In advance, I was not sure where to post this; OffMyChest, NoStupidQuestions or here. Decided to do it here because it is mainly a question. However, I thought it do be better explaining it a little as well.
When I was younger, I could not really get the luxuries I wanted. Just like many others, my parents did not have heaps of wealth to spend. I did not have it bad, got a roof above my head, education, food and such. Parents would spend on luxuries if they could. My siblings usually bought the more expensive things (Atari, Nintendo, PS1 and PS2 etc). My parents did purchase PS4 and a decent gaming pc for me back in the day. One time my father told me ‘’if you just show that you are seriously studying and if money allows, I will get you anything in luxury. However, money is the boss’’ (money is the boss as in, only if we got enough money to spent for it and not get into financial issues).
Because of that I have learnt to live kind of frugal in terms of money (for myself). I find it hard to spend money on expensive things. It took months to purchase a great gaming PC and a Steam Deck (loving the heck of it though). However, spending money on my parents (mostly my mother) is no issue. I do it without a thinking, as long as I know it makes them happy.
Now, I always wanted a MacBook since I was a teenager. I can afford to get one, I saved up for it and will not have any financial issues. I budget ever since getting my job, everything is already set (saving up for car stuff, emergency funds for both myself and parents, pension saving and even saved up for new glasses for whenever that’s needed). Yet with all of that, I still feel not comfortable paying a lot for something that’s ‘’not necessary’’ and that’s just a ‘’luxury product’’. I feel like the money, I would spent for the MacBook could better be saved towards either emergency funds or car stuff (car theory exam, the car itself etc).
Now, I’m curious if other people deal (or have dealt) with this and what is this called? How to be more at ease with spending for fun instead of always being on edge.
Note: I checked the rules and it said this is not a support community but that seemed more related to tech-stuff. If it was also meant for this kind of question. Apologies, I will ask in another community.
I’m really bad at spending stuff on myself also. I like prioritising paying back loans, buying stock and so on since it pays itself back later on.
The way I look at it is that the less I spend on luxuries the less I have to work (currently and in retirement) so I don’t feel weird about it.
Another rule of thumb is to delay purchases by 3 months and it doesn’t set back your financial goals. If you’ve been wanting this Macbook now for 3 months and you have the money for it and you feel comfortable with your current financial situation I’d tell you to get it. If it’s an expensive car it’s a financial catastrophy usually so don’t get it even if you’ve wanted it for 3 months.
No idea if that helps but don’t feel weird about being frugal. Frugality is incredibly useful and can set you up for an easy life.
I impulse bought a MacBook Air a couple months ago because it was a great deal and my old Mac I still use is a 2011 MacBook Pro. I then had a longish hospital stay and used my new air 24 hours a day for a week and a half. It saved my life, I love it so much.
At home now I’m still mostly on my W10 or Linux desktops, but I bust the air out still to text people with a full keyboard or just have another machine handy to look things up. I hope I can keep it for as long as my 2011 MBP!
I think the general question you always need to ask when buying something “nonessential” is: will I use this enough to justify the cost?”
Whether that’s a MacBook or a car or a gaming console or even a $0.99 app.
Just be honest with yourself. I once bought a MacBook Pro because I decided I was going to develop iPhone apps. I never learned Objective C. I barely used the laptop at all. It was a waste of money, plus stressing over the guilt of never using it.
Flip side: you only live once. Don’t trap yourself in a mindset that you always need to save every penny and never enjoy yourself with small things.
Everyone exists somewhere in the spectrum between saving and spending. Figure out where you live on that spectrum and make your purchasing decisions accordingly.
First, it is better for you that your natural instinct as you’ve gotten wealthier is to still maintain your cheap habits. It is better for your finances to spend under your means than over them.
But now, you can start looking into more than just cash flow to justify the,cost. Your time has value now, so you should consider the time value when making financial decisions. You should also look at things like total life cycle cost; a MacBook is generally well built and is on the higher end of life.
I would also start to set financial goals. If you have an idea of what you want financially in your life, it can help you decide if you have the money to splurge on some essentials.
I do a lot of budgeting, and I use the “pool” method.
A lot of people recommend the 50-30-20 rule: 50% of your money goes to fixed expenses, 30% goes to discretionary spending, and 20% to savings.
I tweaked that a bit and made it 60-20-30, with the 60% being for essentials…things like clothing is included.
That 20% goes towards any guilt-free spending. I’ve covered everything I need, and this is money I’m allowed to spend on whatever I want…guilt-free.
so you get to spend 110%? that must be awesome!
Lots of people do that. It’s how they end up in crippling debt.
Go broke or go home
As far as MacBooks go, it’s easy for me. Every Mac I’ve owned has outlasted Windows/Linux PCs to the point of being the more frugal option if the upfront cost is affordable.
That doesn’t take into account whether you need Windows specific software—mostly games and some technical, industry specific software. Sometimes Wine/Crossover or virtualization is an option.
That said, balance your necessities, your emergency fund, your retirement fund. If those are reasonably covered, you’re in the position for a big spend especially on something durable that also makes life easier.
I have a similar childhood history. One thing that works for me is comparing what the daily use cost for the thing is. Like with a laptop, it may cost $2k, and I may use it almost every day for 5 years, which comes out to a little over one dollar a day which is not too expensive. However, something like a pair of binoculars that may cost like $500, but I only use them 4 times a year for 5 years would be $25 per day that I use them even though they cost 1/4 as much as the laptop.
Also with the laptop, if you use it every day, going from a $1k laptop with a daily use cost of $0.50 a day to $1.00 a day is not a major jump in total daily cost, so going for a more expensive laptop that is going to make your daily experience better may be worth it, whereas going for binoculars that cost twice as much would cost $25 more per use, which is a much more significant dollar amount per use.
Another way to assess the laptop price it is to compare everything else that costs you $1 a day. You may even be able to cut out $1 a day from your budget. Like if you live in a cold climate, just don’t warm up your car as long every day. Or buy a small size food thing instead of a large. Or skip eating out one day every two weeks.
I’m sure some folks will disagree with this though process, but it has worked for me, and has helped me assess the value of things in my life that I may not give much thought to because they are not glamorous, like a mattress.
I’m the same. We’re remodeling a house and when i see the price of an item i do hours and hours of research trying to save a few bucks, which delays everything. We began remodeling Jan 6. Could be done by now if i were less wishy washy.
With that first and last paragraph, in addition to your question, it sounds like you don’t have the confidence to decide this purchase on your own.
Whereas spending money on car stuff, emergency funds or your parents must have been generally approved by whoever you fear consequences from. (looks like your father (or parents?) when you were a child)
You can obv. just go ahead and buy that MacBook, as a form of exposure therapy. Buy it, accept the potential fallout from that action and come out the other side with a MacBook.
If even small luxuries, like a small figurine make you anxious, you could search for something small you like and buy that first and ‘work your way up’.
Alternatively you need to do the deep soul searching and process all those emotions around spending and saving money. Which future does your fear try to save you from? What happens to you, or your family, when you spend that money? Why do you budget (emotionally)? Why is spending money on family (luxuries?) ok? When is it not? What does a MacBook represent to you?
If I need it and it’s worth the price then I don’t worry about spending money on it. Especially when talking about one time or long term purchases such as a laptop (which as an extremely satisfied MacBook user I highly recommend)
Subscribtion services and meals are the ones I take issue with. I dont want to pay high price for something and then have nothing to show for it. I will not pay 5 euros for a cup of coffee no matter what - it’s not worth that to me. With items you technically didn’t lose any value - you just traded cash for an object.
My partner and I share all money, and we don’t really spend a lot other then on food, shelter, and the like. This means we have a fairly decent sum of money pooled for the future.
Similar to your first paragraph, if there’s something either of us have been talking about for a while and we find a really good price on it, we just get it without worrying. I was looking for deals on a new Apple Watch a couple months ago because we’re still using the first one that came out and it’s crazy slow and the battery only lasts eight hours now (they’re like a decade old.)
I didn’t find any watch deals, but I found a killer deal on an m4 MacBook Air. We’ve been talking about transferring our pictures off of our 2011 15” MacBook pro that still works great (added SSD, doubled RAM) because it’s so old. Instantly picked up the air. (Turns out a couple weeks later I had to hospital for a week and a half and that air was the BEST THING EVER for me there, being able to watch any movie I want ever and play games was a BOON)
I did recently find a big discount on new Apple Watches too, so I picked us both up a new one. We’ve been alluding to wanting a fresh one for five years or so—if we keep these new watches for a decade again, that’s an extremely worthy purchase!
I know Lemmy hates Apple, but I gotta say, all of the Apple shit I buy, I use for stupidly long times. Each phone has been 4-6 years, my 2011 MBP still serves me well, both of our old AirPods are like eight years old and my partner and I used them 40+ hours a week at work for years, and they still hold a charge fine…
I love my W10 machines for games and Linux for doing behind-the-scenes stuff, but damn if that little MacBook wasn’t the exact thing I needed sitting in the hospital for an eternity. I hope I can keep it for a decade lawl
My only white whale lately has been a Herman miller aeron. As soon as I find a good quality used one cor 300-500USD, I’m on my way. We took a trip a couple towns over recently to look at one for 400USD but I realized the recline lock was broken so they wouldn’t sell it to me, they just took my number and said they’d call if a fully working one comes in. …I’d take the broken one for 150 bux if it can’t be fixed… It was so damn comfy I would just leave it in the living room and sit there whenever company is over.
MacBooks are easy. Buy it.
Don’t like it? You can easily sell it for 70-80% retail in a year
I have a VERY comprehensive budget that I do every year. Things often don’t go according to plan but they go better than if I didn’t have a plan at all. I’m also pretty frugal so I don’t like spending money on non-essentials if I don’t have to.
However, the thing that I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is that there is a very close relationship between time and money. Now I have more money than time which has required me to shift my thinking a bit.
For instance, around the house I frequently run into projects that I could do with the tools I already have. But, there’s an expensive power tool that will either help me do the job better or reduce the time it takes to do the project. If I think the tool will meet either of those criteria and I will use it more than once, I’ll usually buy it.
Time is finite. If I can buy some of it back or maximize the value I’m getting from it, it’s worth it to me to spend a little money.
I’m the same as you. Even if I want something and can afford it, I will hold back longer than necessary. Sometimes I just don’t end up buying the thing, and I’m fine.
It’s much easier to justify practical purchases, or just save the money. I think this comes from living with financial struggles and wanting to be prepared.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, and it may be beneficial to be frugal and picky about your spending. Clearly it’s working if your budget is planned and in action. Just remember it’s ok to treat yourself once in a while and enjoy it.
It’s not a bad problem to have, TBH. The thing that stood out to me is what you consider “not necessary.” Other than this, you seem to have figured out a sensible budget, and you’re prioritizing your future self. I have the same thoughts whenever I make a large purchase, and sometimes they win out. Sometimes they don’t. The thing is do you feel like your frugality is keeping you from something, or negatively impacting your life?
How much money is coming in every month (salary + other income)? How much money is going out (bills, food, subscriptions, other recurring expenses)? How much are you putting towards short and long term savings each month?
Once you’ve set aside those categories, the remainder is what you can spend without worrying about needing to take away from your more essential obligations.
I’m a miser, so I’d think hard about whether I really need a MacBook. If I felt I’d make do with the PCs I had, and wouldn’t open the Macbook much then it’s not worth, but if it would be my daily driver then it would be. Divide the price by the number of hours you’d use it. And then just spend less discretionally for a couple months until you build up the buffer again.
