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Thread: Does spending ever cause you guilt?

  1. #1
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Does spending ever cause you guilt?

    I just bought a watch for $69 from Stauer. It is a nice watch, solid and sturdy and seemingly well put together and it does look nice on my wrist. I earned the money for this watch and charged it to my debit card so it's paid off with no interest. And it's a watch that is appropriate for my job. All that said, I find myself guilty for having bought it as it's something I don't absolutely need and there are so many people both in the 85006 and all around the US who can't afford such a watch - America deems their lives not worth such a watch for whatever reason.

    So I find myself wondering if I should return it......Just don't care for this level of guilt and it's depressing because I suspect that I will always feel this way going forward.....guilt for spending on something I don't absolutely need (though interestingly enough I don't feel guilt about spending money on travel). Does anyone else experience this, just curious? Rob

  2. #2
    Simpleton Alan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gimmethesimplelife View Post
    I find myself guilty for having bought it as it's something I don't absolutely need and there are so many people both in the 85006 and all around the US who can't afford such a watch - America deems their lives not worth such a watch for whatever reason.
    What an odd thing to say.
    "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein

  3. #3
    Senior Member Simplemind's Avatar
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    I am never going to feel guilty for working hard and having the means to purchase what I want.

  4. #4
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    ? Sorry, I don't understand your comment, Alan, but with all due respect, I will say the following. Be grateful that you can afford $69 for a similar watch or $69 for whatever it is that you prefer instead - many Americans can't afford this these days, basically so that the wealthy at the top can hoard yet even more wealth. And yes, I do find this very odd that the wealthy have to be this way at the expense of those who toil so that they (the wealthy) may hoard yet more wealth.

    Your comment here, though? It's having a positive effect on me in the sense that yep, I'm going to have to return the watch for moral and ethical reasons. I don't live in the 85006 and fit in so well here for no reason, you know? So Thank You for this much and I say this sincerely and with no snark. Rob

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    You wanted a watch. You earned the money. You selected one you would enjoy.

    ENJOY IT!

  6. #6
    Senior Member gimmethesimplelife's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simplemind View Post
    I am never going to feel guilty for working hard and having the means to purchase what I want.
    If only it were that easy for me personally...….but I do get the gist of what you are saying, Simplemind. Rob

  7. #7
    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    So how is you depriving yourself of something that gives you pleasure, reasonably priced and serviceable going to help another? I am missing something here.
    I buy stuff with those criteria without regret or guilt. Gimme, I have been poor and struggled at times. I don't waste stuff or money but life to me has never meant deprivation of simple pleasures that last. A $69 watch is one of those.
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

  8. #8
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    No. I sometimes feel buyer's remorse for spending money foolishly, but I don't feel guilt. It's not like I'm spending the baby's milk money.

    I donate all kinds of useful items (including watches) to thrift stores to assuage said remorse.

    Really, self-flagellation is of limited use, IMO.

  9. #9
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    Yes, but though I have a lot of conscious reasons for many things, including simple living, it's mostly goes back much further than that. It goes back to childhood and how I was raised. So yea there is some kind of inner register on what a lot of money is or what wasting a lot of money is and it gets triggered.

    Will I spend money on quality if it costs more? IF I can afford it yes. And really WITHOUT GUILT, because buying something I was going to anyway but better quality really doesn't trigger guilt as I know this is actually much better (environmentally etc.). But yea there is a money threshold for guilt of some sorts especially buying things I wasn't going to anyway.

    I have become incredibly anxious buying cars. Ha thank heavens I've never bought property I guess! But yes ... those are super big ticket items so going to be triggers, but not the only things. Simple living though hardly pure, and hardly perfect, really does fit who some of us are in the world better.

    Depressing, eh well guilt and a certain temporarily low mood (I think depression is an accurate term, but real short term and very directly triggered by guilt) are definitely linked for me.
    Trees don't grow on money

  10. #10
    Yppej
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    Yes, I do feel guilty sometimes, or foolish.

    Wait till you are older Rob, like me, and you won't be able to see the numerals on a watch without reading glasses. Now I just use my cell phone to tell time.

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