It’s Good To Be Broke Sometimes
I mentioned in passing in an earlier post that my brother has a bunch of HD-DVDs because he backed the wrong horse in the high definition DVD wars. Apparently Blu-Ray won, and from here forward the high definition DVDs are going to be Blu-Ray and not HD-DVD. If I was him, I’d be really upset right now.
He’s not really that upset, because he’s a 29 year old “professional” with too few expenses and too much free time (he still lives with my parents… mama’s boy lol) so he’ll just buy more Blu-Ray DVDs and call the HD-DVD system a loss. We are in very different places in life, him and I. I’d seriously want to send the smackdown somewhere right now.
I realized, thinking about it, that avoiding things like this is a significant side benefit of being broke. I am not generally an early adopter of new technology anyway, but my spouse is a techie kind of guy and likes his toys. If we had a lot of discretionary income, he might have bought some kind of high def player. Well, I guess we’d need a high def TV first. But because of our financial situation, he has never even suggested it. In fact, he willingly gave up his Playstation 3 fund to help pay for our car repair and has not complained about it since. He knows that we have different and more significant priorities than new technology right now.
Sometimes, it is good to be broke. Almost. There’s still that broke part…
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February 21st, 2008 at 8:00 am
Although I agree, not being an early adopter is a good thing, I don’t think it’s an advantage of being broke :). I mean, yea, it’s great that you’re not just jumping willy nilly onto the latest tech bandwagon (And I assure you, doing so is a great way to make you broke) but I wouldn’t say it’s a benefit of not being able to pay for it…
Then again, silver lining :).
February 21st, 2008 at 8:07 am
I completely agree with you! It’s not always fun refraining from purchasing all the new electronics and gizmos. I’m not even a techie, but I sure do enjoy a computer that works well and fast and a nice flat TV to watch movies on. However, those kinds of items are not in our budget for now. On the plus side, we have family membes and friends who love to keep up with the Joneses and give us all their castoffs! We have received an LCD tv from my in laws because it was “too much trouble” for them to sell it and some flat screen computer monitors from a friend who was just going to throw them out when he upgraded to a new Mac! So, all in all, we’ve learned receiving others’ castoffs because you’re broke and they feel sorry for you can be a very good thing.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:24 am
The way I see it, by the time I’m able to afford an iPhone, it’ll be a million times better and cheaper. And that reflection makes me happy.
The other thing I think is that I ignore my cell phone for days at a time (other than to periodically pick it up and look for messages). So why would I even want some of these fancy blackberries/iPhones, etc.
The whole hi def DVDs were just far beyond my reach, since you needed so much fancy equipment to enjoy them and I don’t care enough.
Like you, I’m glad I haven’t wasted my money on them.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:51 am
My husband has been waiting on the high-def dvds and player for that very reason - waiting to see what technology wins out.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:58 pm
I agree! Not having the money to throw at technology now, means that you avoid the pitfalls of it being “old news” in 6 months. We are always the last family in the neighborhood to have the “it” technology, but I don’t care, we save a ton of money by waiting.
The only DVDs we buy are for the kids, because they will watch them over and over again until they know all the words by heart! LOL. We occasionally rent DVDs for us “grown ups”, but I’d rather spend my money on other things.
Take Care
LJ
February 21st, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Another trap of new technology is they never get all the kinks out the first time. We try and wait for the second wave of production on things like out Apple laptops and such. Plus, in the case of Apple, when something new comes out, they drop the price on the older stuff!
February 21st, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Oh, but …what about the Mac Air laptop that fits inside an envelope…now that is super special. I won’t be getting one, but it sure is nice looking.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Giving up the PS3 fund… wow, that’s love!