My husband and I just bought our first house and the repair/maintenance struggle is SO real. Your panel story kinda just happened to us. But I’ll see your can of paint and raise you a giant plumbing emergency? Almost swooned by a new washer and dryer during BF, but we waited. A couple days later we ended up turning that $1500 right over to the plumber instead. My hard lesson as a first-time homeowner: pretty much don’t buy the stuff you want because you’ll need it for the stuff you need!
In other news, thank you SO MUCH for switching to Substack!! From the very first Loose Change you dropped, I’ve been such a fangirl of your writing and I want you to get the hearts you deserve!
Thanks, E.L.! Happy to be on Substack as well. And I totally agree about saving money for the stuff you need later on. It was very tempting to not include future furniture in the renovation costs, in which case we would have just had some nice-looking empty rooms.
I have recently (a few months ago) started doing the 'put it in the cart, close the browser' experiment. It works! Opening up LL Bean and seeing I have 3 items in the cart. Opening Thriftbooks and remembering the 2 books I wanted to read at one point. It's kind of revelatory!
Nice! I think there's also an aspect, for me, related to the Getting Things Done productivity framework. Where your mind can relax once it knows that you've stored something somewhere that you don't want to forget. Just putting it in the cart maybe can help you relax, even if you end up not buying it later.
When I was “bad with money” (I much later learned it was ADHD impulse control issues) I had a rule for things I didn’t need. If I visited that shirt at the gap three times, I could buy it. That applied to all things, but that shirt from the gap when I was in my 20s is one I still remember at 62, definitely a worthwhile purchase after three visits.
I like that, Tara! You're giving multiple chances for your interest to drop off. (I'm doing something like this with purchasing a new bike right now – looking around, dropping back and waiting, etc.)
Ah, as a cyclist I am firmly in the N+1 camp where N is the number of bicycles you currently own. Not that I can afford that, or have the space, but it's a nice thought.
I like that reflective question “what am I willing to be good at?”. I surely can’t do it all!
When I pause to think about that question my actions (that follow my fleeting thought) is shaped differently.
Sometime I laugh it off and sometimes it’s a “heck yes!”.
TMYK you (apparently)😳
My husband and I just bought our first house and the repair/maintenance struggle is SO real. Your panel story kinda just happened to us. But I’ll see your can of paint and raise you a giant plumbing emergency? Almost swooned by a new washer and dryer during BF, but we waited. A couple days later we ended up turning that $1500 right over to the plumber instead. My hard lesson as a first-time homeowner: pretty much don’t buy the stuff you want because you’ll need it for the stuff you need!
In other news, thank you SO MUCH for switching to Substack!! From the very first Loose Change you dropped, I’ve been such a fangirl of your writing and I want you to get the hearts you deserve!
Thanks, E.L.! Happy to be on Substack as well. And I totally agree about saving money for the stuff you need later on. It was very tempting to not include future furniture in the renovation costs, in which case we would have just had some nice-looking empty rooms.
Ha!! Yep, it's a little painful as you're creating those YNAB categories, but so very worth it in the end!
I have recently (a few months ago) started doing the 'put it in the cart, close the browser' experiment. It works! Opening up LL Bean and seeing I have 3 items in the cart. Opening Thriftbooks and remembering the 2 books I wanted to read at one point. It's kind of revelatory!
Nice! I think there's also an aspect, for me, related to the Getting Things Done productivity framework. Where your mind can relax once it knows that you've stored something somewhere that you don't want to forget. Just putting it in the cart maybe can help you relax, even if you end up not buying it later.
When I was “bad with money” (I much later learned it was ADHD impulse control issues) I had a rule for things I didn’t need. If I visited that shirt at the gap three times, I could buy it. That applied to all things, but that shirt from the gap when I was in my 20s is one I still remember at 62, definitely a worthwhile purchase after three visits.
I like that, Tara! You're giving multiple chances for your interest to drop off. (I'm doing something like this with purchasing a new bike right now – looking around, dropping back and waiting, etc.)
Ah, as a cyclist I am firmly in the N+1 camp where N is the number of bicycles you currently own. Not that I can afford that, or have the space, but it's a nice thought.
Every bicyclist I know is always scheming for the next bike (including me obviously) :-)