Absurd temptation to buy shit I don't need.

[3Hotdogs]

I puzzled about this, coming home from a drive to pick up my grandson from school.

I want to buy stuff I have no need for.

1. A mirrorless camera. I am a fairly good photographer.... made some money off of it and enjoy it. I have a camera which I paid $2,800 for when it was new. It works good. A mirrorless camera would change nothing about my ability to take photographs. In fact, most of my favorite photos were taken with an iPhone 5.

Yet, I still want a mirrorless. I don't expect to buy one but it is still a temptation. I look a the adverts and wonder...

2. Electric bike. I would have no use for one but I want one. No. I will not get one but I want one.

I try to understand why I want stuff.

Do you get similar urges?

[walkingman]

1. It's been a long time for me but I have experienced it before. I actually would like

to have that feeling of great desire for something - I miss it. Of late the "funk" of our times seems overwhelming.

[Tomconroy]

2. I'm at the point I don't need or want stuff, except for clothes

a bit. I'm still a bit of a clothes horse.
I just bought a polo shirt because it had the emblem of Harry's New York bar in Paris.
I must be out of my mind.

[usonian]

3. I upgraded from a point and shoot to mirrorless

So it's somewhat logical. YMMV, of course.

Other than that, I get odd but useful stuff from the thrift stores when I can so it's no pain to part with it later.

The little cam has been so versatile that I skipped DSLR's altogether.

Splurge on nothing else. Rest of my family loves to travel! I live in a photographer's paradise in the Sierra Nevadas and get great photos anyway.

Others have boats and many cars.

[No Vested Interest]

4. For all practical purposes I haven't been in stores since the start of the pandemic,

except for groceries and drug stores. My daughter took me to a shoe store once.

So I've been ordering items from HSN and it's partner QVS (do I have those initials right?)
I've found by trial and error that the shoes and clothing don't work for me, for size or fit reasons, so I get things that sound practical, like motion-activated lights, vitamins or hand creams, and I've even bought food items.
I usually try to get items on special sale and without shipping and handling charges.

Otherwise, I'm looking to pass on items that aren't useful to me, especially family memorabilia, to younger generations.

[pbmus]

5. Every 2 months I splurge on something I want...

Price is important to a point… then again if it’s over a certain amount I will save for 4 or 6 months and then purchase…

I think the state of the world at this time opens up some different behaviors…that satisfy urges of pleasure that can only be duplicated by spending indiscriminately…

🤪😜🤦🏻💣

[dameatball]

6. I was looking at electric bikes a lot last year. For whatever reason the urge has faded a bit.

[Phoenix61]

7. Yep! Bought a set of LED Poi balls.

I was convinced I’d practice every day and get really good with them. I don’t think I’ve used them once. Stashing them in a cabinet was probably not the best idea but it was too cold at night to practice with them and the ceilings are too low to use inside.

[doc03]

8. I would like to have a big ass pickup truck but

have no use for one. I would like to have a motorcycle but I would be dead by the end of summer.

[essaynnc]

9. It's the American Way!

Consume, consume, keep the economic engine going at full speed ahead ! Marketing makes us want things that we really don't need... how about an outside projector for movies on the side of your house? Or maybe an $80,000 truck, conplete with every creature comfort imaginable?

Need? Want? Its almost the same these days. Debt? who cares? Too much stuff for the house? Rent a storage locker !

Just keep buying, cause....America!!!

[IA8IT]

10. Love my mirrorless and wish my grandparents and dad had one for their pictures.

Other than the camera I live a very simple close to the ground life. Never a photographer but always wanted a better photograph. User error is still #1 problem.

[usonian]

11. Joe Frugal here! Almost forgot about pickup trucks.

I had a LITTLE pickup truck for 20 years, until a deer thought it wise to cross the highway.

I got a LITTLE SUV which gets about 50% better gas mileage. And I may keep it until gas vehicles are banned, because it's probably the LAST model year that isn't wired to the internet and reporting everything, down to scratching my nose, to some data broker.

Sure do miss the pickup. Only about once a day, when I have something to haul that's too big or messy for a nice SUV.

Problem with owning two or more vehicles is the logistics of moving them around and maintaining them.

TBH, do I want a chauffeur, housekeeper and grounds keeper?

All that said, perhaps what I *really* want is to move closer to the ocean and civilization, as 7 acres of 10 foot tall brush and poison oak is a bit much to deal with at my age, but "chainsaw I must".

Big picture, I have always viewed possessions as having some present or future utility, so I collected some tools and spare parts (divorce-bait), as opposed to merely "symbolic" wealth such as the trinkets that advertisers want us to own purely to signal something (other than gullibility) For background, read "Money, Sex, War and Karma" by David Loy. The downward spiral of symbolic wealth is that one can never have enough. There will always be someone else richer, more attractive, more popular, and so on), and that suits capitalism just fine.

To the OP's point, ask whether this desire will result in real benefit to yourself and others. Photographs can. Music can. And tools can repair garage doors that someone (else) accidentally knocked akilter.

And also be aware that the term "hoarder" as an insult to mostly normal well-balanced people (ahem, like me) ignores the fact that some people grew up feeling short of all they wanted to grow, like all the electronic kits or telescopes they couldn't afford on a meager allowance, mowing lawns, and so on. Those little desires led to a pretty decent career in optical and electronic/computer engineering.

One thing I have to keep in mind is that while a techie tends to be impressed by "great technology inside" things should "work", like my chainsaw that requires NO TOOLS to open and to reset/replace the chain (YES), or my old cameras that still beat the new ones, and don't even have batteries to run down.

For everything else "neat", I'm building shadow boxes. Heck.

And new computers every 10 years or so!

[3Hotdogs]

12. Thing is, I don't do possessions as show off. Computer is 1 year old but nobody sees it.

Nobody in my social circle sees my present camera or would see a new one. As for the electric bike, I have no where to go with it so it wouldn't be a prestige item if I did buy it.

I do have clutter because of lack of storage space and laziness in cleaning and organizing.

[lastlib]

13. Yep. Awhile back....

...I bought a $1200 fancy wood chess set that I absolutely have no use for, just because it looked spectacularly cool. Okay, it was on clearance, and I only paid $900, but, still, it's amazing what I would rather have than money.

[bif]

14. I'm the same way about cameras

I have Nikon D7000. It's a great camera. I take most pix with my iPhone6. But in the back of my mind, I think I need a new camera. I like the idea of Bluetooth connectivity, but I tell myself, I really don't need a new one. Held off so far.

[3Hotdogs]

15. Check with B & H. You may be able to buy a plug in to the camera

that will allow you to use connectivity.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

16. Most of these urges are probably triggered by the

incessant advertizing most people see on TV. The frame of most consumer items is that your life will be better with it; you'll be richer, smarter, better looking if you have this. It helps a lot that I'm 73 years old, don't have a wide circle of friends, so I also don't have them showing me off the shiny new thing they just got. I have most of what I need already. In 2018 I bought what may well be my last car, and it was a make and model I'd long since decided would be my next one. When I finally had the money to pay cash, I went to a dealership, they had what I wanted, and I got it.

I see almost no conventional advertizing because I don't have a regular TV. I do watch my share of stuff but on streaming sites without commercials. The lack of ads is wonderful for several reasons, and the main benefit is I don't have to waste time ignoring the ads. I am on a limited budget, but my financial situation has improved in recent years, and I'm saving money steadily.

What I spend the bulk of my discretional money on is travel (although much less of that these past three years) and going to science fiction cons. Those have just finally come back as in person events, which makes me very happy.

[3Hotdogs]

17. Spending for experiences, I can justify that for me self.