Financial Behavior

[Dr. Mom]

hatton1 wrote:

I have a great Chanel knock off with the braided chain shoulder strap that I got in Florence Italy.  People assume it is real because I am a doctor. HaHa.

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Funny.  I did the same thing with fake diamond earrings.  Everyone believed they were real since I am a doctor.  But I didn't have to worry about losing them especially if I forgot to take them off before jumping off our dock!

To the OP, resisting the urge to spend becomes easier over time.  It is a muscle that you need to develop.  Each time you get a little stronger.  With electronics, by the time I've saved for what I wanted, something new/better/cheaper has usually come along.  Good luck!

[q-school]

Miss Bonnie MD wrote:

The good news is once you’re an attending, money won’t be so tight. What seem like big ticket items now are not once at attending level income.

I buy some “expensive things” – but it does not derail us at all. I bought a new powerbook earlier this year. I bought myself a chanel bag for my 40th bday, an apple watch last month – not necessarily “budgeted” for ….

Obviously depends a bit on your other finances too (COL, specialty etc).

 

 

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try to sneak one past us, eh?   happy birthday.

 

[Queue]

Dicast wrote:

Find something you are interested in that can take your mind off the subject.

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Computers are my interest. I hardly ever feel like spending money on clothes, other hobbies, random knick-knacks, etc. Computer tech is part of my selective extravagance some might say I like to run as well as bike, but only for so long. At the end of the day after my wife and our little one go to bed, I can almost always be found on my computer. I'm either perusing this forum, nerding out over tech reviews/articles, or geeking out on video games. So I'm constantly by my computer. I just wish I could sit down at my desk without thinking, "Boy, it sure would be nice to have a smaller desktop tower so it doesn't take up so much room" or "I know all my components work fine, but 6 years is a long time for hardware, it's definitely time for an upgrade".

The more I ruminate on this, the more I think it has a lot to do with just being happy with what you have. I'm sure I'm just playing my own little game of keeping up with the nerdy Jones'. I'll hopefully get my hands on a few of the books that Johanna recommended once my library gets them in. Otherwise, it's google time!

[Queue]

Dr. Mom wrote:

To the OP, resisting the urge to spend becomes easier over time

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It's not that I to learn to resist the urge to spend. That muscle is quite well honed, much to my wife's dismay. Just wish the urge didn't appear in the first place.

q-school wrote:

try to sneak one past us, eh?   happy birthday.

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I also missed this. Happy birthday missbonniemd. I think your newborn has arrived at this point? If so, best of luck and get as much rest as he allows!

[Hatton]

I think the baby is probably born but no post yet.

[CM]

Queue wrote:

Computers are my interest. I hardly ever feel like spending money on clothes, other hobbies, random knick-knacks, etc.

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If you're on this site and focused on your spending, then you probably have your financial house in order. If so, and if computers are your passion, then spend some money on computers.

When I was young and single I bought a hot car and spent money on nice clothes. That seems ridiculous to me now, but it greatly improved my quality of life at the time. Even in retrospect, that was a good use of funds.

These days I don't have the urge to buy anything for myself (aside from a comfortable retirement), but I like to buy things for my wife and our families. Resisting that urge might allow me to retire a little earlier, but for what? The point is to have a happy life (which might end unexpectedly at any time), and buying things for family is one of the few things that makes me happy.

BTW, this advice to spend a little on the things that matter to you comes from a fairly prodigious saver.

[Donnie]

If you haven’t, start tracking your net worth on a monthly basis. I’ve always been pretty frugal, but I’ve found that tracking net worth helps me see the impact of a big expenditure. Soon the positive psychological benefit of a net worth increase (or at least the absence of a large decrease) may offset the psychological benefit of the large purchase you are considering.

[jfoxcpacfp]

hatton1 wrote:

I think the baby is probably born but no post yet.

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Baby was to make his appearance yesterday - anxious to hear something!

[Hatton]

jfoxcpacfp wrote:

Baby was to make his appearance yesterday – anxious to hear something!

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She was posting yesterday so I guess she had a good epidural!

[RogueDadMD]

I'm also a big tech guy, but my desire to buy gadgets has gone down over time (though my income has gone up).

Part of how my desire has gone down is that I've realized being an "early adopter" brought me little joy.  During training when I would save up to buy an expensive purchase, my happiness with said purchase actually would go down.  It ended up being the saving that became more of a fun thing than the object I received at the end.  At the end of saving I would spend it, in many cases have an object that would only marginally increase my QOL, and I would have to start saving all over again to get the next thing.

Having kids is probably the thing that has impacted this most. No, not good role-modeling, though we certainly do work on teaching our kids of the ephemeral concept of material goods.

No, it's the absence of time that has helped the most.

With only one kid I still had plenty of free time to play my Xbox during residency/fellowship.  As an attending, with a much higher salary, but now also with 3 kids I don't have time to geek out.  Last PC I built was as a resident.  I don't want to spend my time researching graphics cards and motherboards anymore.  It could become a hobby to do with the kids though.

So if you want to purge your desires, just have more kids.  

I'm still a gadget nerd -- I read daily about all sorts of objects I never will purchase or have no desire to purchase.  However that gadget money now goes towards experiences.  Sporting events, concerts, travel, etc. (still within reason).

I've alo found that every gadget only helps joy/QOL in so much as it is good at what it does, which is why I stopped being an early adopter.  A smartwatch that doesn't actually help me organize my life but make me pull out my phone MORE isn't helping me.  It's why I never bought an Apple Watch and why I bought a Pebble Time smartwatch on kickstarter, then SOLD it 6 weeks later.  I plan to get a new iPhone soon (current one is 3 years old), mostly because my current one barely functions.  As my primary calendar/communication gadget, I need one that is reliable.  As the  primary photo gadget, having a good way to take photos is important.  I love tech and it'd be great to always have the latest iPhone, but I just don't consider it a good use of money.

I find it's more fun to plan a trip than a purchase, and when the money is spent and that event has passed, I value the memory more than the object I could have bought.  I've also found that as I have 3 kids and more savings goals, every material good that costs a ton of money (one that requires planning and not just a splurge) just detracts from a more important savings goal.

Having said all that -- you have to indulge yourself sometimes.  And if you want to build a PC as a hobby, then you should do so as a hobby, but make it a point to see how economically you can build your master gaming machine.

[Queue]

CM wrote:

BTW, this advice to spend a little on the things that matter to you comes from a fairly prodigious saver.

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I'm a prodigious saver-in-training

Donnie wrote:

If you haven’t, start tracking your net worth on a monthly basis.

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I started this about 4.5 months ago. The graph shows about what I expected it to. While our assets have increased each month (market going up and continually funding retirement), our debts are also increasing. Unfortunately our debts are increasing faster than our assets so our net worth is continually going down, but that's to be expected. We're going for PSLF since we are military, so just cruising on super low REPAYE payments for now. I'm really looking forward to seeing that particular spike in the net worth graph!

@RogueDadMD: Our daughter is about to turn 11 months old, and it's still hard for me to imagine taking care of more kiddos right now! And that's quite the oxymoron you've made: economical master gaming machine While my MB, CPU, and RAM are all due for a large upgrade, I mostly just want a smaller footprint, and maybe a few less cables. My desk is pretty much ugly spaghetti.

[RogueDadMD]

I know it's an oxymoron, but if you can build a worthy gaming machine without breaking the bank you will also enjoy the games guilt free. If gaming is the purpose then you do need a good machine or the game play isn't fun.

However if you just want a general upgrade, you can do that on your own quite economically while still getting a good machine. Particularly with holiday sales coming up.

[Queue]

Rogue Dad, M.D. wrote:

If gaming is the purpose then you do need a good machine or the game play isn’t fun.

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Gaming is the main purpose of all the parts I used to build the PC, otherwise I'd have one of those tiny PC boxes that are about the size of brick. The whole reason I posted the question originally is because the computer I have now, while outdated in some of the specs, still performs absolutely amazing. There's no logical reason to change any hardware right now. Just have the urge to because the upgrades that exist now are a huge performance leap ahead of what I have and I just have so much fun tinkering around during the build process. I can't allow myself to buy since I don't have the money saved up in my personal spending category. If I buy it now, I'd basically have with take money away from other categories that are needed way more than newer computer parts. Thus my dilemma.

[wideopenspaces]

Call me crazy, but I actually don't think you should try to get rid of this urge. You're doing a good job of resisting it for the time being and it sounds like you'll continue to do so until you can afford to indulge it. But the urge is part of what makes you, you. It gives you pleasure and makes you happy. Don't stamp it out, especially since you don't have other things you really like spending money on. I know this isn't what you want to hear as life would be easier in the short term without it. But life will be better in the long term if you hang on to it. In the meantime, maybe it would help to spend less time reading about all the new parts you want?

[RogueDadMD]

If that is your hobby and not just buying gadgets for fun, then finding a way to pay for some of it is important. It will be a challenge until your income increases, but doing it now may depend on your perception. It's certainly a "want" and not a "need", but that's not the same as an indulgence.