Saving up and making big purchases like a real grown-up

[the_ketaman]

Ok Well that title sounds a bit weird but I bought myself a laptop today with my own m0ney(I am only 19 and been a junkie for a while now so this is big),,,its basicaly the first time ive bought something of this magnitude(ive bought expensive bikes and bobdyboards and other stuff worth more money but a laptop can get me a lot further than a bike or bodyboard ever would lol)going to go somewhere in life which I was thinking would never happen, I always thought id be a loser junkie for the rest of my life but its just little things like this that totally change that impression.

Anyway I was just wondering what the first big thing you ever bought with your own money(that was saved over time, lol I usually sepnd money straight when I get it on what else but drugs) that made you feel really good and more independant or even if youve felt the same as me an bough something you think might possible help you get somewhere in life,?

Sorry if this is a really weird question too, I didnt give a fuck about life whatsoever until very recently so im sure a lot of you started a lot younger than me.

Sorry bout the typos too, the keyboard is tiny on this laptop but it shouldnt take long to get used to.


P.S im not on centrelink and have no income so this was big savings which im not so good at.

 

[leecie]

'Ssup ketaman. Congrats on the big purchase - I remember the total rush when I bought my first laptop! Actually, my first big purchase was almost a grand on a digital camera - was so expensive compared to now (for only 5 megapixels too!!), but it felt so good and I loved that thing like a child.

Anyway, I changed the thread title to be a bit more descriptive. Enjoy your tiny keyboard.

 

[JoshE]

Hmm, i think my first big purchase was probably my car....Saved up $8000 and bought a 2nd hand commodore.

 

[KyesaRRi]

My first "big" purchase would have to be my current PC. I spent a little over $2000 on it a few years ago, saved up every cent i could, purchased the parts and smashed it together. I was living with my Mum, 2 Brothers and my half Sister at the time so having my own PC made a world of difference to me.

I find the best way to save money is to lock yourself in a job that gives you next to no social life (outside of customers). That way i dont get out on the terps / other chems and blow wads of cash every week.

Congrats on the lappy man, keep it safe and out of harms way

 

[MazDan]

woot, congrats man thats awesome. cool thread idea.

When I was a kid if I wanted money for anything then I had to go earn it. I picked strawberries at age 9 and over a period of about 6 months or so I finally managed to save enough for a bicycle so i didnt have to walk the 3 klms to get to work.

Another 6 months and I saved for some gears for the thing. I made a super huge mistake and thought I would be cool by copying my friends bike and getting hub gears (that means only 3 gears). Big mistake but such is life.

I hated the save thing and so when Bankcard was invented i went crazy and as such got into debt that really screwed my life.

Now I dont have any credit cards or loans. If i want it then i have to save for it.

Life is so much easier this way.

 

[Busty St Clare]

I was an avid collector as a child. When we wanted a popsicle we would collect the milk money that people left in little glass milk bottles out the front of their house, as we walked down to the shops.

We also wheeled a mates brand new surfboard around the neighbourhood in a whellbarrow and sold raffle tickets. Surprisingly my mates older brother won the raffle.

 

[Teknique]

I was one of the first to buy the ps1 (playstation 1) set me back a near $1000AUD with 2 games i was so excited, months and months of saving every cent i had.Destruction derby was so cash!

Enjoy your lappy

 

[alanzs]

Bought a motorcycle for $1000, which I had saved up for for a year. I was 18 and totally jazzed about that bike... Rode it rain or shine for a couple years, then traded up for another one.

Congrats on your new purchase and the ability to save up the money!

 

[lostpunk5545]

We also wheeled a mates brand new surfboard around the neighbourhood in a whellbarrow and sold raffle tickets. Surprisingly my mates older brother won the raffle.

My friend works in a store and they had a raffle drawn yesterday and the winner of a surfboard was Mr Penis Cockdick from Buttville, Ass. No contact details

Ah, entering a draw jokingly expecting not to win and winning. The irony!

Mr Penis Cockdick will never know...

 

[sir pacman]

So what was the prize?

First big purchase i saved for was a stereo. Got dragged round dandenong with mum who insisted on visiting every appliance store within a 50km radius god bless her to find the best at the price i could afford which was $700.

Took me two years of doing a paper-round 7 days a week and up at 4 30am every morning. She must have done something right though because I still have and it works just the same as when I bought it 21 years ago. Although I havent used the record player for about 15 years. But I think things were made to last back then as have had a tv for 16 years as well that still works great.

Ahh look at me starting to ramble!

Good luck with the computer ketaman and hope no nasty viruses or spyware get in!

 

[Luude]

I didn't really 'save' for this so to speak, however it was a big step for me.

I'm a Rainbow Serpent nut, however 3 weeks before i was due to head up i just didn't feel right about going so needless to say i called off my whole trip and therefore missed out.

I then said to myself, the hundreds of dollars i was going to be spending on drugs/food/booze/campervan etc should go towards something that i can look at and go, i didn't smash drugs and put myself into a state of retardation, instead i bought something useful with my hard earned cash.

So i went to the shops and i thought hmmm, i really want an iPhone after seeing my old man get one. I got rejected as im not far enough into my 24 month plan. Pissed off i was, so i thought to myself im not fucking leaving this place without something to show for it.

24 hours later i had a 42" LG Plasma and a 250GB Special edition Xbox sitting in my lounge room. I look at it everyday knowing that it was a better use of money than the shit i would have had at rainbow.

Don't get me wrong, i am disappointed i missed Rainbow but this year was one of those years where focus came before shenanigans. All good though, i now have nearly $2000 worth of hardware to show for it.

 

[drug_mentor]

Fuck ketaman, your only 19, I just turned 20 and always thought you would be abit older than me!

My first "big" purchase was my first (an current) car. Got it last January, its an RB gemini and only cost me a grand. The only things that have ever gone wrong with it have been entirely my fault from being a dickhead. Over a year and only one service later she is still going strong. I definately felt alot more independant after buying a car, it was the first time I spent any money on something productive rather than drugs and being able to drive certainly gives one an enhanced sense of freedom.

 

[wazza]

Bought a motorcycle for $1000, which I had saved up for for a year. I was 18 and totally jazzed about that bike... Rode it rain or shine for a couple years, then traded up for another one.

Congrats on your new purchase and the ability to save up the money!

Let me know if you're up for a ride ever I mainly ride during the week as I get paid not to work due to pain I get. But I do balance my pain meds before I go for a planned 'big' ride as after 4 years, I know my dosage of oxycontin to be manageable for riding etc I mainly go yarra scenic route to Warbuton and then head off to wherever depending if I feel like a whole days ride or just an hour or three.

http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j250/undii/daytona 675/ I love my bike :D Don't ride as often as I used to now that I've got a 4+month old to look after with my wife. But when it's nice weather and Emma is free, I'll go for a days ride or so. My old riding partner went to Japan to see his future in laws, came back, is studying + living with his parents too far away to catch up. So now I ride alone, all my old buddies all getting married + not using the bike so much *cough* Marriage shouldn't kill riding %)

 

[hobhead]

i was 12 or 13 when i used to sell 5 cent newspapers in bars for 10 cents . often drunks that should have been home with their families would get all maudlin and hand me a dollar for the paper .
saved enough for a rifle pretty quickly . had that .22 for nearly a decade and wore it out .

 

[the_ketaman]

HAhaha ya know what happened...That new laptop I bought had the screen cracked simply from shutting the screen no harder than you normally would so obviously it was either faulty or just a piece of shit so through warranty and a bit of help from my friendly mum($$$) I got a way better lappy for a few hundred more and this one is heaps better. The keyboard isnt so small and all the buttons are in their normal spot, on the other one the comma or fullstop buttons were located somewhere else on the keyboard so it was confusing as hell lol.

But anyway this lappy is heaps better, and thanks for all the replies and the personal greetings I got from a few of you since I havent been around for awhile.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

I got a job and saved 90% of my paychecks. (The restaurant had just stopped giving the employees their night's tip-out in cash before I started.) After working there for two years, I turned 17 and decided to buy a car and pay for gas/insurance as my parents couldn't get me one.