This morning I saw someone posted a pic of Tony Romo and the camera angle looked a little like he was overweight. So the jokes ensued. Joke away all you want. He's still Tony Romo. And you can joke about that too. But in the end...who's the one that made himself into an NFL quarterback. A good one too. I'm not even a cowboys fan. But anyway. I went to ONE website about Tony Romo and it shows up in my "frequently visited" page on safari. Why?!?!?!?!
And the rest is me talking through stuff for myself. It's a story of working through money spending in my head. It's really boring. Don't worry about reading it if you don't want to. Seriously. But whatevs. If anything...scroll down to the last big paragraph. This middle part is just backstory.
About two months ago I was looking to buy a road bike. For the specific purpose of exercise and enjoyment. But I didn't want to drop hundreds of dollars on a whim. So I decided to sell a mountain bike. Well, the day of my trip to Gettysburg Bicycle and Fitness to trade in my mountain bike, someone bought it...for $500. The price I paid for it three years ago. I still had it in my head that I shouldn't spend much extra on a road bike. I knew I could find a nice one for around that price. I did...an entry level Trek Alpha series 1.1. It was $750. So $250 out of pocket, not bad. I had eyed another one...but it was $1500. A little too much. After a month of riding and 200 miles the gears were making noise and the bike wasn't getting any more comfortable. I never really liked the look anyway. So last weekend I took it back to the bike shop to get it adjusted. And when I rode it again it was worse. I was pissed that a $750 dollar bike needed so much TLC. And the reason? It was entry level. BULL. SHIT. Bike companies need to at least produce quality components that hold up. They might not be the lightest or most efficient, but they should at least work well. Especially for that much money. I asked if they'd trade it back and I could get a level up. Sure they said.
I talked with my wife about money. Because of my depression I was/am a compulsive spender. That wouldn't help those symptoms. Because I'd get something nice for myself and then feel bad that I spent money on it. I asked how much was too much. She had no idea and gave me permission to spend a reasonable amount on a good bike that I'd enjoy and get good use out of. I ride about 50 or so miles a week or more. It was nice to talk about the spending part. Spending money on nice things is some baggage I carry from somewhere. My guess is it's from childhood. We weren't even allowed to buy name brand shoes. I know they are a rip off, But when everyone else is wearing nikes and you have the knock off brand "nucleus" that looks just like nike but does not perform nearly as well and have to explain how yours are "just like" nike's only cheaper like its a badge of honor.....it's not fun. And you grow up believing you shouldn't spend money on nice things. I'll never forget my first pair of cheap reeboks. And then the next pair I got the "shaqnosis" shoes. They were awesome. And from that point on....slack was given on shoes.
Anyway...permission was granted. And I felt good. So that $1500 dollar bike, on sale for $1100. And they gave me $675 for the bike that was $750 new. I cleaned it up really nice though. So I ended up getting a Specialized Diverge Elite DSW cheaper than I could have two months ago and I overcame a huge mental barrier. God is so GOOD! That is a joke. I don't think God had anything to do with this. Maybe I'm wrong...but I hate when people talk about saving a bunch of money on pleasure items when people around the world are hungry. Maybe that's where the guilt comes from. Pretty sure a lot of it does.
Why do I tell you all this? Even in my own head I know there are people saying...I can't believe he spent a net $600 on a bicycle. Well, you know what? I saved $600 on junk food in the past two months. So stop your judgmental attitude. Think about all the people who could have used that money......SHUT UP. You could have paid off some more student loan debt. Even though we just paid off over $8000 of student loan debt in the past two months. So what's $600 to spend on a new bike that treats my depression and ADHD and improves my health. CHUMP CHANGE. that's what it is. So get out of my head all you negative talkers.
I know...nobody said any of that. It was me, and my head. And if you still are reading this thinking I could have gone extreme and denied that bike for another few years....FUCK YOU. Seriously. I don't care. I might die tomorrow. So if we make 75% good decisions and want to do something like this....have at it. If we want to go to the beach for a weekend....awesome. We pay all our bills on time and have some in savings. So STOP THE TALK about spending money on bike isn't necessary. I finally feel good about stuff. And I will not listen to all the demons...whether real or made up.
I'm going on a bike ride. With the mountain bike I spent $1800 on earlier this year. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment