I'm you're average consumer I suppose. I do my research online before I buy most anything and I pretty frugal, which means I can talk myself out of buying just about anything. It's all about the cost-use-benefit justification process I run through my head before I buy anything. When I bought the weed-eater yesterday, the process never even started. This is unusual. Allow me to give you some background on my saving and spending habits over the years.
For as far back as I can remember, I was horrible at saving money. I spent everything I had and then some, always wanting for more and never realizing why I didn't have anything to show for it either (I never bought items of substance back then). I hated the thought of saving money to buy stuff (see worthless shit) and when I joined the Marine Corps and they threw credit at me, heh... I was fucked from the get-go. Store credit for CD players, approval for a lease on a 1995 GMC Sonoma, an AAFES card and various other credit cards. End result of all this glorified credit and bad money management? A $400 CD player (includes interest due to the fact I made the minimum payments for 2 years) I no longer have, a truck that I had to turn-in (and still make payments on) because I drank the payments away, a federal debt because I never paid off my AAFES card while I was active and a slew of charge-offs and creditors for the next 10 years. I basically got out of the Marines with $30K in debt and had barely anything to show for it. Smooth move dumb ass.
Fast-forward to the present. I am now 100% debt free, something I am proud of, even though it took me almost 10 years to get here. I now have a savings account, with money in it! I have items and things of value that I bought, with cash and still have in my possession. I truly agonize over spending money now. I will walk into a store and rationalize whether or not to buy a pair of $40 boots for working out in the yard, only then to decide that an old pair of jungle boots will do the trick. I have gotten quite good at being frugal, but my fiancee says my style is AFU (hey, they're my rules, so suck it lady :p) So, what's the deal with the weed-eater?
I have been working out behind the house for 2 weeks, clearing out the back yard wooded area from flood and wind damage. It's a lot of work, but I am enjoying the process- cutting back weeds, vines and thorn bushes with my machete; using my soon to be father-in-law's chainsaw to cut standing and fallen trees.. I'm kickin' some ass back there! When Rod, my fiancees' dad, and I were talking about my taking on this task, he commented that I should come up to the house and borrow his weed-eater, as he had a metal blade on it and it would make life easier for clearing brush. Well, when I started the project, I cost-use-benefit justified myself into using my machete, as the cost of fuel in the Blazer round-trip was just too much. Seriously, am I ever going to explain about this over-priced weed-eater?
So there is this really cool looking STIHL dealership just outside of town and ever since I moved here I have always wanted to find a reason to go in there. On my way home yesterday, I finally stopped in. I've always wanted a chainsaw of my own- not a hand me down or someone elses that I could borrow (thanks Rod, your 28" Pro Husqvarna is indeed a bad ass saw and I appreciate you letting me use it). This year is the first year I have ever received a tax return (see the part about the federal debt above) since getting out of the Marines in 2000. I got a nice return and figured I might buy my first real power tool with a part of the money. I walked in and met a nice older gentleman and explained I was looking for my first chainsaw. He showed me a nice 20" model for $400 and in going over its features, etc is when I noticed it- a STIHL FS110 Professional series trimmer. I did need a weed-eater to help me out back and I was still using Rod's Husky saw, so my need for a new one wasn't imperative; but the trimmer? Yeah. With a metal blade to tear through brush and small trees? Hell yeah! Hey wait, there's a price tag on that thing... $380???!! Damn! OK, break out cost-use-benefit justification process. Process? What process? In the span of about 90 seconds I had a professional series trimmer that guys who clean yards for a living buy, a metal blade, synthetic oil, a gas can and a STIHL hat bought and paid for. Yeah, I'm frugal alright.
I was proud. Damn proud. I had my very first "man tool" (I still have all of my mechanics hand and air tools, but those don't really count, do they?). I didn't blow $450 on computer games or ammo I wasn't going to shoot off for the next 9-12 months; I had a tool I could put to work immediately upon getting back home! In wrapping up the sale, the sales guy informed me that if I had any issues or questions to come back to the store and they'd take care of me. I even got a 10 minute instruction course on the trimmer (and learned a lot actually). In the end, I was proud of my purchase- I had bought it from a local store and got more from my visit than I had expected and came home with a tool that should last a long time. I've got my money's worth that's for sure. Hell, ask Lila; I've already cleared a swath over nearly a 1/4 acre out back and as soon as the electrons from this write-up cool, I am headed out back to deliver some more punishment :)
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