We lost some of our blog posts when we updated our website. We've moved some of them manually here, but there's one that hasn't made it.
$1000 table saw
I (Ron) had been wanting to update my table saw for some newer safety features and just other quality items. I had the money and it was part of my personal money. (We each have money each month that we put in our spending plan so when we find something we need or want, we can just use our own money.) I'd been saving for quite a while and had the money, but I still asked Meg if it was OK. She of course said yes, but I still felt I had to ask her.
Over $200
From very early in our marriage we had an agreement that anything over $200 would require us to talk about it before buying. We had amended that when we started our personal money. But... I still didn't feel right spending that much money on me, let alone on me without asking Meg.
Why am I rehashing this and so far haven't talked about the title? Money is only sometimes about the numbers and/or math.
Back to the title
I had been saving and waiting for a thickness planer to go on sale, it's a nice one. When I say waiting, it had been about a year! It hit my target price and I pounced. I ordered it and it was going to be delivered to the Home Depot, in two weeks. (SIGH!)
About a week after I ordered the thickness planer we were in Des Moines area visiting our son and daughter-in-law (pregnant with our first grandchild!!!). We took this opportunity to visit the Woodsmith Store. For a woodworker it's like going to an amusement park!
While there talking with some of the tremendous staff (knowledgeable and very friendly) I started looking at a jointer. For those that don't know, the jointer and thickness planer work together and it is best to have both. It was expensive, but I did have the money saved (yeah, I'm one of those kind of people who actually hates spending money, even on myself). When the salesperson asked if I wanted to buy it, I said, "Well, I'd like to think about it overnight."
The Truth Comes Out
My wonderful wife stepped in... "You know you are going to buy it, why won't you just say yes, then we won't have to come back tomorrow and buy it. You know we are going to come back here to buy it, that's the way you work. You know if you don't buy it you're going to obsess about it and kick yourself. You've got the money, just do it."
Hi my name is Ron and I overanalyze
After 32 years of marriage she knows me. I also know when she is right.
The money was not actually the issue. It was my personality. I think I can make the right decisions only by getting every little bit of information, weighing every possible little tidbit of data. Then and only then...
I will want more information. It's my character, my habit, it's how I do things. I know about it and am working on it. Knowing I have a partner that is there to help me work through this habit is invaluable.
What's your table saw?
For me, I try to avoid making the wrong decision by thinking that everything can be completely analyzed and the perfect decision can be determined empirically. (Spock might be my role model.)
What's your table saw? In other words, what is your big money habit that keeps you from moving forward?
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