The Temptation to Spend More 2 Get More

Before Purchasing:

You might remember that I’ve been planning to get an iPod. I keep going back and forth in my thinking about it though, originally I wanted to get the iPodnano 16 GB in pink (I know it’s girly). Now I’m thinking whether or not I really need 16 GB, why can’t I just be fine with the 8 GB model? The price difference is about 30 bucks for twice as much storage, wouldn’t that be a better deal?

Right now I have 11.09 GB of music in iTunes, so numerically, the 16gb model seems to make more sense…right? It would take me 7.2 days of constantly listening (no sleep or anything) to go through every song I have. Honestly, I don’t listen to all of the music I have—usually I make playlists of my favorites or listen to a song here and there. But never all of it.

Why does it feel like I must have all of my music on an iPod at once? It’s not like I’m going to be away from my computer for too long—especially since that’s how I prefer to charge my iPod. Having so much music on there would just get overwhelming anyway when trying to find something to listen to, as well as time consuming. But for only 30 dollars more, I could have it all on there. Shouldn’t I spend just a little bit more to get a better deal? I’m starting to think NO.

It’s not going to kill me to deselect a couple hundred songs (or however many it takes) that I never listen to. Just because they won’t all be on my iPod, doesn’t mean they’ll be gone forever. I can afford to buy either one, so it’s not so much about saving money as it is about not spending more money to get more than I need.

After Purchasing:

It only took me about 5 minutes to skim through my music and deselect enough to get under 8 GB. I just scanned down the list and was like “I never listen to that” *click*, it was really easy.  I’m really feeling silly now, why did I think I would need more? To some people, paying an extra 30 dollars for an additional 8 GB might make sense but it’s not just about saving the money with me. It’s more about only getting what we need (or really want) but not in excess.

It reminds me of the other day when I was going through stuff to reduce the amount we had. I was looking through my pens, mechanical pencils, markers, highlighters and sharpies—I had so much. I couldn’t believe it, when did I start doing this? It was like I was collecting them or something, I had about 30 pens, 8 or so mechanical pencils, 12 markers, around 15 highlighters and about 20-something sharpies. Freak!

I can proudly say that now I only have:  5 pens, 4 highlighters and 4 Sharpies. I am no longer overwhelmed with abundance and clutter (at least in regards to writing utensils). If I need something then I still have what I need. Sure I could have kept more but when I really thought about it, I just realized that I didn’t need as much as I thought.

 

Do you ever struggle with the temptation?

About Jen Perkins

Likes: saving money, being debt free (aside from our house), zombies, travel, getting money, blogging and dogs. Dislikes: debt, being broke, bunnies, wasting money, not having enough money to travel the world and paying interest. Facebook  ♥  Twitter  ♥  Google+  ♥  RSS

Comments

The Temptation to Spend More 2 Get More — 12 Comments

  1. I understand and agree with your thinking but on the iPod :) I think more in preparing for future. Maybe you’ll start downloading movies, tv shows, podcasts… More music… That extra storage now would keep you from buying a new one later on. But then again the next one will be way cooler with new features :)

    • I know a lot of people like watching tiny movies and tv shows, but not me. I never really liked watching them on my iPod touch, too small for me to enjoy. I’m planning to focus more on the music, also I’m not really sure what all you can do with the iPod nano 6th generation.

  2. This is the bane of my budget. I am a sucker for a good deal – even on something that I absolutely do not need. My biggest financial struggle is to simply purchase what I need – even if the upgrade that I don’t need is just a few dollars more.

  3. I struggled with similar thinking when I got my new iPod over 2 years ago. To solve the problem, I went the refurbished route. I got more space for the same amount of money. I use the shuffle feature a lot so I’m always hesitant to delete a song.

    I do struggle with temptation. But for me, it’s usually for vacations rather than things. I’m able to deflect the temptation because I don’t have enough vacation time at work!

  4. Thos marketers are so amart. They know exactly how to price each model to make the step-up seems so small and easy. Kudos for holding your ground.

    • Haha. Definitely not. I had a lot of songs from old CDs and other places. 😉 I probably have spent under $100 on paid downloads since I got my 1st iPod (years ago). That would be crazy to buy them one by one.

  5. Being a family of 6, our family struggles with “the temptation” a lot. We are a 3 iPod family – all of them 8GB versions :)