you know – this is always represented in the news/etc as ‘a starbucks a day’ but i mean moreso a gadget or a shirt. i’m splurging on deodorant right now. is that immoral? are you meant to have a mostly austere budget until you’re a boomer with a house and a fence?
so uhh what’s the last little thing you bought to not go insane?
Plants, more plants! Preferably trees, endemic or edible that I can’t fit on my property but guerilla garden into my local area.
Also, the occasional coffee.
I’m a Stoic and I still enjoy material things very much! Obsession with things is unhealthy but so is the opposite. We make things, things are awesome, why shouldn’t we enjoy them once in a while? I just got a new yerba mate cup and it’s bringing me loads of joy!
Last year I got really into freshwater aquarium keeping as a hobby. So I find myself buying little plants, decor, tools, etc for my aquariums (of which I have 5 now…). It’s fun, a bit expensive but it’s therapeutic.
I also smoke hella weed.
What sort of fish?
We have a 38~ gal with live-bearers (Platys and Mollys), a few skunk Cory’s and a pleco.
A 20 gal with a Betta, white-gold mountain minnows, panda Cory’s, and a pleco.
A 55 gal that’s pretty new, has ghost shrimp, fish tbd (we’re thinking angelfish and some larger schooling fish).
A 3 gal with a betta.
And finally a 4 gal, fish tbd (working on a low tech nano, was thinking chili rasbora)
Anyone know if there’s an aquarium community on Lemmy yet? edit: yes, there is!
You may already know this, but don’t smoke near your aquariums. I used to work in a high end fish shop and smoking was such an issue for customers. Vaping is even worse.
I also smoke hella weed.
this is the way
Yep, I have so much junk. But then again I don’t buy cheap shit and I sometimes offload the stuff for far cheaper prices so perhaps this is my very inefficient way of supporting those with less money.
Or possibly it’s my way of giving away expensive stuff to people who have more money than me.
I like buying and owning some stuff, sure, but not being able to do so doesn’t not make me go/feel insane.
Sometimes guilt creeps in but then I remember I am allowed to own and enjoy things that have no other purpose than to be enjoyed. I don’t come from money, lived a very frugal life with my parents and while I went to private school all the way through college it was through scholarships and what not.
So maybe I am justifying myself, which is fine too, but now that I can have a bit of extra change and not be a starving student I know there are some stuff that I am willing to buy for whatever reason. This will not make me poorer or richer.
Shiney 3d printer filament. I keep stock of a typical ROYGBV, brown, black, white… But then shiney cyan goes on sale for 25% off. I don’t need it but, you know, it’s pretty and on sale.
Looks at the storage totes full of filament in my laundry room.
Nope. No idea what you’re talking about. Never done that. No siree Bob. What kind of monster…
OK fine I admit it stop with all these accusations.
No, I hate buying things. It literally feels bad, and I put it off as long as I can or group it together so I can get it over with all at once.
I’m more-or-less inured to grocery shopping, and do it every other day, but it’s easier to think of it as “restocking” rather than “shopping”. No decisions to make, I know in advance what things cost, and so on.
But buying something I haven’t bought before, or at a store I haven’t been to before? Torture.
I thought I was the only one. I dread spending money, I feel worse every time I do it. So usually I only buy something if the previous thing that I had broke down. I also never buy food outside of groceries. I wear clothes until they turn to rags too lol. There are a couple of exceptions such as audio books (audible sub), PC upgrades (once every 6-7 years) and Steam games (on sales only), but those are just the only things that I find truly worthwhile.
We only have so much time on this earth. Why not enjoy the little things? Even if technically it’s garbage. The important thing is to just not go too wild with it.
Some KFC! Really wanted a chicken sandwich with a blackberry lemonade 😋🍋
I bought an Adventure is Nigh t-shirt. I’m 53 and staring down decline, decrepitude, and a dystopian present, let alone future. I’ve just now in 2024 fully recovered from the 2008 downturn. Fuck it, I’m getting a t-shirt.
Hope your Friday night is treating you right. ✌️
Sure. Small random grocery store things like stroopwafel or pears
I’m saving up for a dentist appointment
I tend to have unfortunately expensive hobbies… Photography, cars and other forms of offroad vehicles, etc. So I don’t usually spend money on small things that aren’t necessities.
I am getting into motorcycle riding, which gear itself is rather expensive if you want to not be grated cheese, plus the bike, training, etc. So that’s my expensive purchase this year.
My hobbies tend to keep me out of the house, so I guess in a way this helps keep me from going insane.
The cool thing about motorcycles is that once you have the gear and the bike, it’s practically free, unless you crash. If you buy a dual sport then even crashing hard doesn’t necessarily cost you any money. I once skipped a KLR 650 like 50 feet across the pavement, ran over, picked it up, and rode off. That was after dropping it a 100 times in the dirt.
The expensive piece is insurance. Where I live, an M2 license (halfway from a beginner to full license) will probably run me about $300 CAD a month (based on a few new 400-500cc bikes) from my research… But it does go down with tenure, especially with a full license. I could buy used, which would be cheaper on insurance, but I’m already travelling 4+ hours for any dealer, I don’t want to do that trip more than I need to for safety inspections and looking at different bikes. I’ve already accepted the price in my mind, and the obvious potential of dropping a new bike more than once. All part of the fun.
If only it cost the same as my 4 wheeler insurance ($30/mo).
Ouch! Yeah that’s pretty high. When you’re young it’s always hard to get full coverage on new bikes. When I was 19 I called for an insurance quote on a Ninja 1200D and they laughed at me and hung up. Haha.
I typically ride older bikes that I pay cash for and just get liability insurance. My current bike is an old (but very cool) XR600R with a license plate and insurance costs me $68 per year. I just pay it all at once and don’t worry about it again for a year. But, I’ve been riding for over 30 years so it’s a lot cheaper for me than it would be for most people on this site.
I think $300 per month for a new bike is totally worth it if you love the bike and have the money. I can’t think of a single hobby that has brought me as much joy and good times as riding has. Get some friends to ride with, and you build memories that last a lifetime. Bring a camera along and you end up with amazing photo albums too.
I’m in Ontario, and insurance is ridiculous for everything. When I first started driving several years ago, I lived in the city, and I was given quotes up to $700/mo. Now for three vehicles in the middle of nowhere, it’s about $250/mo.
I pay cash for all my vehicles (I hate loans), so liability is all I pay for. Nothing I own is worth the cost of comprehensive… If I break it, I’ll fix it myself.
I’ll be the only person where I live who rides. I’m in a small town, and neighboring towns are about an hour away. So it’ll just be me, which I tend to prefer most of the time anyways. I got my rider course in june, so I’m super excited for that!
You might be able to find some other riders on Facebook groups, or Meetup. I think it’s definitely more fun to ride with others than to ride alone, but it is still very fun alone. I just found some twisty roads with some fire trails a couple days ago and I can’t wait to get my wheels balanced on my bike and head out this spring. I’ll be going alone since my riding group is now spread all over the country. We just need to be more cautious riding alone than when riding with friends, since there’s nobody there to bail you out if you crash. Leave a route and a return time with friends or your parents, and you’ll be okay.
I took that riding course when I was 15 1/2 so that I could start riding before my 16th birthday. It’s a great investment! You’ll be a better, safer rider because of it. Best of luck, and have a great time! Keep the rubber side down!
Oh there’s definitely groups around… I just need to travel about 4 hours haha.
We just have 1 main highway, and another section of road that is less used. All my group riding is with 4 wheelers or snowmobiles. I almost always keep someone in the know of where I go, since unless you’re directly in town, you likely won’t have cell service.
If you’re ever interested, I use a device called Zoleo, which allows you to send messages and call for emergency help via satellite. There’s a monthly fee, but if you’re ever out constantly like I am where there’s no service, it’ll help you out. I’m sure there’s other options too, but it’s for sure a useful tool, especially if you’re stuck down a ditch and can’t move.
Oh that’s cool, like the Garmin Mini. I’ve been getting pressure from my friends and family to get something like that now that I’m middle aged, but still do a lot of back country backpacking. There’s no cell service just past our house, so we have GMRS radios. A 50w base station at home, 4 watt handy talkies, and a local repeater we can hit. My wife and I are studying for our ham licenses right now, since we can use lower frequency signals and more power with ham than with GMRS. I’ll check that device out that you shared. Neither ham nor GMRS are adequate where I go backpacking, and a lot of loved ones want me to be able to send a location beacon while I’m in the back country. The Garmin Mini is more money than I’ve wanted to spend, and yours looks affordable. Thanks!
Quads are good fun too, man! Especially since you can strap an ice chest to the back. I used to ride quads in the Sierra Nevadas a lot when I was younger. We’d all strap an ice chest to the back and fill it to the brim with beer. I know… I know. It’s not safe to mix alcohol and motorsports, but man is it fun!
Yeah, I always try to improve my everyday carry a little bit here and there… a better wallet, a nice compact pen, a little gadget that fits in my pocket, a pocket knife, etc. I try to carry as much as I can without carrying an extra pouch or bag or feeling like my pockets are stuffed and bulging, so I really prioritize small functional things that fit in my wallet or on my keychain. If I’m feeling spendy, I usually go for that and can find something for ~$30 bucks. Then I get to be excited for it to arrive in the mail.
Ukuleles and stuff from the Aldi middle aisle
The Aldi middle aisle, like a little mini-target
