My Mind on My Money and My Money on My Mind*

I'm not poor. I'm not rich. I'm squarely in the American middle class, when it comes to my day-job income. For many years, though, we were living super-tight on our budget. Filling the tank with gas was a necessity, but it bordered on a luxury. We rarely went out for entertainment and we often had to tell the kids "no" when they asked for stuff that their friends might have just taken for granted. 

As a result, I get skittish about spending large amounts of money. I have an allowance each month that I can spend on whatever I like (a luxury, I know) that falls in the middle of the two-digit range. If I want to buy something for myself that costs $100, I'm going to have to wait a couple of months, maybe a little more. I'm not bitter about it, in fact, I think it's a very good practice (obviously, I've been living it for many years now), but when it comes to a big personal purchase, I have to bide my time and *really* discipline myself not to spend that money, but, rather, save it up for the big purchase. I can supplement that allowance with sales of my RPG materials, and I've buckled and started a ko-fi. Occasionally, I will sell stuff on Ebay or sell a short story to help with funding, or even sell some of my books direct to readers (which I actually love to do . . . until I run out of sellable copies!) but when I want to buy something significant, I really have to think about it and I really have to choose wisely. 

Often my money goes, as you can imagine, into books, whether fiction or roleplaying books. I'm pretty picky about both. And, lately, I've bought more music in physical formats. Again, though, I am very finicky about my purchases. I really don't make "impulse" buys. I just don't operate that way. This is one reason I love Goodreads so much: when I see a cover I love or hear about a potentially cool book, I go to Goodreads and try to read a few reviews from people whose opinions I respect. This hasn't always saved me from unfortunate purchases, but it's done a pretty good job of making me think through by book-buying choices. 

Not long ago, I wrote a post about downsizing and upscaling my collection of . . ., well, stuff. My sentiments then still apply now, and probably even more so.

I've decided what I want from this.

Well, at least a few things:

1. A typewriter. An honest to goodness old-fashioned non-electric manual typewriter. Why? Maybe I hate myself, I don't know. Seriously, I am a kinesthetic and visual learner and writer. I always hand-write my first drafts. I can be as sloppy as I need to or want to, with no regard to anything except my ability to spew forth thoughts on paper. Then I edit as I'm typing into the computer. But what if I wanted to do a more careful edit? I think that typing on a typewriter will cause me to actually physically stop and think more, to focus. At least that's what I remember from typing as a kid (before home PCs were readily available). If you made a mistake, you had to get out corrector tape and fix it, which was a royal pain in the butt. Just like Goodreads reviews cause me to stop and think about what I'm buying, this should help me to stop and think about what I'm writing. I have several typewriters that I could live with , but there's one in particular that is *VERY* expensive and that I am absolutely lusting after. I'm not going to jinx things by linking to it, or even to the site it's being sold at because, like Highlander, there can be only one. Well, there really is only one. It will cost more than my computer. A lot more, in fact. There's only one out there (I think it's a custom job), but I really, really want that typewriter. I need to save up for this one first, which is going to mean no buying new books or LPs for a year or more. I'm hoping that no one else snatches it up in the meantime. And, no, I'm not interested in using credit to buy it. I've been in credit trouble before and, never again. This one I'll just have to scrimp and save for, and I'm willing to do it. Besides, this dovetails nicely with my desire to have more analog in my life and my desire to re-read many of the books I already own (c.f., my post on downsizing and upscaling - link above). Again, if you want to help, here's my ko-fi link, or if you want to buy a copy of my novel Heraclix and Pomp, comment below.

2. A new LP player. I love my old record player, the one I rediscovered after my parents died. But this old machine is about to give up the ghost itself. I'll probably buy something in the cheap range, so far as stereo systems go, but something that I can trust to play well and last, as well. Probably something along the lines of the 1 by one stereo system. Simple, but elegant, and hopefully built to last. 

3. This one might just seem silly, but I have an antiqued mirror that I love. By antiqued, I mean burned, abused, acid-etched, artificially aged. I love it. I want another. maybe two more. This will be the least expensive of my buys and also the most frivolous. But I just love the one I have and want to surround myself with more of them. There's something darkly beautiful about the odd distortion they give to everything caught in their reflective rays. Logically speaking, I should buy these first because they are the cheapest of the three things I am saving for, but who said I play by logic? No, really, I need to discipline myself to get that typewriter (presuming it doesn't sell to someone with similar tastes and more money than me).

And there you have it, all my most recent money-grubbing desires. Now that I've committed this on the blog, I feel a stronger resolve to carry through with it (barring some financial emergency, of course). 

Wish me luck! Or, better yet, buy me a ko-fi!

*Apologies to Snoop D-o-g-g, but the song I'm referring to in the title of this post is this version (which I'm guessing Snoop appreciates in his own smoove way).