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How to deal with GAS
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| Looney4Clooney |
I've been on a serious bender and i feel guilty stupid.
I mean , what sort of things do you guys do or say to maybe stop you from buying stuff you probably don't need.
ie . i have an euphonic mix and artist control, i honestly don't even need the mix addon . but some guy is selling his mix for 600. So great deal, wont' use it. What sort of training would one do to stop that feeling of missing out on something you wouldn't miss in the first p[lace. I've sort of thought about, well will this make me work faster or smarter, the answer is no, can i get this any other time, yes. but i still have this urge.
yes GAS has been brought up, but i'm trying to fight these impulse buys. I am running out of space. I dont' feel bad buying collector item stuff. That is intended to not be used. But stuff you buy because you think , oh that would be nice. But when you think really hard, you wonder , will i use this. Probably not.
Is it like a psychological thing ?like when you get self help books. The act in buying it makes you feel like you are taking control of your life but they are all the same. And you end up not doing any of it because it is all stuff you knew beforew but didn't bother.
so ya, what steps do you take before buying something. |
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| Beatflux |
Gear filling a void?
Seems like an expensive way to get a quick fix. |
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| tehlord |
Have a kid
Anything you ever want ever again will be become irrelevant forever. |
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| Beatflux |
| quote: | Originally posted by tehlord
Have a kid
Anything you ever want ever again will be become irrelevant forever. |
Have a kid
Sell the kid
buy more gear |
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| DJ RANN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
I've been on a serious bender and i feel guilty stupid.
I mean , what sort of things do you guys do or say to maybe stop you from buying stuff you probably don't need.
ie . i have an euphonic mix and artist control, i honestly don't even need the mix addon . but some guy is selling his mix for 600. So great deal, wont' use it. What sort of training would one do to stop that feeling of missing out on something you wouldn't miss in the first p[lace. I've sort of thought about, well will this make me work faster or smarter, the answer is no, can i get this any other time, yes. but i still have this urge.
yes GAS has been brought up, but i'm trying to fight these impulse buys. I am running out of space. I dont' feel bad buying collector item stuff. That is intended to not be used. But stuff you buy because you think , oh that would be nice. But when you think really hard, you wonder , will i use this. Probably not.
Is it like a psychological thing ?like when you get self help books. The act in buying it makes you feel like you are taking control of your life but they are all the same. And you end up not doing any of it because it is all stuff you knew beforew but didn't bother.
so ya, what steps do you take before buying something. |
First suggestion is some specific therapy designed to help overcome what you have already done.
in this case give the Euphonix mix and control to me as I really need them and there's no way I can convince the missus to allow such a purchase. You'll feel good about it and that it;s not going to waste. I'll even send you pictures every so often of it in a good home.
Secondly (and now to the serious part (unless you want to send it to me)) is take 24 hours think over the purchase. If you still want it the next day then buy it.
Honestly, my parents virtually had to beat this in to me as I was one of the worst impluse buyers when I was younger. I'd get the fever and only sheer material lack of funds would be the only stopgap. The first time it really stuck with me was when a mate was selling some turntables - they seemed legit but I wasn't familiar with the exact model. My mate was doing the pressure sales thing about other people wanting them if I didn't take them etc. I didn't have the cash and asked to borrow it off my parents who told me to wait - I missed the deal and was super pissed with them, giving them tons of for missing out. However, i looked in to the exact model and it turned out the decks were utter dog and dodged the bullet.
I taught myself to sleep on any purchase and it's been great advice. Nearly, every time I've made an impulse or rush purchase since then has been a mistake and has proved the need to wait. If it's really that good deal, it's legit and you really need it, it will still be available the next morning, and if not c'est la vie. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
i'm a workaholic, and very impulsive, so when i can rationalize. oh well i this will help my music thus it is not a purchase on me but an investment to my future. I mean ever since i had money doing a paper route, i would spend it on something music related. By 15, i had about 15 000 in music instrument stuff.
But i think this has always been a sort of way to feel better about where i am musically. most musicians, composers . producers, no matter how good they get, always feel like they could be so much better. I think it just comes with the territory. I mean you don't get that good by being content. It is a compulsive irrational need to be the best. And i think this is what triggers it. Because i don't spend money in any other domain. I have a hard time spending 200$ on drinks at a bar. But i will drop 10 000 on something music related without even thinking. |
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| chris marsh |
This has been helping me recently:
1)look at your savings and bank account
2) think about all the expenditures that are looming in the not too distant future
I have a lot of house related expenses coming up, and a big (0 percent interest) loan to pay back that we used towards a deposit on our flat, so this has been a great GAS turn off of late
(if your rich this wont work of course) :)
Or
Operate on a one in one out kind of basis, sell what you dont use for something else |
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| Looney4Clooney |
the idea of buying property scares the out of me. In some ways i live day to day, such as normal expenses. Then in some other ways, i do things that will only show their fruits maybe in 10-20 years. like the music part, the stuff i study , to master might take another 10-20 years, and i know that , and make exercises based on a timeline that stretches 5 years. But money wise, one month at a time.
And selling, i just hate the idea of it. I always feel like i lost something. And money has no value to me. Like i have a hard time associating money to anything. I need a tangible good or service. Even as a kid, i always withdrew my money and kept it in a box. In fact i would spend less the more money i had because now the money became a collection. The wads of 20s was now something i would collect. |
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| chris marsh |
perhaps you could start putting your money into a property/ saving for that deposit instead of new production gear?
it is, afterall, one of the best investments regular people can make, and now is not a bad time to buy with the recession and all.
I guess there may be a fine line between being a collector and being a hoarder :) ALthough having a fine collection of desirable audio gear is much more glamerous than the normal crap that ive seen accumulated in peoples flats in my job! |
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| Kysora |
being able to purchase whatever you want on a whim is a lot better than wanting you have no way of affording for years
, I've wanted a fractal audio axe-fx for years. $1,500. I can't even entertain the idea of spending that much. I envy the out of people with GAS. |
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| DJ RANN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
i'm a workaholic, and very impulsive, so when i can rationalize. oh well i this will help my music thus it is not a purchase on me but an investment to my future. I mean ever since i had money doing a paper route, i would spend it on something music related. By 15, i had about 15 000 in music instrument stuff.
But i think this has always been a sort of way to feel better about where i am musically. most musicians, composers . producers, no matter how good they get, always feel like they could be so much better. I think it just comes with the territory. I mean you don't get that good by being content. It is a compulsive irrational need to be the best. And i think this is what triggers it. Because i don't spend money in any other domain. I have a hard time spending 200$ on drinks at a bar. But i will drop 10 000 on something music related without even thinking. |
Here's the problem then - you should try to make yourself understand that buying something you will not need - something essentially useless - even if it is related to your work and source of income, is not an investment, but a simple waste of money.
I think you're someone that understand efficiency, and this is the polar opposite.
Put yourself in the mindset that these things are actually obstacles to your final goal (you would spend less time on this crap, not to mention have more money to buy things that actually matter or at least things you really like to collect as a hobby such as scores or vintage mics or SS uniforms etc).
Your disassociation to money is because you can get paid large sums relatively quickly. If you've ever not been able to make rent or buy food, without any safety net, money gets valued as life (sadly). I've been there and will never go back - I grew up poor, but not wanting, and later when I left home there were a couple of times that were straight out of pursuit of happiness. That's always in the back of my mind and is at least a subconscious driver to where I have got today and my current holdings which are in pretty good shape. I'm not telling you lose everything, just think about how it would be if you did, and use that to make sure it never happens. You also certainly have a taste for the finer things and think what it would be like to never have access to those things; it will give you some perspective about hanging on to money and wanting long term assets such as a house (or several) a business. It's not about material things, it's about stability and quality of life. |
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