Personal Justification Machine: What did you buy or avoid buying?

[NorCal]

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2019/05/08/tesla-procrastination/

The new post on how we justify purchases is one of my favorites.  It covers a universal human experience that seems to be rarely talked about.

I figured it would be useful to create a thread to document this.

What has your mind recently tried to justify buying and you avoided buying? 

What did you cave in and buy?

[NorCal]

I'll start.  My 8 year old gas barbecue started rusting out. the grates and some internal components were literally falling apart.

I started looking at the brand new stainless grills.  Just imagine how long stainless would last!  It would be an investment in something I use!

Then I realized I'm a grown up, and I bought a few replacement parts, and fixed it myself.  I still spend $200 on parts, but that's a lot better than $600-$800+ on a new unit.  I did the following:

1. I replaced the internal weber "flavorizer" bars.  I did spring for the stainless steel ones, as I expect they'll last a few years longer, which will more than justify the price.
2. I replaced the failed igniter mechanism
3. I got new grill grates.  I did let myself justify the more expensive cast-iron grates.  This is probably worth a soft face-slap instead of a face punch.
4. Most importantly, I got some good cleaning solvents for preventive maintenance.  This is what will keep it in good shape for another decade.

[Adam Zapple]

I just cancelled my Amazon prime membership so I can avoid convenience shopping.  This has saved me at least $50 this week on "nice to have but not necessity" purchases that are easy to justify after purchasing.

[daffodil2001]

I avoided buying a summer bathrobe. I tend to wear a bathrobe around the house most of the year because I’m always cold. It looks like something my grandma would wear (probably because my grandma gave it to me, about fifteen years ago). Found a super cute organic cotton/ethically made/free range or whatever bathrobe online for $45 but decided that since I’ve made it fifteen years with the bathrobe I already have there’s no reason to buy a new one.

More my husband’s PJM, but we’re getting a $700 dishwasher because it’s quieter than the $400 or $600 options we were looking at. Our current dishwasher is forty years old, insanely loud and doesn’t clean dishes very well, so I agreed it needs to be replaced. $700 for a new one seems excessive, but my husband is responsible for most of our kitchen clean-up and has agreed to do some labor intensive projects ourselves even though he’d prefer to hire it out, so I agreed he could make the final call on the dishwasher.

[FIREstache]

There's actually already a thread about this in the "continuing the blog  conversation" section.

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/continue-the-blog-conversation/taming-your-pjm/

[esmith2039]

Avoided buying a new microwave at least till we remodel the kitchen. Wasn't happy with the 900w but the final straw was our oldest burning up the turnable. Couldn't find another one at thrift stores but my wife made me hold off. This week a neighbor was throwing away microwave and was able to snatch the plate.. score! Fit perfectly and no reason to buy another one now.

[NorCal]

There's actually already a thread about this in the "continuing the blog  conversation" section.

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/continue-the-blog-conversation/taming-your-pjm/

Shoot, I missed that.  Some good examples there.

[facepalm]

at least three brand-new motorcycles. In the end, I always end up calling the dealer back ( I always have a 24 hr cooling off period) and cancelling.

[rantk81]

My condo came with all original appliances from 2001 when the building was converted to condos. They’re ugly. They’re black. They’re all loud. But they all still function with no major problems. I am just waiting for the first one to fail before I do a complete renovation of my kitchen with all new everything.

[Wrenchturner]

It's really easy for me to buy tools I might need in the future.  Not the worst thing to spend money on I suppose, although I consider Li-Ion power tools to basically be consumable, despite the fact that their performance has really increased in the last ten years.  I'm pretty good at saying no to these.

I'm bad with buying takeout.  The Tikka Masala calls to me.

I don't have a hard time staying away from designer products and fancy cars, although there is a social-status element to owning those things.

[OtherJen]

After much waffling, I bought a new Pixel 3a phone to replace my 3-year-old Nexus 5x. We justified it by declaring it my birthday present, since we didn't do anything big when I turned 40 last year. It's a snappy little phone with a great camera, and I love that all the security settings are up to date and there isn't a huge lag time when opening basic apps (Phone, Messages, Gmail).

So far, I've managed to convince myself that I don't need new shoes or sandals for summer. Mine are all comfortable and perfectly serviceable for another year. I need a bike, but I've talked myself out of a fancy brand-new model from the bike shop and am haunting Craigslist for a good deal.

[Bloop Bloop]

I usually set myself stretch targets and only allow myself to buy 'nice things' if I greatly exceed them.

For example, I have a target for monthly business income, and I tell myself that only if I exceed my target do I get to put 10% of the 'excess' into a recreation fund. However, I also have a deal with my partner that she can veto any given month if my work-life balance has gone awry. This way I'm constantly motivated to try to work hard, but not too hard, and I have a nice bonus mechanism if I do have a good month.

Procrastinating on indulgent purchases (stretching out the anticipation) also makes the eventual purchase so much better.

I've only ever bought 2 cars in my life - both were bought using this stretch target method. Both gave me a lot of impetus to start my business and get it to the level of profitability it has today. I was also able to delay each purchase by several years, since I was slow to reach my targets (as my business got more profitable, I just made the targets harder to reach!)

[chemistk]

I successfully avoided getting a new computer, and I've been winning this fight with myself for the better part of two years.

The computer in question is a 2012 model budget Windows laptop. The battery doesn't hold a charge, it takes about 10 minutes to fully boot up, and the "8" key and the left arrow key no longer work.

I've been so close on a number of occasions to getting a new one. But, it's exclusively used for word processing, printing, photo backup, and websites that don't look good on mobile.

[Linea_Norway]

I have been thinking for a few years that I wanted a new winter coat, just to wear something different for once. This year I finally caved in and bought a cheap, functional coat on sale. The only justification was that I had been wearing the old coat for the past 7 or 8 years and that I should be allowed to buy a new coat after so many years.

Our main car is 10 years old. It is a diesel and Norway want to transfer to renewable energy cars in 2022 or thereabouts. Diesel cars are becoming less and less popular and are sometimes banned from city centers. We typically don't use the car in the city center. Diesel is also more expensive than using electricity. Our previous reason for not buying an electric car was that there was not good alternative with 4x4 and enough space for luggage. We also didn't want a Tesla with long queues for maintenance. Now there will soon be a Mercedes and it doesn't cost as much as earlier cars we have look into. Although it costs slightly more than a whole year of our retirement budget. We still haven't decided to buy one yet. But our current car has driven 175.000 kms now. The car could need some big repair any time soon... Justification is building up.

[redhead84]

My condo came with all original appliances from 2001 when the building was converted to condos. They’re ugly. They’re black. They’re all loud. But they all still function with no major problems. I am just waiting for the first one to fail before I do a complete renovation of my kitchen with all new everything.

Change the year to 2003 and the appliances to white, and we have the same situation. There was a false start when our dishwasher stopped working, but my husband fixed it with a $20 part and a YouTube video. The water line to the icemaker is frozen, but we've stopped getting it repaired. We bought a 3 pack of ice cube trays for a $1 and went back to getting ice the manual way.

[Arbitrage]

I do typically agonize over any large purchase - and even some smaller purchases such as new video games - for months if not longer.  I have continued to avoid buying a new TV, which has proven doubly beneficial - first for not wasting the money, and second because the prices just keep dropping (as expected). 

I failed to avoid purchasing a clamshell car-top carrier this past weekend.  Been eyeing one for a while - when we do travel with the family to do something such as camping, it's a really tight fit, and only going to get worse as the kids grow up.  Some of our friends have bought soft shell carriers and are ok with them, but I really wanted one that would also hold our skis.  Those same friends do have significantly larger vehicles that will allow them to put skis on the inside of the car without significantly disrupting the riding experience. 

Anyhow, it was a splurge to purchase, but I did manage to get 20% off during Memorial Day, and these things never seem to go on sale - I've been watching.  They're also very rarely offered used, and the used ones I saw weren't being offered at much of a discount.  Lots of justifications, as you can see, but I do think it'll help a lot for the types of vacations I want our family to have.

[jeninco]

I do typically agonize over any large purchase - and even some smaller purchases such as new video games - for months if not longer.  I have continued to avoid buying a new TV, which has proven doubly beneficial - first for not wasting the money, and second because the prices just keep dropping (as expected). 

I failed to avoid purchasing a clamshell car-top carrier this past weekend.  Been eyeing one for a while - when we do travel with the family to do something such as camping, it's a really tight fit, and only going to get worse as the kids grow up.  Some of our friends have bought soft shell carriers and are ok with them, but I really wanted one that would also hold our skis.  Those same friends do have significantly larger vehicles that will allow them to put skis on the inside of the car without significantly disrupting the riding experience. 

Anyhow, it was a splurge to purchase, but I did manage to get 20% off during Memorial Day, and these things never seem to go on sale - I've been watching.  They're also very rarely offered used, and the used ones I saw weren't being offered at much of a discount.  Lots of justifications, as you can see, but I do think it'll help a lot for the types of vacations I want our family to have.

If it's any help, ours holds skies and ski toboggans (we used a cargo toboggan until the kids were old enough to ski themselves and their share of the gear into huts). It's pretty cool that we can just stuff the entire, loaded toboggan up into the thing!

[Linea_Norway]

My condo came with all original appliances from 2001 when the building was converted to condos. They’re ugly. They’re black. They’re all loud. But they all still function with no major problems. I am just waiting for the first one to fail before I do a complete renovation of my kitchen with all new everything.

Change the year to 2003 and the appliances to white, and we have the same situation. There was a false start when our dishwasher stopped working, but my husband fixed it with a $20 part and a YouTube video. The water line to the icemaker is frozen, but we've stopped getting it repaired. We bought a 3 pack of ice cube trays for a $1 and went back to getting ice the manual way.

Kitchen can also be remodelled cheaply, by replacing the cupboard doors and door handles.

When we moved in to our house, we bought a second hand oven/microwave combi which is very noisy when cooling down. But we still haven't replaced it.

[Tuskalusa]

I just said “no” to a new car. My car is 11 years old, and stuff keeps going wrong: A/C compressor, ignition, seat belts. The seat belts made me crazy, and I stated to dream of a new(er) car. But I read the MMM article again, and I decided I’d fix the darned seat belts and evaluate again in a year.

[DadJokes]

I dropped $1,200 on a bike & accessories to commute 10 miles round trip four days per week instead of driving. I could have gotten a cheaper bike, but I didn't want to be sweaty when I got to work (due to no shower option), so I got an expensive e-bike. On gas alone, it'll take six years to recoup the cost of the bike. That doesn't take into account other costs and the health benefit of riding a bike, but that is a heck of a justification on my part.

[Just Joe]

We keep a couple of 20 year old cars going. One (sedan) is the perfect MMM car and rarely needs anything. I have made some repairs over the years we've owned it but aside from the a/c, the rest have been minor. The other (small CUV) has over 300K miles but the car itself is fine. When the engine wore out, we put in a newer one. I half fear I'll have the same cars when we're 90 years old.

We do have a nicer travel car that we bought several years back and we do need to sell the sedan to reduce the fleet a little. The CUV is out of the weather and not registered or insured so it is costing me nothing.

I need to finish other projects and then I'll get around to selling the sedan.

[SugarMountain]

Said no to the dealer who wanted $7800 to replace the shocks/struts and some other stuff on my 17 year old BMW (that I paid $6k for 3 years ago).  I've fixed the rear suspension myself and have the parts for the front, just haven't found a free weekend.  Parts were $1500.

I have been looking at Canon full frame DSLRs for like 2+ years and haven't pulled the trigger.  My old G1X is already better than my skill level.  I still want one though, this one may get purchased eventually. (And it turns into the game of "a Rebel would be good enough" "but then you can't get the really good Canon lenses down the road because they're full frame and the Rebel isn't." When in reality, the lenses available for the ATS-C (smaller than full frame) are still way above what my skill level will be and cheaper to boot.

[Schaefer Light]

I spent $300 on a pair of glasses today.  I justified it in two ways.  First, I haven't bought a new pair in 5+ years.  Second, I have a weird face shape that most eyeglasses just don't fit (so I have to spend a bit more for a pair that I'm willing to wear out in public).

[FIREstache]

Existing thread:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/continue-the-blog-conversation/taming-your-pjm/

[Milizard]

I spent $300 on a pair of glasses today.  I justified it in two ways.  First, I haven't bought a new pair in 5+ years.  Second, I have a weird face shape that most eyeglasses just don't fit (so I have to spend a bit more for a pair that I'm willing to wear out in public).

I justified my $300+ glasses (bought last summer) by the fact that I wear them nearly 16 hous/day, 365 days a year. It was also replacing a 5 year old pair for me, the new ones being my first old person type  (progressives).