Author Topic: Should I "treat" myself?  (Read 2853 times)

redwood_canyon

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Should I "treat" myself?
« on: March 29, 2019, 12:23:39 AM »
A month and a half ago I wanted to purchase a nice, new, and shiny Casio watch $15. I promised myself to put off the purchase until I get a job. (I'm a college student who has never been formally employed)

Just today I got the job and will start a week from now making $9.30 an hour, part time. It has come to the point now where I don't feel I deserve to buy this watch just for getting this job. Also the fact that the watch is nearly 2 hrs of work at this pay. I already have one anyway which has been with me for over a year. The only difference really is the color of the case which is gold instead of silver. What should I do? Should I wait for my first paycheck to come through so I really earned it? Not buy it? What would you do?

pbkmaine

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2019, 12:44:34 AM »
Don’t buy the watch. You have one that works.

KathrinS

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2019, 01:22:59 AM »
If you have one that works and it's just about the color of the case, then it's probably not worth buying.

kei te pai

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2019, 02:34:35 AM »
Dont buy it. Start thinking of your bank balance as the treat.

slappy

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #4 on: March 29, 2019, 06:14:52 AM »
Can you find a job paying more than $9.30 per hour?

mcneally

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2019, 06:56:54 AM »
I'm out of the loop. Can someone explain the joke to me?

omachi

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #6 on: March 29, 2019, 06:58:34 AM »
Did you promise yourself you would consider it after getting a job or that you would buy it when you got a job? If the latter, I'm going to buck the trend and say follow through on your promises to yourself. If you don't believe you will come through, future attempts to motivate yourself are going to fall flat.

Realize, though, the reward is consuming nearly an hour and a half of your life just to make a cosmetic color change. If the reason you are even asking at this point is that the reward is no longer appealing, then do something else with your $15. Saving it would be best, but if that feels like a bait and switch, figure out what a fair trade for that quantity of your life looks like.

And in the future, consider how your commitments will affect you before you make them. Even if you just buy the watch, that's a pretty cheap price to learn this lesson.

JanetJackson

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #7 on: March 29, 2019, 07:21:04 AM »
If you promised yourself the watch for finding work, get it.  Post your current watch on Offer Up for $10 and see if you can get that much.  Maybe $5. 

Then, if I were you, I'd wait to make any additional "treat" spending until I get your paycheck and assess how your basic needs and payments toward any debts/pay into savings are met.
Congrats on the job.

slappy

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2019, 11:38:42 AM »
I'm out of the loop. Can someone explain the joke to me?


That's what I was thinking too.

RWD

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #9 on: March 29, 2019, 12:09:25 PM »
I'm out of the loop. Can someone explain the joke to me?

That's what I was thinking too.

Right? Isn't this the same forum that was justifying $300 blenders?

BicycleB

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #10 on: March 29, 2019, 01:18:10 PM »
If you promised yourself the watch for finding work, get it.  Post your current watch on Offer Up for $10 and see if you can get that much.  Maybe $5. 

Then, if I were you, I'd wait to make any additional "treat" spending until I get your paycheck and assess how your basic needs and payments toward any debts/pay into savings are met.
Congrats on the job.

I like @JanetJackson's response. Obviously treat spending is financially non-optimal; she's respecting your internal motivations and suggesting a path to focusing on the important things.

Re treats, I started the Mustache thing at a later time and had money in the bank. I gave myself a fixed treat budget after achieving a goal (paying off my first and only car loan) and allowed myself as much fun as I could buy within that budget. This meant my fun wasn't limited, only the amount I used to achieve it was.

If you turn out to have some slack in your overall budget, you could do the same thing. I'd keep the treat amount smaller than your savings amount, though. And treats before you're saving are a bad move.

GreenToTheCore

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #11 on: April 01, 2019, 12:46:40 PM »
Hopping on the bandwagon: +1 on what BicycleB and JanetJackson said.

This sounds like a great opportunity to practice ignoring the media (Treat Yo' Self) and deciding what your values are.
How do you want to celebrate happy life events (this one and the ones in the future)? Now's the time to begin a habit that will last your lifetime.
Celebration usually goes hand in hand with happiness, so what would make that happiness last for more than 24hrs? More than a week?
A watch? A payment to Future You? A game night with friends? No stress if it doesn't actually work, then you know to try something different next time. With all this talk about a $15 watch, I want to make sure you're not following in my footsteps (I'm definitely an analysis paralysis personality). Just know that nothing you choose now will doom you forever, as long as you keep changing towards the better.

And congratulations on the first job!

GuitarStv

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #12 on: April 01, 2019, 12:51:14 PM »
I'm out of the loop. Can someone explain the joke to me?

That's what I was thinking too.

Right? Isn't this the same forum that was justifying $300 blenders?

Ooooh.  Good idea.  Ditch the watch, buy a blender!

HipGnosis

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #13 on: April 01, 2019, 03:50:08 PM »
How will you pay for it?  You don't start for a week, and don't say when you'll get your first paycheck.  What if you need to buy a safety shoes, uniform, etc. for the job??

You need to post a case study for us to know how to answer.

Short of that, buy the watch on eBay, if you have the $$.

OtherJen

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #14 on: April 01, 2019, 04:35:48 PM »
I'm watching re-runs of Parks and Rec, and I'm up to the "treat yo'self" episode. Hold out for mimosas and fine leather goods, my friend.

Tyson

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Re: Should I "treat" myself?
« Reply #15 on: April 01, 2019, 04:40:53 PM »
Save/invest first.  Treats are for later, after you've gotten some good habits already built.