PC died, my phone data was maxed T_T
Couldn't do much so I tried cannibalising a fat PS3 for my PC, specifically, a nice 140mm fan (which ended up closer to a watermill than a fan) and bluray drive (it uses a custom made PATA cable which needs remapping and the eject switches are on an external board, not to mention the drive firmware is made for the ps3, in short, cheaper to get a bluray drive). Meh.
So anyway, I fixed the PSU and it is ALIVE :D
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Anddddd back to the post.
I believe many people out there have many passions/hobbies (which usually end up as poisons/leaks).
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| Yes I know, that's cheap food. Meh, but you get the idea. (Courtesy of DubaiMemes) |
Even for me, my main poison is really good food, from better ingredients like Wagyu steaks (The Market Grill makes good ones for a decent price), to excellent chef skills of Mitzo, DB Bistro and Osteria Mozza (still got a lot more on my list >__<).
Having too many passions/hobbies can turn to painful poisons/leaks that would make you live from paycheck to paycheck or put you back in debt, and at the end of the day, when you need cash for various reasons such as retirement or even big purchases, you find yourself short and ask, "Why did I buy that?"
I used to have more poisons (fountain pens, Magic TCG, etc), but I realised that those aren't really what I want. I kinda get interested and excited to buy, but after acquiring them, it feels meh.
After much thinking (and limited money), I decided that these aren't "wants" that I actually enjoy, and dropped them as a result.
The point I am trying to drive across is that, you shouldn't drop all your passions/wants but instead focus on those YOU think matter. I do take my occasionally splurge on food as a motivation to keep me going (I think some can relate to relaxing holiday to refresh yourself, yes I rate food higher than holidays :x).
Couple of ideas I have:
1. Review your purchases
Do review your purchases and find out whether you are spending out of habit or do you actually want them.
i.e. a really cool PC case, I used to want having one, but I kinda realised that my PC is always on the floor and I don't look at it at all, just probably for a few glances initially, else the focus is on the screen anyway, could save up the money for better monitor, more RAM, better GPU or even better/more cooling.
2. Trim those you don't really care for
Since you don't care for them, why spend on them? Can save them up for better uses such as investing/retirement savings (hopefully), cover debts, make money less tight or at least other passions that you feel better about.
3. Try to get the best bang for buck for those passions
Using food again ^^", I realised that if I go for a cheaper alternative, just to try satisfy my craving, I'll end up meh and feeling disappointed at the end. I'll consume other "cheaper" alternatives (with a "s" because it is many), still being unable to find one that meets the one I am looking for and end up going back. Spending more money as a result. So I topup slightly more, to get what I want, saves money while getting the fulfillment I want.
Also, do realise that there is a limit of what we can actually experience, say for headphones, or even the latest smartphone/i7 desktop processors. Many instances, past a certain price range, we can't actually tell if there is really a difference or is the difference discernible (ideally by a blind test). A fountain pen's focus is the nib for writing, after a certain price point, you're paying more for the brand, body and packaging. My current Intel 2nd Gen i5 processor and the 6th Gen i5 processor, hell, even the current DDR4 vs my DDR3 RAM, doesn't show a difference that I can visibly observe during my daily usage of the PC.
Sometimes gems can be found for good prices too but maybe lacking in something you don't really care for (remember about not spending purely due to a habit). If you notice, some stuff I go for are fine dining but I don't really care for the ambiance nor high service level (just average is enough for me), my focus is purely on the food, I do look out for nice places that give me what I want for a better price (The Market Grill was found as a result, no need pay hundreds for a decent Wagyu). Find out what is the focus in your passion, and zoom in to find better value for you and what you want.
4. If you can, convert one of those passions to make money or ideally one of those passions makes money, else you had jolly well earn more to fund it!
It is best if one of your passions/hobbies can turn a profit, say you like baking, you could do a tiny business to sell your awesome cookies to your relatives/friends. Helps to cover the costs of other passions and preventing the others from burning a giant hole in your wallet/pocket.
Even better if you're like Warren Buffett whose passion is "to make money grow" (no, lottery doesn't count), that too might work.
But, what if none of my passions turn out a pretty coin? Well, there I am sorry to say, then you gotta work pretty hard, may even have to give up a job you like and get something paying higher to pay those poisons, else your life is gonna get harder and harder (sadly, work and expenses usually increases with time).
I don't really advocate trimming something you really like unless you really have no choice. Those keeps you moving. But you better expand your means to make sure it stays (keep that lifestyle inflation lesser than that increased salary though, doesn't make sense to get a $100 increment but increase your expenditure by $500).
How about you folks? How are you managing your passions/hobbies?
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