I collect the National Geographic magazine. Over the years I’ve amassed quite a few, well over 1100 issues. They date back as far as 1911.
In the last few years my collecting has slowed down, because issues further back than what I have, and in decent shape, start to get more expensive.
A local used bookstore owner, who has helped me in the past with the collecting, recently purchased a large collection of the magazines and I bought seven of them, dating from 1910 to 1916. I paid $42.98, a pretty good price. They aren’t in pristine shape of course, but all have their covers and are in solid reading condition. The price was well within what similar issues are going for on eBay.
But I didn’t actually NEED them. And my wallet isn’t exactly fat right now. But heck, when might I have a chance to fill in some holes in my collection like this? A little angel and a little devil were sitting on my shoulders, trying to tell me what I should or shouldn’t do, and I gave in to my desires. (Pretty tame desires, but hey)
So what have you spent money on lately, for something you wanted, but didn’t really NEED?
Two dresses on eBay. They were less than half of what I’d have to pay in a store . . . but I certainly didn’t need them. I won’t even be able to wear them for at least a month, given the stupid Chicago weather.
I think you’re totally justified in adding to your collection!
It’s books for me too – I could always use the library and I own lots of unread books, but I have to buy at least a couple of new ones every month.
And quilting fabric. I have a decent stash but there’s something about the quilt shop that I can’t resist. Good thing for the budget that the best shop is about 40 miles away.
Some junkyard brake calipers from a car different from my own. Since they are bigger, my completely harebrained scheme is to somehow make these fit on my current brake discs. My current brakes are perfectly adequate and common sense tells me that if I want to fuck around with something on the car, brakes are the obvious first choice - I’ve still got brakes on the rear wheels, don’t I?
Every few Saturdays, I like to go thrift store shopping. A few weeks ago I really scored with a set of 3 brand-new springform teflon pans still in the wrapper, and 2 tiki torches for my backyard, also never been used. Today I got a brand-new waffle maker for 4 bucks and a nice set of 4 wineglasses for a dollar each. Thrift store shopping really can satisfy my shopping needs without breaking the bank!
Final Fantasy XII. I haven’t even finished FF X-2 yet, and I don’t have the time to play anything seriously when school is in session. But it was (relatively) cheap, and something in my head was screaming “You need a new gaaaaaaaame!” I’ve played about five hours, I think, and likely won’t get the chance to play much more until after the semester is over - which really means that I won’t get to play much more until after I move. So, bought the game in February, it’ll probably be June before I can allow it to become the horrible soul-crushing timesuck I know it’s going to turn out to be.
Oh God yes, the crafts store. I have more knitting and crocheting yarn than I can ever use, but if I go into the store you can almost guarantee an “Oooh! Something fuzzy!” moment.
And flip-flop sandals. I must have 40 pairs. High-end models or grocery store impulse buys, I own 'em all.
Videos games and anime. I can’t help it–I have disposable money for once, and I can’t work right now, so I need something to do. And the anime leads to good snuggling with the hubby. Oh, and a Zune, since the truck radio doesn’t work and the two-hours drives to see the in-laws get kinda quiet after a while.
I’m also planing a wedding for this summer, so don’t get me started on all the things I’ll be buying for that that I don’t really need.
I can’t really do this any more since I started grad school - a beer outside of happy hour is almost a luxury now. Before I started, though, I bought this, figuring that it would have to hold me for four or five years.
Comics and anime are my two biggest ones. Hubby loves the fact that I’m such a geek, but then when he goes to pay the credit card and sees I bought $75 worth of stuff, he gets a little, um, tense. (But then I show him that I bought him a comic too, he lets me slide. I’m spoiled like that.)
Oh, and Starucks vanilla frappucino in the bottles. I can suck down a four pack in like ten minutes. This is why I no longer do the grocery shopping!
With two jobs I just barely pay my bills. So when I go shopping for food, I don’t buy anything that has a shelf date. Eggs, Milk, etc are out. If I am going to spend money, it has to last a while.
Handbags - bought one today in fact. My last embroidered silk bag had worn to the point of non-prettiness which meant I was down to the practical stand-by bags - Noooo!
It took $25 of my last $38. I have no credit (by choice) so that money really is all we have till payday. It’s the cheapest bag I’ve bought in years. Usually they’re around $50 or more. I don’t spend that much on clothes or shoes. I don’t spend that much on a night out or a restaurant meal.
At the moment, I’m still telling myself that this was a handcrafted bag that will benefit the women running the micro-industry that produced it. Yeah, I bought it for the public good, that’ll do.
I bought a refurbished digital camera from woot.com. I misplaced my other one when we moved last year, and I still haven’t found it. This should guarantee that the old one will surface soon.
I bought three trade paperbacks this month, which is big for me because I hardly read or buy any comics anymore. However, one is out of print and I won it on eBay for less than cover price with free shipping, and I got the other two at a local comic shop for “Buy One, Get One Free.” Loved one, merely *liked * the other, so I have already traded it (and another older book from my collection) for two more books.
This is the only way I can justify any kind of “fun” purchases for myself anymore, deals and sales and message board bartering.
I bought a new car today (which I actually did need, since my old one wasn’t going to be able to make my commute much longer – and the new baby is a 2008 Honda Fit if you’re curious). What I didn’t need, however, was the totally awesome navigation system from Best Buy that I’ve wanted for ages.
I spent $10.50 on sock yarn today. It was 20% off so of course I had to get some. I also went out for lunch but for some reason spending money on food bothers me less than spending money on stuff.