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Posted: 9/17/2005 4:20:30 PM EDT
Being a college student, I tend not to spend huge amounts of money on anything, however, when I seem to spend $800 or over, I get wicked buyers remorse. Any way to avoid this (aside from not buying what it is that causes it?)
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Buy something even bigger so the previous purchase does not seem so bad.
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Im a poor college student. i just dropped 200 on a 20"a1 upper with case deflector and forward assist.
I've been staring out the window waiting for the ups man to make it here. So no. However, I am sadened by Hardee's decision to discontinue the 2 for 1 Slammers. |
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Nothin' yet. But I've been looking at a Canon 20D DSLR and if I went for the whole thing + lens and memory card and what not I'd be looking at a $1,600 setback . Most I've ever spent on something before was $875..... |
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hmm.....I'm a college student who gets buyers remorse everytime I spend over $20 ......this is also the reason I'm not a poor college student
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Wait til you buy a car.......and then a house......and have to sign the check!!!!!!
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I recently graduated from college. Most of my scholarship stipends were spend on EBR's and ammo
Looking back on it, I should have saved most of it. It's always better to live below your means and save, rather than live payment to payment, IMO. |
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I usually do my homework (research) before spending money like that.
99% of the time I have no regrets afterwards. |
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UM....When you're in college the only thing that should cost more than $1,000 is a car, tuition, and guns. Don't be stupid!
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I've been researching and looking at this since about June. I mean, it's not like I would be in debt and have to make minimum credit card payments to afford it. I have $1,000 in checking and $4,000 in savings. It just sucks to think I'd be liquidating about a third of that |
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I figure I can always earn more money....and you only live once.
But you gotta be smart about it also...don't dig yourself into a hole. |
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I dont get it. Anything I spend more than $200 on, I make sure if I ever have to sell it that I can make all or most of it back. Perfect example is guns, and well....that's it.
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Wait until February. Right now it is the seller's market. You will save a couple hundred by holding off 6 months on a camera deal. |
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Gawd, first time I ever bought a new car I was sweating so bad I thought everyone would notice. I almost couldn't drive it off the lot my stomach was doing backflips. When I signed to buy the first house, I almost passed out. I felt bad for weeks. Guns, model trains, audo/video gear, clothes you name it. Anytime it's over $50 I get queasy. Must be that penny pinch scottish in the blood line plus the old man being a cheap son of a gun. |
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Hmm...any reason why it's a sellers market now? Leaves falling make pretty pictures so people want camera to take them with? I missed a $100 rebate on the 20Ds back in July |
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HeHe lol just like me |
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There is a way to shed buyer's remorse.
Want to hear it? Okay. Buy quality stuff and then use it - the remorse will go away if you enjoy your investment. This has to be something that you will use extensively, nearly every day, essentially forever, or until it wears out. |
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That would be where you kick yourself in the ass for not buying something? |
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+1 I dropped $250 in the past week for 20 new mags and a bunch of spare parts. And I'm going to the fun show tommorow...and I owe the SO an anniversary present. |
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I had that a few times, I found that making sure I bought substantially
below market price reduced the "remorse factor" almost completely |
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I knew that was coming .....but you gotta admit it's a lot of money no matter how you slice it. |
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The only times I get buyers remorse are when I either :
Buy something too cheap for what I need and it doesn't work or breaks OR I waste alot of money on bells and whistles that are overkill for what I need NOTHING feels better than buying just what you need when you need it. |
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Is it an impulse purchase? if so, probably no way to avoid remorse. The way I avoid this is to decide what I want ahead of time and write it down on an envelope. Save specifically for the item. This cures my 'remorse' of course I also keep an eye out for 'bargains' and allow myself an impulse purchase if A.) I can resell it for a profit, making my original choice happen faster or B.) something I plan on getting later but will end up saving money if I get it now. |
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+1 ... handing over the downpayment check was really painful. |
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Spending top dollar on a piece of digital equipment that will be obsolete in 12 months will cause to you to have a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. Like buying a 1800 computer to find out that it sucks wind with the models that will come out 6 months from now. - Bad move all around.
Buy a Digital Rebel and a decent lens for $600 (used?) and take the rest of the cash and spend it on hookers and blow. |
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Not an impulse purchase. I've been thinking it over carefully for the last 3 months just to be sure it isn't an impulse buy. |
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Yup, buy a used Canon Digital Rebel... the 6.whatever megapixel version is more than you need unless you are a professional photographer. Hell, there is even a way to flash the bios so you get a lot of the features unlocked that are on the higherend line of the digital canons. Don't ask me how, I don't know, but the information is on the web. I have the digital rebel and it rocks. The 20D is WAY more camera than you need. Hell the digital rebel is more camera than most people need. |
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I had the same problem you do. I find that if you just keep buying expnesive stuff left and right until all your money is gone, and make this a habit, eventually you don't even feel the remorse any more (at least not very much).
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That is what I did when I was in school. I know this is sacrilege here, but while you are in college the most important gun should be the one between your legs Fire as often as possible, at as many ranges as possible (just remember firearms safety)! |
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What I've learned is to buy as far ahead of the technology curve as you can, that alone delays something beging obsolete by a significant chunk of time. More expensive, yes, but will save the heartbreak in the long run. Do they even sell Digital Rebels new anymore? Or is it all about the Rebel XT? |
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You asked if there was any way to get over Buyer's Remorse. My response is not to get it in the first place by realizing that you cannot keep ahead of the technology curve unless you have a great deal of expendable income. It sounds like you don't, so "ride the wave" by buying yesterdays technology at a price that makes sense. Spend too much and you get out in front of it and the wave curls on top of you, don't invest in learning about it and the wave leaves you behind. Riding the tech wave takes timing and balance, just like surfing. You won't ever be able to afford tomorrow's technology anyway, that's how people wake up one morning and realize they are $50K in debt. A real key to maturity (something I lacked for years) is being able to distinguish the difference between ..what you WANT, ..what you CAN AFFORD, ..what you NEED Only then can you formulate a opinion and make a decision rationally. I learned this lesson the hard way and I gladly and freely pass it on to you. |
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800?!? You are not one of us. |
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Wait until the 2008 Republican Primaries? Oh wait. That's not what your talking about. Nevermind. |
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Good luck in life j/k |
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It's all relative. First time I spent $300 on a used Tag Heuer I thought I was gonna die. Then came the $900 watch... then most recently the $2,000 watch. Same thing with guns, first time you broke $500 probably seemed like a lot, then $1,000 and then $2,000. Cars are another great example. I bought my first car at age 31. From 21 to 31 I was driving a car my dad had given me in college. When I signed that loan check for $20,000 I was dumbfounded. Granted, I had signed for more than that in grad school for student loans, but it came in chunks... this was all at once. Four signatures and five minutes later I had $20,000 in hand and a load of debt and an hour later a shiny new car. Amazing.
Trust me, there will come a point when $800 is an ehhhhhh, whatever kind of purchase. |
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roboman, you should be listening to xanadu. That is the same thing I would recommend.
Trying to 'stay as far ahead of the technology curve as you can' is a friggin recipe for going broke. Did you come up with that strategy yourself or did someone tell you this?!? Somewhere a good beating is in order. You should NEVER...I repeat NEVER....buy at the leading edge of technology. With electronic consumer goods it's almost always better to buy last years model or the stuff that is heavily discounted because the new version is coming out. You have absolutely no need for a 20d and the reason I KNOW this is true is that you've been debating it since June. If you had a legitimate need you would have already bought the damned thing and be out making a living with it. I own a 3 year old Canon D60, the (minor) limitations of this camera have made me a much better photographer. I've looked at newer models but my D60 is still taking great photos and has paid for itself thousands of times over so it's hard for me to justify buying a new model. And I'm not a broke college student plus this would be fully expensible. Don't be a consumer drone. Go spend $500-600 on a used digital rebel, d60 or something like that. When you figure out some way for it to pay for itself then you MIGHT have a need for the latest cutting edge camera. Here's a parallel for you. I have an old 1997 Fujitsu notebook (Pentium 1, 133mhz) that I bought used in 1999 for $450. while cleaning up the office I happened to find a magazine from 1997 that showed this exact laptop listing for about $5300. I can tell you that it hurt a LOT less to give away a $450 laptop than it would to a $5300 laptop. So I don't buy $5300 laptops. What are they teaching kids in school these days?!? |
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Ask your mother how she got over the regret for spawning you. Maybe she hasn't, but it might give you a little insight. |
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Sell whatever it is thats gives you "buyer's remorse", thereby replacing it with "seller's remorse"
I love my 20D, but unless you're going to try to make money at photography, its probably more than you need at this point, and thereby not a good investment for you. |
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This is the season people buy things. No need for the sellers to bend over backwards to sell stuff. In the spring, before tax time, is when nothing much gets sold, things go on sale or drop the standard price alot, in addition to the "new products" introduced a couple months before Christmas to make whatever you are looking at now "1 step lower". I guarantee they will be cheaper in the spring, any model except the newest and fanciest one. |
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Have you look at the Canon S2 IS? You can get it for $450 and will let you do 99% of what the SLR does. |
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If you are a impulse buyer disipline yourself to put your shiny little trinkets on layaway for at least a week.If you decide then that you don't really need [or want] this stuff due to whatever it was that was punching your buttons is not there anymore, then in most cases you will receive your money back less a small restocking fee.This also gives you time to research products purchased in hast and the possibility of discount pricing from another source.This method of buying some high dollar items has saved me a buck or two over the years.
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You and xanadu make very good points. As of now I'm going to put any purchase on hold again and really think over what it is will be the best purchase choice. |
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