relates and needs help doing this.. pm me, you have my support! Lol. It was a likely shopping addiction. I love having a high quality thing to make my life simpler and getting it at a great price. Just have to remember that if you feel like you can't go without it, you probably can. The most valuable things to me now are the ones I intentionally save up for. :)
The last exciting purchases I have made have been some video games (I never buy any anymore), special food for my wife like Korean or her hometown food, bought my wife a bike, vacation stuff is fun like taking a sudden Saturday trip to the beach, buying a fun drink, buying a month of a vpn to torrent more.
I would like to think continuing to invest in 401ks and IRA is my most wise purchases.
Nowadays it's stationery, notebooks and house plants. Gotta green up my home 🏡 😌 And yes I have more notebooks and stickers than I know what to do with....
My exciting buy is all three really. I've ordered a new bee suit, went for decent quality this time so it's quite expensive. I've been wearing a second hand smock with a darned veil (from when I leaned over the smoker while lighting it and melted a hole), and the bees have taken to attacking my jeans-clad legs. Time to get sensible!
I specifically like buying work related IT equipment. I tent to have a buying habit but now that buzz is a work cost. Where's your favourite meal money been spent.
I tend to spend way too much on electronics. Constant PC upgrades, new disks for my NAS, better monitors, etc. I do at least allocate a monthly budget for this, but go over it sometimes...
Food delivery is another high category for me, and I've been trying to cut back, but it's soooooo convenient.