I save stuff for later because I don’t want to use it up. Gift cards are one of these things. When the time arises that I could use it, I think to myself, “if I use it, I won’t have it anymore”. So I’ll save it. Pretty soon, I forget I have it. I’ve done this with scented candles. I love the scent so much, that I tell myself that if I burn the candle I won’t have it anymore and I won’t be able to find another one like it. I recently finally lit one of those so-called special candles I’d been saving. Well I had saved it for so long that the scent was gone! I’ve saved a favorite treat for so long that when I finally did eat it, it was stale.
I was raised in a middle class home. We really weren’t wanting for anything. We ate well, had snacks, etc. Although with 4 kids, we didn’t get the name-brand clothing. So I don’t think it was learned in my upbringing. It must be a glitch I have in my brain!
Lately, I’ve been making myself use up the gift cards I have stacked up. Baby steps.
Yes, with special little food treats. I have a can of crab in the refrigerator to make crab cakes that’s been there for three years. A steak in the freezer 6 months old, and I’m hoping it isn’t freezer burned. … Also a drawer full of beautiful real silk scarves ‘too good’ to wear. Gift cards? I got plenty!
I hate receiving gift cards because I’m compelled to use them ASAP or else I’ll forget about them.
Me: Let’s go to Chesecake Factory.
gf: Why?
Me: I got a gift card
gf: We can go there when we are in that area for other reasons.
Me: No, I want to use it now.
I have a whole stack of neat miniatures that just sit there. A “pile of shame” is a common ailment among mini hobbyists but it’s most common among the “gamer” contingent, people who buy the kits for their utility as game pieces and who consequently have to force themselves to paint them.
Me, I don’t play the games. I don’t even particularly enjoy the painting! I’m in it because I adore beautiful miniatures, I’m doing it purely for the aesthetics of the completed piece. I love looking at all my pretty li’l plastic (and resin and pewter) pals in their orderly display case and thinking “I made those!” Consequently, I get minis and think… “This is too nice to ruin with my mediocre skills as they are now. I’ll leave it for a few months/a year/five years until I’ve mastered (whatever technique I’m learning.)” And so there it sits, forever too-nice-to-paint. 'Cause I’ll always be better tomorrow, right?
(Meanwhile, I’m thinking of all the Borders gift cards that I see every time I open my junk drawer… better use my Barnes&Noble cards while they’re still in business.)
I did something like this for years with liquor. The bottle would get down the to last drink or so and if it was something I really liked, I would save it for a special occasion. Then I read something about an infinity bottle. The idea was to combine the last drink from a bottle with the last drink from other bottles. Once the bottle was full, you would have a drink from it to make room for the next soon to be emptied bottle. I combined the whiskeys I had, bourbon, rye, American whiskeys and single malts. Right now my infinity bottle is a mixture of 42 different whiskeys and has a wonderful flavor. I figure this way I will always have a bit of every bottle I have emptied and I get to sample them about once every two or three months.
This reminds me of my mom never using the “nice” table cloths, silver flatware, China plates that were displayed in the glass china cabinet, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. After she died, we opened the cabinet to find that there were holes in the table cloths. My sister took the china service, crystal glasses, and silverware, and she uses them frequently.
Not being a drinker, I would have incorrectly assumed that this would result in something nasty tasting to an aficionado. What a great idea.
When I was in college there was a tradition for everyone to take their partial bottles of liquor and pour them in a tub to make “fog cutters” at the end of the school year. This would typically be cheap vodka, tequila, etc. Now that was nasty.
We used to have a dog. She was a very good dog and there was a certain, rather pricey treat that she just loved. One day I bought that treat and she saw me put it in the cupboard and asked for some. I told her that I was saving it for her dessert, but forgot about it. A week later, the dog died. A while later I found the treat and have never forgiven myself for not giving it to her when she begged for it.
I can’t save stuff for later, because my wife will find it and eat it. (Well, not gift cards obviously, but treats.) So I pretty much have to enjoy it now.
I do the “saving the best stuff for last” variation.
For example if I have a jar of generic brand peanut butter and a jar of name brand peanut butter, I will insist on using up the generic brand first before touching the “good stuff”.
So once again I will probably let the Girl Scout cookies go stale waiting for me to finish up the last of the Great Value cookies.
This thread reminds me of my parents. Since they don’t really need any more “things”, I’ll typically give them something more “experiential” for Christmas and birthday presents. Like a gift card for a nice restaurant. And later I’ll ask them if they enjoyed their dinner at the nice restaurant. And they’ll say “Oh, we haven’t used it yet. We’re saving it for a special occasion.” It’s kind of like what @medstar said about only using the “nice” China, flatware, etc. on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Going anyplace “nice” requires an “occasion” for them; they can’t go “just because”, even if they aren’t the ones paying for it. To which I argue that Christmas, their birthday, or whatever I got them the gift for is the special occasion.
My wife’s grandmother was notorious for saving the good stuff for later, while using and living with with old clothes and towels. When she died, her closet was full of never-worn dresses her daughter (my wife’s aunt) bought her for Christina and birthday presents. She seemed to always be wearing shabby old-style dresses and housecoats, while the good stuff was saved for later. And all that good stuff got donated to the next clothing drive at the church, which she would have appreciated.
Been there, done that. Get an ‘army of pawns’ and paint them. Your skills and confidence will improve astronomically and you’ll be painting champions and knocking it out of the park.
My daughter has always savored her dessert, taking progressively smaller and smaller bites. I explained to her about Zeno and his paradox because she does this. It started when she was three and she still does it thirty years later.
