I ask because I was pondering my reluctance to pay a year’s worth of auto insurance premiums at once. I have the money to do so, will avoid about $60 extra fees from paying monthly, and will not have to worry about accidental lapses in coverage.
Yet I hesitated, because my brain is still stuck in the days when I could really only afford month-to-month on my crappy car and worried that the car would fail and I’d be a pedestrian paying car insurance (Yes, I am aware now that if that actually did happen I could cancel the policy and be refunded a pro-rated amount).
I was going to title this “What financially irrational behavior have you been unable to shake now that you are no longer poor,” but then it occurred to me that irrational behaviors could as easily be based on being accustomed to having more money when you are now living on less.
I still pick up items on the curb that I can recondition or fix instead of just buying new. I don’t have any tendency to horde but I do tend to keeping my eyes open for things I might need. I also spend far too much money on woods I use in my hobby.
I don’t think hobbies are maladaptive when you can actually afford them.
The stuff you can recondition and fix . . . do you actually recondition and fix it? Or do you look at the pile later on and say to yourself, why did I drag this broken thing in here, it’s smelly/moldy/out of style/doesn’t fit - I need/deserve a new one?
Figure skating. Weekly lessons, annual fee for ice time and group, sharpening every 40 hours, gas to and from the rink, occasional freestyles.
OTOH without skating I would never have got legs like steel bands, incredible posture, balance, and the admiration of every doctor I know for the shape I’m in.