delayed gratification

[tielan]

Should I practise delayed gratification on purchasing a big-ticket tech item? I don't need it, but it would be quite nice. I can afford it now, but I'm questioning my purchasing habits of late.

What I'd do is either set a couple of goals and not buy it until I'd reached those. Or wait until my birthday (another month) and gift it to myself.

Thoughts?

Comments

[wpadmirer]

I am the wrong person to ask. I don't believe in delayed gratification at all.

[tielan]

I don't need to, but sometimes I think it's not a bad think to have a goal towards.

[beatrice_otter]

I usually do delay gratification on big things? But not by a huge amount, if I have the money.

[tielan]

I wouldn't be waiting years and years, just a month at most, really. Tie the goal in to July writing, or else have it as a birthday present, and then I'd get it for me.

[alphaflyer]

YOU DESERVE THIS NOW

[tielan]

Aw, thank you! But I've decided to wait a month and it can either be a birthday present or a goal achievement. It'll also give me a bit more time to research and decide if this is really something that I would use.

[eggsbenedict]

I think delayed gratification on tech is good, since new versions of tech things get released all the time! So you'll reach the goals you set (you clearly have some in mind) and get a shinier thing than what you would have bought now.

[tielan]

So you and J might be able to help me on this: I'm looking for a tablet that I could use as a notepad/drawpad and connect to either my computer or network or cloud and load up what I've drawn/sketched out. Mostly, I want it for using in the garden - either being able to scribble something down and then digitise it, so my garden notes aren't a thousand little pieces of paper stuffed in a notebook, or else to, say, take a photo of the garden, and draw over it with sketches/writing for where things should go.

I was looking at the Wacom Bamboo Slate/Folio for the pen/paper feel, but I suspect that what I'm envisoning (pen to screen, like a digital tablet that I can take with me and draw on) is more like the Cintiq range. Much more expensive, so not a terrible thing to put a pause on.

Do you have any thoughts/ideas about this. Do you and J and the kids have tablets/sketchpads like these?

[eggsbenedict]

I do have thoughts!

Wacom has released an Android tablet called the Wacom One Creative Pen Display - it bridges that gap between their regular tablets and the Cintiq. I'm not really in Apple's ecosystem any more but I'd recommend looking at a good old iPad or iPad Mini with an Apple Pencil, too.

I was looking getting a tablet a couple of years ago but I was also due to upgrade my laptop, so I went with a Lenovo 2-in-1 since Wacom manufactures the pens anyway. It's great for what I do, but it's too heavy to whip out in the garden or on a short commute. M loves using Paint 3D on it when I let her though.

I gave J my Wacom Intuos when I got the 2-in-1 so he uses that for work, and the kids still have no tablets - it's very tech parent-y of me but so far I regret nothing!

[james]

If you're worried about your spending habits, waiting one month to make it a birthday present seems like a good, acheivable goal. It's a nice way to see if yes you can control your spending without denying yourself, or if you get twitchy then you know if you have an actual shopping problem.

[tielan]

Yes, I think I might wait until my birthday. Think through the options for what I want, work on doing a 'no-buy July' and see how all that pans out.