Buying things you need versus Buying things you want

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The first is hard. The second is easy.

For me at the moment I need new DJ headphones, at least I'm sick of using crap ones and this is a useful product I will probably have for years if I spend the cash on. I want Harmon Kardon Soundsticks PC Speakers. They look cool and I'm sick of crappy laptop speakers or having to use my headphones in the computer. But I don't NEED the speakers.

It is so hard to buy something that just sort of...keeps you at the same level you were at already, eg headphones. There's nothing new about them! I can't be the only one who gets this...

― Ronan, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:23 (eighteen years ago)

That's true, but then if you put off buying things you need for ages, and then finally get round to it, you get a huge sense of satisfaction. Whereas if you buy something cool but non-essential, you just feel a bit naughty, which is fun in its own way but less cockle-warming.

― braveclub, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:27 (eighteen years ago)

What's worse than both is having to replace things you once really wanted and now already have - ie the sudden rush of horror after you realise you've fully submerged your iPod in the toilet, or poured beer into your Powerbook.

Any expenditure purely as a result of your own idiocy = awful.

― Matt DC, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:29 (eighteen years ago)

Ronan dude I have a spare pair of decent quality speakers I will sell you.

― Matt DC, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:30 (eighteen years ago)

generally things I need cost a heckuva lot less than the things I want, so there's always a nice balance.

as i've only recently become a solo house owner buying things like house plants, new furniture, tools, dining sets, cooking utensils, mops, is actually loads of fun and makes me feel so grown up

i counteract this by buying lego, video games, and bmx's

― Ste, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:46 (eighteen years ago)

Any expenditure purely as a result of your own idiocy = awful.

I've always framed this as a Stupid Tax. It's a tax that only stupid people pay, and the more stupid things you do, the more you have to pay. Taxation ranges from leaving a fiver in your jeans pocket when you wash them, all the way up to confusing your laptop with a mug of tea.

I NEVER buy things I want. I wait until they become things I a) need or b) don't want anymore.

― The Wayward Johnny B, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:54 (eighteen years ago)

....vs. being rich enough to not really care about the difference?

― Masonic Boom, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:55 (eighteen years ago)

I want Harmon Kardon Soundsticks PC Speakers.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/images/products/mlrg/A0409503.jpg

― nathalie, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:56 (eighteen years ago)

If that's what they look like then I want them too.

― Ms Misery, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:57 (eighteen years ago)

Okay I want those speakers as well now.

― Matt DC, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:57 (eighteen years ago)

What with that and the bottle of San Pellegrino I bought the other day I'm starting to wonder whether or not Ronan's being employed by some kind of ultra-effective new-fangled marketing machine.

― Matt DC, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:58 (eighteen years ago)

AMPy has those. They look cool, but they're not all that.

Actually, I should buy a stereo. I do actually really need a good quality stereo, and nothing is really stopping me except fear of going into Richer Sounds and then ringing the VIRGIN ALERT BELL when they discover I'm a first time buyer. But I just end up buying more CDs or ordering books from the Folio Society instead or something.

― Masonic Boom, Friday, 9 March 2007 14:58 (eighteen years ago)

Richard Sounds are lovely and won't rip you off. The ones round here are good at least, they replaced my amp when it broke even though it was outside of warranty!

― The Wayward Johnny B, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:00 (eighteen years ago)

San Pellegrino, Harmon Kardon speakers, and minimal house. That's how my days off will be spent in the future.

― Ronan, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:05 (eighteen years ago)

This thread has been sponsored by

http://www.richersounds.com/images/header.gif

― Matt DC, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:08 (eighteen years ago)

those speakers are only like, 130 euro or something.

i've heard tell that the sound from them is extremely good too. plus look at them! SEX SPEAKERS!

― Ronan, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:09 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, actually, AMP says that is the best thing about her speakers - they give any music/sound geek that comes within sight of them total instant hard on.

― Masonic Boom, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:10 (eighteen years ago)

They look a bit dildo-esque as well.

― Matt DC, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:11 (eighteen years ago)

Thank you for saying what everyone was thinking anyway!

― Laurel, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:13 (eighteen years ago)

I know there is a better photo of AMPy's soundsticks on her Flickr, but I can't find it, so this one will have to do:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/27/41492287_7f4d003682.jpg

― Masonic Boom, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:16 (eighteen years ago)

"imagine our surprise when we discovered a hollowed-out model of the erect human cock is actually a perfect resonance chamber"

― TOMBOT, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:18 (eighteen years ago)

"even if you just use the glans, you've still got an amazing subwoofer enclosure"

― TOMBOT, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:19 (eighteen years ago)

I have Soundsticks also. The sound is okay, nothing mindboggling, but they do look good.

― Rock Hardy, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:21 (eighteen years ago)

listeners will revel in a urethra stuffed with bass

― Ronan, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:22 (eighteen years ago)

Am I sick if I want to see some Soundsticks pr0n? Sunn O))) turned up to 11 would make those things buzz very nicely, amirite?

― Rock Hardy, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:24 (eighteen years ago)

xpost!

― Rock Hardy, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:24 (eighteen years ago)

not quite the same but. . .

― Ms Misery, Friday, 9 March 2007 15:26 (eighteen years ago)

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