Hello again Lemmy! I have another question.

Context: I took a motorcycle safety class, was nervous but enjoyed it, researched motorcycles, found a few I liked, talked to a dealer about them but ultimately, I couldn’t finalize a deal, talked myself out of it basically.

I was curious how others might justify a purchase that has no purpose other than wanting something.

For clarity, I don’t need anyone to justify me buying a motorcycle. I want to read about your thought processes for buying something you want 🙂

As always thanks for replying and have an awesome day/night!!

  • sylver_dragon@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    3 days ago

    For me, it’s a kinda simple rubrick:

    • First and foremost, is the money actually available - I was a pretty bad financial fuck-up in my 20’s. I learned a lot about money and credit, but the cost of that education was a lot higher than I would have liked. So, being sure the money is actually there and won’t cause me trouble down the line is always the first thing. Credit is OK for some major (generally secured) purposes, but frivolities should be cash in hand.
    • Second, do your homework - If you plan to make a major purchase, spend some time researching the thing, its costs and everything else about it before hand. We live in an amazing time of information availability, go online and learn the upsides and downsides to the thing. Also, try to get a feel for the cost of the thing. You should go in knowing what you want, the features you’re looking to get on said thing and have a rough idea of how much the thing will cost.
    • Third, “Wind the clock” - this means that you should step away from any major purchase and take some time to consider it. If the sales critter insists that they won’t be able to make the same deal tomorrow, don’t walk, run. Time pressure is the most basic sales tactic. If the deal isn’t going to look good to me when I reevaluate it tomorrow, I sure as fuck don’t want to take it today. It’s not that I won’t make a purchase the same day, but I also go in willing to drive down the street and start negotiations over again with the next sales critter.
    • Finally, it’s just money - If you have the money and have the right deal for the right thing, quit your belly-aching and commit. Ya, you probably just fucked up and you’ll learn that as you go. But, the experience will probably be valuable to you. Maybe it won’t quite reach the value of the money it cost you, but you’re unlikely to actually know that until after you’ve spent it. Money sitting in the bank won’t buy you happiness. Money spent on experiences might. So, go spend some money. Have those experiences and realize that you can always make more money, you cannot make more time.
    • randomcruft@lemmy.sdf.orgOP
      2·
      3 days ago

      I was like you, pretty bad about money in my younger years. Sadly, I think I went full 180 and now I’m hyper concerned about it.

      Specific to this, I have the money and it wouldn’t impact me negatively (meaning the emergency fund would still be there).

      The dealer was great no pressure. They currently have a great deal on one. I did take a step back and waited a few days. I’m still thinking about it though… maybe because it’s such a good deal.

      I’ll work on not belly aching (that made me laugh) but I have found that as I get older… being an adult gets in the way of being happy or having fun, well, for me it does.

      Thank you so much for the response and things to consider!!