Things That Leave you Gobsmacked (In A Good Way)

[losh1971]

But not you?

I like going out for coffee or lunch or tea but I don't love paying the amount places ask for food. I prefer to spend that money on stuff that we get to keep and can use over and over.

 

[hademall]

I've bought all sorts of sh1t over the years that has been a waste of money. It's stuff that, you buy on a whim just to satisfy yourself in that moment. Sometimes it's embarrassing to admit to yourself how much you've squandered on superfluous crap.
There comes a time in your life when you realise you don't really need some of the sh1t you've spent thousands of dollars on, and reflect upon what you could have had if only you had not had all those ‘at the moment needs’ to satiate yourself.
Yes, one day, that moment in your life may come to you.

 

[losh1971]

I guess I could live without some of the stuff I have but if I didn't spend that money at the time I'd not have it in 10 years time, as it would end up going on Dirty Bird or something else because I had spare cash that weekend.

I'm pretty particular with what I buy and don't buy stuff willy-nilly. I buy gear I will have use for whether that is at the time or down the track. Sure I could scale back but what's the point? I don't see much point in building an empire only to get hit by a bus and then have someone else spend what you worked hard for.

I also don't like paying full price for anything I can get cheaper if I wait. I find plenty of good buys by watching and waiting and snapping them up when an opportunity arises. Things like my camping gear, very little was bought new. Instead I wait for SH goods to come up at way less than the shops best sale price. We like camping where others give it a go and feel it's all too hard sleeping in a tent on the ground and so let the gear they bought go on the cheap.

Good thing about the gear I buy is it can be sold again if needed, or it can be put to good use. I wouldn't really know what frivolous crap is because nothing I own I feel that way about.

In whatever I do at this stage in life I like to do well. This means buying stuff that will make life easier and more comfortable. Many people like the comfort of beer, wine and whisky. Me I very rarely buy booze and so the money I save goes on things I like instead of on the lemon and mandarin trees.

 

[hademall]

I guess I could live without some of the stuff I have but if I didn't spend that money at the time I'd not have it in 10 years time, as it would end up going on Dirty Bird or something else because I had spare cash that weekend.

I'm pretty particular with what I buy and don't buy stuff willy-nilly. I buy gear I will have use for whether that is at the time or down the track. Sure I could scale back but what's the point? I don't see much point in building an empire only to get hit by a bus and then have someone else spend what you worked hard for.

I also don't like paying full price for anything I can get cheaper if I wait. I find plenty of good buys by watching and waiting and snapping them up when an opportunity arises. Things like my camping gear, very little was bought new. Instead I wait for SH goods to come up at way less than the shops best sale price. We like camping where others give it a go and feel it's all too hard sleeping in a tent on the ground and so let the gear they bought go on the cheap.

Good thing about the gear I buy is it can be sold again if needed, or it can be put to good use. I wouldn't really know what frivolous crap is because nothing I own I feel that way about.

In whatever I do at this stage in life I like to do well. This means buying stuff that will make life easier and more comfortable. Many people like the comfort of beer, wine and whisky. Me I very rarely buy booze and so the money I save goes on things I like instead of on the lemon and mandarin trees.

Yes. But Losh, don't you see the contradictions? You talk about buying stuff you MAY need in ten years' time, so therefore you buy it. In the past, you've talked about aiming for an early retirement and paying off your mortgage and all those other much more important things that should make your lives easier when you retire. But at the end of the day, if you carry on believing that buying stuff you may or may not need, rather than looking at the bigger picture, you will end up with a shed full of sh1t that you can't use because of some medical issue, retired, and a mortgage you could have paid off, instead of buying all the sh1t you didn't really need, and therefore leading to a situation whereby you are now trying to sell all your sh1t to some guy who keeps low balling you on ‘market place’ or whatever, in order to pay your fecking mortgage!

If buying stuff for as cheap as you can get it makes you happy, then sure, we all get that. But buying stuff which you may only use once or never at all in the expectation you may use it, can cost you your house. It's just a different way to look at things.

Sh1t, if I had my way throughout my life, I would have the biggest f@#k off shed with every tool under the sun in it. But hey, like most, priorities take precedence.

By the way, I do admire some of the projects you take on, and the information you share. But sometimes you need to stand back and look at your contradictions. Just saying.

 

[chrisp]

I've bought all sorts of sh1t over the years that has been a waste of money. It's stuff that, you buy on a whim just to satisfy yourself in that moment. Sometimes it's embarrassing to admit to yourself how much you've squandered on superfluous crap.
There comes a time in your life when you realise you don't really need some of the sh1t you've spent thousands of dollars on, and reflect upon what you could have had if only you had not had all those ‘at the moment needs’ to satiate yourself.
Yes, one day, that moment in your life may come to you.

There is some very wise words in the post above. It’s definitely a post that is worthwhile reading carefully and taking in the full meaning.

One realisation I have made is that everything we buy, no matter how good or high quality, will one day end up in the trash/junk/recycling/garage-sale/deceased-estate-sale. So, I try to remember that when buying something - and remind myself that this thing I’m buying is ultimately destined for the bin. It doesn’t mean it’s a waste of money, but rather just acknowledge that things wear out, become obsolete, or break eventually. Things, like ourselves, do have a limited life. So, I buy for pleasure and to make my life easier. But I do acknowledge that all that ‘buying’ is ‘spending’ money.

In the end, we can’t take it (money or things) with us, so we might as well enjoy ’it’ while we are here. I’ve seen people save every penny obsessively and die with a fortune in the bank (for their heirs to spend). And I’ve seen people who spend as quickly as they earn (and sometimes even quicker) and have no savings at all and struggle if anything untoward should happen. Fortunately, there is a wide range between those two extremes where we can buy what we need, and buy things for pleasure too. And also save to cover the ‘rainy day’ and for a comfortable retirement for when we decide that we no longer wish to work.

And @losh1971 , I wasn’t intending to cause upset. Rather I was just pointing out that ‘saving’ and ‘spending’ are not the same at all. Even though we are constantly bombarded with advertising that implies that we can ‘save’ by ‘buying’ - ’spending to save’ is actually an oxymoron. Spending is not saving! It’s the opposite. I’m just ‘calling a spade a spade’, spending is not saving. I suspect that you might be getting enjoyment from ‘spending’ (in the form of bargain hunting) rather than from ‘saving’? (See quoted post by @hademall above).

 

[losh1971]

Yes Chrisp I do love hunting out good deals on stuff I want which make me happy three-fold. It makes our experiences more enjoyable by having some things that makes life more comfortable and less annoying, and less reliant on others, the stuff we have can also be shared and I also like it when I can buy that thing at the price I want to pay while not spending extra on petrol to get to the place where its located. I'm all over the place with online buying and with the Net so easy to find stuff I can end up with lots of things I want while getting the best possible price.

 

[vc commodore]

There is some very wise words in the post above. It’s definitely a post that is worthwhile reading carefully and taking in the full meaning.

One realisation I have made is that everything we buy, no matter how good or high quality, will one day end up in the trash/junk/recycling/garage-sale/deceased-estate-sale. So, I try to remember that when buying something - and remind myself that this thing I’m buying is ultimately destined for the bin. It doesn’t mean it’s a waste of money, but rather just acknowledge that things wear out, become obsolete, or break eventually. Things, like ourselves, do have a limited life. So, I buy for pleasure and to make my life easier. But I do acknowledge that all that ‘buying’ is ‘spending’ money.

In the end, we can’t take it (money or things) with us, so we might as well enjoy ’it’ while we are here. I’ve seen people save every penny obsessively and die with a fortune in the bank (for their heirs to spend). And I’ve seen people who spend as quickly as they earn (and sometimes even quicker) and have no savings at all and struggle if anything untoward should happen. Fortunately, there is a wide range between those two extremes where we can buy what we need, and buy things for pleasure too. And also save to cover the ‘rainy day’ and for a comfortable retirement for when we decide that we no longer wish to work.

And @losh1971 , I wasn’t intending to cause upset. Rather I was just pointing out that ‘saving’ and ‘spending’ are not the same at all. Even though we are constantly bombarded with advertising that implies that we can ‘save’ by ‘buying’ - ’spending to save’ is actually an oxymoron. Spending is not saving! It’s the opposite. I’m just ‘calling a spade a spade’, spending is not saving. I suspect that you might be getting enjoyment from ‘spending’ (in the form of bargain hunting) rather than from ‘saving’? (See quoted post by @hademall above).

The way I see it, I save money where I can so I can spend it somewhere else....

Geez, over the past 6 months, I was burning through a few hundred bucks worth of fuel every 2 weeks just on the weekend, just jumping behind the wheel travelling round my state....I saved in other areas to be able to do that. If I didn't, I wouldn't have been able to do it.....So people have to look at the big picture when it comes to the word saving and what the aim is with saving, as I have just shown....

And buying stuff, I know it'll end up in the bin when I cark it and couldn't really careless.....If they sell it, good chance they'll get SFA for it, because they won't know what the feck it's actually for.....(They're not mechanically minded)....So if there is any fighting for the money from it, it'll be SFA...And fighting for the cash left when I'm dead, again will be SFA....

The house...Don't care...I won't be around to worry about it....

And finally, I know people will think I'm a dcik with this thought process and I don't really care.....I have seen the rifts in families caused by money when someone dies, hence my thought process

 

[Skylarking]

I prefer to spend that money on stuff that we get to keep and can use over and over.

Sounds like you’re a hunter gatherer

Just stay away from the second hand oats

 

[Skylarking]

This is true but basically what you are saying is what Maslow says we need and nothing more.

Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others. Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our behavior. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is what motivates us, and so on.​

In essence, and I’m no expert in such philosophy, Maslow‘s motivations will drive us to fulfil our needs until our wants become our needs, ad infinitum … and I’d add until consumerism devours the world we all live in.

Basically we are all a carbon based infestation on this planet, so may as well enjoy the little time we have on this globe before the shite hits the fan… and if that’s the oxymoron spending to save, that’s ok by me

Not really a gobsmacked in a good way moment but there you have it

 

[chrisp]

My son’s girlfriend’s car had a flat battery this weekend. I removed the battery (in the dark) and gave it a charge to get an idea of its health. It was a very big battery for a relatively small car - 75Ah ( bigger than fitted to most V8s). It was only then that I realised that I was either dealing with an ISS (stop-start) or a diesel engine. It’s a turbo diesel Honda, so that explained the large battery. My reason for recharging the battery was twofold. I wanted to be sure it was a battery issue, and I also wanted a battery sufficiently good and charged to be able to assess the car’s recharging system.

I could only find my small battery charger that night, but it was sufficient. It put out 2.5 A and I roughly monitored the current (dc clamp meter) and the battery voltage. Rough mental mathematics and I worked out the battery was getting to ‘full charged’ with only about 20Ah. So, definitely a stuffed battery. I was a little confused initially as I carefully checked for any battery vents before pulling the battery out (remember, I was doing this in the dark, and on the street). Absolutely no sign of any vents. But, when recharging the battery in my workshop, I saw it was a ‘roadside club’ battery and a calcium battery. So, it wasn’t the original, and it should have a vent - unless the RACV fitted the wrong battery. A bit of search on Google confirmed it wasn’t meant to be a calcium battery, so the lack of a vent was okay.

The good bit.. just about every car parts place had a 20% off sale this weekend. So, most were quoting about $80 off. But even better, my son works at a car parts place so he gets staff discount. We ended up getting way more off - practically half price. He is in the good-books with his girlfriend.