Author Topic: To sell my expensive assets or to not?  (Read 3801 times)

timso14

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To sell my expensive assets or to not?
« on: January 23, 2015, 02:43:29 PM »
Hi

I am new to the Mr Money Mustache way of life and enjoying it, and I have started to follow the principles a lot more as I had already been doing some of the principles such as cycling to work etc before I discovered Mr Money Mustache.

I have not always been that good with my money, were I have maybe splashed out on things that I don't need, so I seem to have gathered a number of assets which I think maybe should be sold on the web so I can realise some cash which can be put into my savings.

The assets include the following
3 surfboards (2 surfboards of the same type and 1 of a different type a longboard) - Probably only need 1 really

Snowboard and all the associated gear - Probably don't need to pursue this interest as its expensive ($100 lift pass + petrol) and I could concentrate on surfing which is cheaper, I have been snowboarding  2 times in the past 2 years! But neverless I enjoy snowboarding once in a while

A mountain bike - Could downsize to a cheaper bike for commuting,

Lots of various pieces of gym equipment (e.g. Medicine ball, sandbag, dumbells, kettle bell) - These do get used on a regular basis, but I sometimes think I could just do running and maybe just keep a kettle bell for working out.

So my struggle is trying to figure out whether I should keep or sell some stuff so I only have the items that I use regularly, maybe I have too many interests and only need one or two to keep me happy, and whether I should concentrate on one sport which is not too expensive, snowboarding is lot more expensive than mountain biking, surfing and hiking another interest of mine. I don't own my house and I am currently flatting but there may come a time when I decide to put items into storage which will cost money, as I am travelling around Indonesia later this year for two months.

I guess their is three future optional pains coming up,

- first selling some of my assets at much lower than what I paid as they were brand new when I bought them
- the second being having to put them into storage which will cost money over time
- the third having sold some of my stuff then to realise I miss those interests or feel I need them back later in life

This may be a personal problem which I may have to figure out and which I started to some what answer in my post. I don't expect people to be a sporty person like myself, but I just thought I throw this dilemma out their for an independent view or some tips of what further questions I should be asking myself around these assets, as I sure there is a underlying Mustacian principle I have not discovered yet, I have read a number of articles so far.

Cheers




surfhb

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Re: To sell my expensive assets or to not?
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2015, 02:58:35 PM »
How much is all this worth?  Probably not much Im afraid.      Their value to you and your life is probably more then what?   $500? 

I have 3 boards myself and rarely use 1 of them.     Different days call for different boards....you know that better then anyone.    Maybe sell one of the shorties?

Its all about balance my friend....  :)
« Last Edit: January 23, 2015, 03:01:21 PM by surfhb »

deborah

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Re: To sell my expensive assets or to not?
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2015, 03:11:04 PM »
How do you fit all that in a flat?

Why not look at your possessions and think about which things you have used in the past year or two. The ones that haven't been used in 2 years are probably useless to you, as you have stopped doing that sport, or changed over equipment.

The second thing is to work out if that sport is really something you want to do, or are you just doing it for other reasons (impressing girls, looked good at the time...). That equipment also doesn't make the cut - you probably should have borrowed or hired rather than buying.

Thirdly, Mustashianism isn't about getting rid of hobbies because they are expensive - it is about value for money and happiness. If snowboarding is really your thing, keep doing it - just work out "value for money" ways of doing it - organising group trips and getting free passes and lodging as a result, going to fantastic places that are less expensive, really concentrating on that sport, so a season pass is really worth it...

timso14

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Re: To sell my expensive assets or to not?
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2015, 04:55:04 PM »
Thanks for your comments.

surfhb - I reckon probably 30-50% of the price I paid I would reap back, so probably not worth selling. Yeah I have a long board for certain types of waves, an 8ft which my girlfriend uses but refuses to buy off me lol but its also useful for friends who want to try surfing and a 7ft smaller which I use most often. So I could get rid of the 8ft.

Deborah - I have a double garage in the house I share (renting), so it all fits in nicely. Thanks for your feedback, some good considerations, I agree that I could find ways to do it for value for money.

I think for now I will keep my items, and if a time comes where I may have to pay more money to keep them such as storage costs and I realise that I haven't used something in two years to justify keeping it, I may sell those items.

Also my winter surfing wetsuit will fall a part soon and I will have to replace it at some point, but given that I surf about 50 times more than I snowboard, I could consider selling my snowboard equipment to fund the purchase of a new quality winter wetsuit, meaning I have not spent anything, then consider just renting  snowboard equipment for the one time I go very year.

innerscorecard

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Re: To sell my expensive assets or to not?
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2015, 07:59:09 PM »
Those are all things, not assets.

thedayisbrave

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Re: To sell my expensive assets or to not?
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2015, 08:06:40 PM »

Goldielocks

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Re: To sell my expensive assets or to not?
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2015, 08:29:10 PM »
Store items on craigslist (see MMM Post).  e.g., sell now and rebuy later if you need something like this again.  Chances are you will want something slightly different, but in the meantime, you do not have to workk about taking care of and storing all your possessions.

In reality,  keep only 1 variation of what you use, and limit your expensive gear hobbies to no more than 2 or 3.  Think about it....  how would you participate in all of these?  I think most of us here with previous non MMM habits know exactly what you are talking about, and not getting rid of some of this stuff Iand keeping it away) is one of our larger regrets.

Mountain bike -- I would keep and consider it transportation, unless you would buy a different bike for errands and commuting - then go ahead and sell.