Everything Must Be Paid for Twice
June 28, 2023 9:20 PM Subscribe
Great article but my desk full of music gear was staring at me menacingly the whole time I read it.
Seriously something I'll do some heavy thinking about though.
posted by mmoncur at 9:37 PM on June 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
Seriously something I'll do some heavy thinking about though.
posted by mmoncur at 9:37 PM on June 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
As somone that collects and paints plastic models (mostly, but not only Warhammer) as a lifelong hobby to relax, I really FEEL this.
We have a commonly used term for it; your 'pile of shame' (or mountain, if it's particularly large). These are models you've previously bought, but haven't spent the time to paint, or even assemble, which can easily take hours per model if you're doing them to a good standard. That rather addictive urge to buy new shiny models, which are definitely not a cheap 1st price, which then causes the accumulating pile of shame is because it's our 'plastic crack'.
One idea, which is growing in popularity, is to cut down on your shame pile by selling off stuff on ebay you've previously purchased in a flush of 'I really like these!', or were bundled as part of a larger box. Clear the backlog of stuff long sat in boxes, and are just hanging on to in some vague hope, "I'll get around to them some day". Just keep the small amount of unpainted models you really like, and have a concrete and short term plan to paint. Trying not to spend that recouped money on immediately buying new models is also necessary...
I really, really need to do this. But of course that's additional time and effort.
Another is to sort of lower your standards. Instead of painting everything to the best of your ability, and the concommitant time to do so, you speed paint models; you do the basic colours, but not most of the detail and additional quality work, so they look OK from several feet away, the typical distance when playing a game. There's been a recent explosion of new semi-translucent paints coming out specifically to make this easier. So you can then go on and play the game with them instead of leaving them as a never-never project. And if you use them a lot, and have the time, you can always go back and improve them later.
I'm not sure if learning to play the game is its own 2nd price after buying the rules, or a 3rd price to pay once you've bought and painted the models...
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 10:04 PM on June 28, 2023 [18 favorites]
We have a commonly used term for it; your 'pile of shame' (or mountain, if it's particularly large). These are models you've previously bought, but haven't spent the time to paint, or even assemble, which can easily take hours per model if you're doing them to a good standard. That rather addictive urge to buy new shiny models, which are definitely not a cheap 1st price, which then causes the accumulating pile of shame is because it's our 'plastic crack'.
One idea, which is growing in popularity, is to cut down on your shame pile by selling off stuff on ebay you've previously purchased in a flush of 'I really like these!', or were bundled as part of a larger box. Clear the backlog of stuff long sat in boxes, and are just hanging on to in some vague hope, "I'll get around to them some day". Just keep the small amount of unpainted models you really like, and have a concrete and short term plan to paint. Trying not to spend that recouped money on immediately buying new models is also necessary...
I really, really need to do this. But of course that's additional time and effort.
Another is to sort of lower your standards. Instead of painting everything to the best of your ability, and the concommitant time to do so, you speed paint models; you do the basic colours, but not most of the detail and additional quality work, so they look OK from several feet away, the typical distance when playing a game. There's been a recent explosion of new semi-translucent paints coming out specifically to make this easier. So you can then go on and play the game with them instead of leaving them as a never-never project. And if you use them a lot, and have the time, you can always go back and improve them later.
I'm not sure if learning to play the game is its own 2nd price after buying the rules, or a 3rd price to pay once you've bought and painted the models...
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 10:04 PM on June 28, 2023 [18 favorites]
There’s also upkeep and storage. I can well understand how hoarders become hoarders. It can take so many spoons to get rid of things.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:17 PM on June 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:17 PM on June 28, 2023 [9 favorites]
My toddler is obsessed with waste disposal at the moment. We recently got new coloured bins including a smaller, purple lidded one that's her size, adding to our long running obsession with the bin truck (garbage truck) AND we've been potty training and talking about where her bodily fluids go when we flush them.
All that to say, that I initially thought this article would be about the cost of disposal, whether worn by you or someone else (or the planet.)
But I am challenged! Do cool stuff.
posted by freethefeet at 10:40 PM on June 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
All that to say, that I initially thought this article would be about the cost of disposal, whether worn by you or someone else (or the planet.)
But I am challenged! Do cool stuff.
posted by freethefeet at 10:40 PM on June 28, 2023 [2 favorites]
I believe there are actually five prices:
1) The costs to the environment, depletion of resources otherwise available to everyone and to the natural world. This includes consumption of resources as well as damage to resources.
2) The effort or money you must exchange for the item.
3) The effort needed to gain the benefit of the item, as described in the linked article.
4) The effort and resourced needed to maintain or clean the item - significant in the case of a car. It's possible to argue that this is included in (3) above, but I think it deserves to be counted separately. Also, I think this is important to address, since neglecting to take care of this 'cost' means the costs in (1) are even more selfish and wasted.
5) The costs related to the loss of storage space, since the item will take up space that could otherwise be either used for other items, or that could be used for safety, beauty, movement, etc. This could also be included in the costs of moving items from residence to residence when you move house.
posted by amtho at 11:18 PM on June 28, 2023 [20 favorites]
1) The costs to the environment, depletion of resources otherwise available to everyone and to the natural world. This includes consumption of resources as well as damage to resources.
2) The effort or money you must exchange for the item.
3) The effort needed to gain the benefit of the item, as described in the linked article.
4) The effort and resourced needed to maintain or clean the item - significant in the case of a car. It's possible to argue that this is included in (3) above, but I think it deserves to be counted separately. Also, I think this is important to address, since neglecting to take care of this 'cost' means the costs in (1) are even more selfish and wasted.
5) The costs related to the loss of storage space, since the item will take up space that could otherwise be either used for other items, or that could be used for safety, beauty, movement, etc. This could also be included in the costs of moving items from residence to residence when you move house.
posted by amtho at 11:18 PM on June 28, 2023 [20 favorites]
I’d add opportunity cost to the list - the cost of making resources unavailable for something that could have been more worthwhile.
posted by TwoWordReview at 12:04 AM on June 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by TwoWordReview at 12:04 AM on June 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
Maintenance is a third cost. Storage a fourth. Insurance a fifth. Backups a sixth.
posted by krisjohn at 12:24 AM on June 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by krisjohn at 12:24 AM on June 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
Don't forget to test restores from backup regularly. Also, your smoke alarms, weekly.
posted by away for regrooving at 12:49 AM on June 29, 2023
posted by away for regrooving at 12:49 AM on June 29, 2023
This discussion is better than the article
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 1:01 AM on June 29, 2023 [19 favorites]
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 1:01 AM on June 29, 2023 [19 favorites]
Opportunity cost is part of every cost in my list of 5 - environmental/resource usage (the stuff removed or spoiled certainly could have been used for something else); money/effort exchanged could have been used elsewhere; effort to gain benefit could have been spent on emotional labor for friends or family, or working toward some other goal; etc.
Insurance I'd class under maintenance, or as something entirely separate from the item insured - insurance is a thing you purchase to gain security, and it has it's own costs (the complete set).
posted by amtho at 1:43 AM on June 29, 2023
Insurance I'd class under maintenance, or as something entirely separate from the item insured - insurance is a thing you purchase to gain security, and it has it's own costs (the complete set).
posted by amtho at 1:43 AM on June 29, 2023
In the capitalist world of mass produced goods I often find myself looking at too-cheap stuff thinking 'If I'm not paying for it, someone else is'.
I'm not sure what number cost this is.
posted by deadwax at 1:49 AM on June 29, 2023 [10 favorites]
I'm not sure what number cost this is.
posted by deadwax at 1:49 AM on June 29, 2023 [10 favorites]
I have been planning on a major purge of some things for precisely this reason. I have a huge stash of yarn, and my knitting time and interest has gone down; this coming week I'm going to be going through the ENTIRE stash and get rid of things that I actively Do Not Know What To Make With It. A couple of people on my Buy Nothing Group have asked for yarn for their "knitting class for seniors" or "crochet class for 8th graders" and I'll be donating it to them.
I also have a couple of housewares that I just plain don't use - the Instant Pot, the ultimately-too-fiddly stand mixer, the too-small ice cream maker. Those I'll try selling first.
....Ironically, though - most of those things are things I never actually bought. Most of the yarn I have was a gift from a friend I taught how to knit, and who then moved away 2 years later; she gave me all the yarn she didn't want to pack; 3 Hefty Bags' worth, and all of it pretty damn good stuff. The Instant Pot was a gift, and so was the ice cream maker. But - I'd say that those are an alternate form of "first time" paying for them - the money didn't come out of my pocket, but the social obligation of "oh but so-and-so paid a lot of money for this, I'd be a fiend to just get rid of it" is also a kind of cost.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:41 AM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
I also have a couple of housewares that I just plain don't use - the Instant Pot, the ultimately-too-fiddly stand mixer, the too-small ice cream maker. Those I'll try selling first.
....Ironically, though - most of those things are things I never actually bought. Most of the yarn I have was a gift from a friend I taught how to knit, and who then moved away 2 years later; she gave me all the yarn she didn't want to pack; 3 Hefty Bags' worth, and all of it pretty damn good stuff. The Instant Pot was a gift, and so was the ice cream maker. But - I'd say that those are an alternate form of "first time" paying for them - the money didn't come out of my pocket, but the social obligation of "oh but so-and-so paid a lot of money for this, I'd be a fiend to just get rid of it" is also a kind of cost.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:41 AM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
I like this framing. Many things in my home that are really projects of some kind, waiting to be done. (And the home itself is something of a project.) I'm trying to be more deliberate about putting in the work to justify the purchase(s) but do not always succeed.
posted by mersen at 3:50 AM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by mersen at 3:50 AM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
when they bought that used moby dick did did the author of the article pay the gold price or the 𝖎𝖗𝖔𝖓 𝖕𝖗𝖎𝖈𝖊
posted by lalochezia at 4:23 AM on June 29, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 4:23 AM on June 29, 2023 [9 favorites]
This puts a nice frame on what I'm doing right now. I have acquired many projects during my time working, which I generally did not have the time to complete. Between jobs, I am working down this project pile. It would be a lovely system if jobs were easier to acquire.
posted by solarion at 4:31 AM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by solarion at 4:31 AM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
Add 'Emotional Cost' x 2 (or maybe 3) 1 = the devotional distraction taking place (from other things around you e.g. partner or family). 2 = the possessive distraction (avarice/envy... call it what you want) 3 = the fear of losing or not being able to attain
posted by IndelibleUnderpants at 4:33 AM on June 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by IndelibleUnderpants at 4:33 AM on June 29, 2023 [2 favorites]
In the world of knitting and crochet, we talk about having a yarn "stash." Yarn that you buy without necessarily a project in mind, or without time to give to a project you want to do. It's easy to buy more yarn and projects than you can reasonably work with. There's a term "SABLE": Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy. Consumerism pressures everyone to buy more, and as a yarn store owner I have to balance that with trying to make sure my customers don't buy things they don't want or need. I want them to be happy and keep coming back, so it's ideal when they work through their projects successfully rather than just banking yarn for a rainy day. Sometimes I do talk people out of spending money, but I'm not in it for a quick buck or to try to get rich.
posted by rikschell at 4:35 AM on June 29, 2023 [13 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 4:35 AM on June 29, 2023 [13 favorites]
Huh, interesting, I was just thinking about something related to this in the tech world. There's some fairly solid evidence that 25% of all smartphone apps are used only once after downloading.
But I'd also be curious to know the stats for paid apps.
In terms of the the "second price", how many smartphone apps have you paid for and whose "value" has never been recouped?
posted by jeremias at 5:14 AM on June 29, 2023
But I'd also be curious to know the stats for paid apps.
In terms of the the "second price", how many smartphone apps have you paid for and whose "value" has never been recouped?
posted by jeremias at 5:14 AM on June 29, 2023
Maintenance is a third cost. Storage a fourth..
This is why I've switched to mostly renting tools when I need them. It's often the more expensive option, especially if you have to use the item a few times, but after our last move I decided that the taking care of and storage for seldom-used tools was something I just don't really want in my life.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:36 AM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
This is why I've switched to mostly renting tools when I need them. It's often the more expensive option, especially if you have to use the item a few times, but after our last move I decided that the taking care of and storage for seldom-used tools was something I just don't really want in my life.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:36 AM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
1) The money spent to acquire a copy of Moby Dick
2) The sixteen hours spent attending closely to long Victorian commentaries on whales and the men who hunt them.
3) The weeks spent trying to reproduce the chowder recipe from Chapter Fifteen.
4) The emotional work making amends to your spouse for making the kitchen smell of cooked fish and onions for the weeks spent trying to reproduce the chowder recipe from Chapter Fifteen.
Not to mention the fruitless search for anything resembling hard-tack biscuits.
posted by mr vino at 5:38 AM on June 29, 2023 [10 favorites]
2) The sixteen hours spent attending closely to long Victorian commentaries on whales and the men who hunt them.
3) The weeks spent trying to reproduce the chowder recipe from Chapter Fifteen.
4) The emotional work making amends to your spouse for making the kitchen smell of cooked fish and onions for the weeks spent trying to reproduce the chowder recipe from Chapter Fifteen.
Not to mention the fruitless search for anything resembling hard-tack biscuits.
posted by mr vino at 5:38 AM on June 29, 2023 [10 favorites]
I'm going to log off Metafilter for a while. The first price was $5, but the second price has been far too much of my time, even though previously it was spent on other social media websites.
posted by AlSweigart at 5:39 AM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by AlSweigart at 5:39 AM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
MetaFilter: This discussion is better than the article
posted by Jacqueline at 5:49 AM on June 29, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by Jacqueline at 5:49 AM on June 29, 2023 [12 favorites]
I thought the article was good. You definitely have to put in the time if you want to acquire some skill with your toys. I’ve been spending time with my wood lathe since I retired and it is very rewarding, but demanding too. Also it has given me a couple of good knocks, latest on my left index finger which will probably have a permanent mark on the nail.
As to a hardtack recipe…
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:00 AM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
As to a hardtack recipe…
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 6:00 AM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
/me avoiding eye contact with my Steam library of unplayed games
posted by dno at 6:31 AM on June 29, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by dno at 6:31 AM on June 29, 2023 [7 favorites]
AKA "We don't own things. Things own us."
posted by Slothrup at 6:40 AM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Slothrup at 6:40 AM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Thank you so much for posting this, blue shadows. The article and discussion are helping inform some of my thinking about stuff (physical and digital) and my feelings around it.
If you had not posted it, I probably would not have run across it, so I truly appreciate you taking the time to share it with us!
posted by hilaryjade at 7:28 AM on June 29, 2023 [8 favorites]
If you had not posted it, I probably would not have run across it, so I truly appreciate you taking the time to share it with us!
posted by hilaryjade at 7:28 AM on June 29, 2023 [8 favorites]
I tend to look at things in cost per use. If I buy a new bicycle, I’m going to want it to last me many years and I’m going to want to ride it often to drive down that cost per use. I don’t consider my riding time an additional cost because that time is not in place of my wage earning, but is leisure time (or transportation time). But the author is correct, if you buy something that you don’t have time to use, that $/use is very high.
posted by Edward L at 8:23 AM on June 29, 2023
posted by Edward L at 8:23 AM on June 29, 2023
To me, a lot of the first cost, the acquisition cost, can be looked at (justified as?) as a type of insurance. The Moby Dick book for a dollar is a good example. I don't know if I will ever read it, but I am willing to pay a dollar to ensure it is there at the very moment I do decide to read it.
Insurance itself is one of those products you buy but hope to never use.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:29 AM on June 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
Insurance itself is one of those products you buy but hope to never use.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:29 AM on June 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
A bicycle represents a pretty substantial investment of time if you don't already know how to ride a bicycle. Since most people learn to ride them in childhood as a sort of pedagogical/recreational activity, we tend not to think about this too much: it's a sunk cost.
But if you've ever helped someone try to learn to ride a bicycle as an adult, it's… not a trivial process, and there's some real risk of injury. I'd argue it's a worthwhile skill to learn at practically any age (admittedly, if you're in a situation where a fall from a bike will basically end your independent life you might run the numbers and come to a different conclusion), but they are an example of a simple machine that is actually quite an investment of time to utilize effectively.
In the context of my old day job, I used to occasionally lambaste the UI designers for needlessly changing and moving interface elements in mature software around without very good reason (and "Google produced this fun new library" is not a good reason), because doing so represents, IMO, contempt for the investment of time that users have put into learning how to use that tool effectively. This contempt is so deeply-rooted in certain parts of the software engineering community that some people plainly haven't even considered it.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:46 AM on June 29, 2023 [6 favorites]
But if you've ever helped someone try to learn to ride a bicycle as an adult, it's… not a trivial process, and there's some real risk of injury. I'd argue it's a worthwhile skill to learn at practically any age (admittedly, if you're in a situation where a fall from a bike will basically end your independent life you might run the numbers and come to a different conclusion), but they are an example of a simple machine that is actually quite an investment of time to utilize effectively.
In the context of my old day job, I used to occasionally lambaste the UI designers for needlessly changing and moving interface elements in mature software around without very good reason (and "Google produced this fun new library" is not a good reason), because doing so represents, IMO, contempt for the investment of time that users have put into learning how to use that tool effectively. This contempt is so deeply-rooted in certain parts of the software engineering community that some people plainly haven't even considered it.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:46 AM on June 29, 2023 [6 favorites]
Great article. When I was in high school (boarding) and college I played a ton of bridge and spades with friends during amazingly fun pizza and game nights. Cost: 1 deck of cards plus minimal time to learn a few games and teach people the rules.
30 years later, I have at least 30-40 fancy board games ranging from played 5-10 times (Carcassonne) to never (some complicated Lord of the Rings box game). Many of the games require a board game night which 1) I rarely have time to commit to, and 2) someone has to spend a million hours reading the rules and then the next week, explaining them to everyone else, only to have at least 1 person always hate the game or fail to understand it.
I mean, I LOVE the ideas and gameplay of some of these games, but really: are they more fun than a deck of cards, especially if the goal is socializing? Probably not. And who the heck am I going to donate them all to?
Looking around my house, I have the same problem with tools (power washer used once, dremel tool never used), DVDs from a pre-streaming era, etc. etc. I guess I can at least say that I've read most of my many books, but overall all this stuff just creates guilt, pressure, and environmental waste.
I'm 53 - if you are younger, just wait till another 10-30 years of gifts, impulse hobbies, and so forth have gone by. You'll get to where I am: "What do you want for Christmas, hon?" "IDK, nothing really."
posted by caviar2d2 at 11:29 AM on June 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
30 years later, I have at least 30-40 fancy board games ranging from played 5-10 times (Carcassonne) to never (some complicated Lord of the Rings box game). Many of the games require a board game night which 1) I rarely have time to commit to, and 2) someone has to spend a million hours reading the rules and then the next week, explaining them to everyone else, only to have at least 1 person always hate the game or fail to understand it.
I mean, I LOVE the ideas and gameplay of some of these games, but really: are they more fun than a deck of cards, especially if the goal is socializing? Probably not. And who the heck am I going to donate them all to?
Looking around my house, I have the same problem with tools (power washer used once, dremel tool never used), DVDs from a pre-streaming era, etc. etc. I guess I can at least say that I've read most of my many books, but overall all this stuff just creates guilt, pressure, and environmental waste.
I'm 53 - if you are younger, just wait till another 10-30 years of gifts, impulse hobbies, and so forth have gone by. You'll get to where I am: "What do you want for Christmas, hon?" "IDK, nothing really."
posted by caviar2d2 at 11:29 AM on June 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
I think we're talking about two types of 'types' here (beans anyone? I have this lovely cassoulet...).
First, there are forms of loss/payment: emotional costs, attention costs, monetary costs, health, time, opportunity.
Second, there are distinct purposes or phases of ownership, each of which can involve various forms of loss/payment: environment/resource (including costs to others and depletion of good will, attention, oil, budget, health, etc.); acquisition; bringing to usefulness; maintenance; and storage/transport/displacement (including attention costs).
posted by amtho at 11:48 AM on June 29, 2023
First, there are forms of loss/payment: emotional costs, attention costs, monetary costs, health, time, opportunity.
Second, there are distinct purposes or phases of ownership, each of which can involve various forms of loss/payment: environment/resource (including costs to others and depletion of good will, attention, oil, budget, health, etc.); acquisition; bringing to usefulness; maintenance; and storage/transport/displacement (including attention costs).
posted by amtho at 11:48 AM on June 29, 2023
People are constantly aghast that I have no hobbies, and constantly aghast that I have a clean, tidy apartment, and at no time have they put together that the latter is possible chiefly due to the former. (Though as noted well above, in a lot of ways the apartment is itself occasionally a hobby or a project.)
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:33 PM on June 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 1:33 PM on June 29, 2023 [4 favorites]
I've got a large mental list of things I want to make to scratch various itches around the house but I've learned to only do one project at a time because if I have multiple ones going that just means none of them will ever be finished. So for now my project is to make some supports for my planter boxes so that when my tomatoes and watermelons need them they'll be there. We'll see what happens after that.
I totally feel what the author says about prioritizing low-effort things for the second price. I've been playing a hell of a lot of the new Zelda game over the last month because it is something I can pick up and stop at any time. Of course if Zelda wasn't out I'd probably just spend more time mindlessly scrolling on my phone.
There's an argument to be made that if I had some dedicated work space to do things like build my supports then I'd be more able to drop in and out and work on them, just like I do with playing Zelda or scrolling on my phone, instead of my current practice of waiting until I have a big block of time and then doing that so that I can get a measurable amount of work done and put things away so that the space can be used for other things. But I think if I were to create such a workspace I'd find myself really in debt to its second price and that would weigh me down.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:36 PM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I totally feel what the author says about prioritizing low-effort things for the second price. I've been playing a hell of a lot of the new Zelda game over the last month because it is something I can pick up and stop at any time. Of course if Zelda wasn't out I'd probably just spend more time mindlessly scrolling on my phone.
There's an argument to be made that if I had some dedicated work space to do things like build my supports then I'd be more able to drop in and out and work on them, just like I do with playing Zelda or scrolling on my phone, instead of my current practice of waiting until I have a big block of time and then doing that so that I can get a measurable amount of work done and put things away so that the space can be used for other things. But I think if I were to create such a workspace I'd find myself really in debt to its second price and that would weigh me down.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:36 PM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
the Depth Year concept—to designate a whole year in which you stop acquiring more ways to do cool things, and start doing the cool things in earnest.
Yes indeed. It challenges my squirrel tendencies, but I like this concept.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:24 PM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yes indeed. It challenges my squirrel tendencies, but I like this concept.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:24 PM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]
I feel an instant dislike for the way this files the time spent on learning to use your new toy, and on using it, as a "price".
This is despite me being in the middle of this sort of thing; after burning out on the animation industry around 2003, I picked up a super-cheap copy of last year's version of Moho for a mere $35, and I have been spending a lot of my time this month excitedly trying to make sense of it, and wondering if I will still be enthusiastic about this once I have gotten to the point where I can start actually Doing Animation with it instead of beating my head against the gaps in my knowledge of how it works. If I am then the "second price" of this $35 impulse buy is not just a couple hundred bucks to upgrade to the latest version, but a significant chunk of the next few years of my life going back to the weird, weird world of animation, and possibly learning how to do the team management that often requires.
Maybe I've just long since attained the attitude this person speaks of longingly in the end of this essay, where I spend more of my resources and energy on things I actually enjoy doing instead of just acquiring things I never have time to play with. Being a slacker helps a lot.
posted by egypturnash at 3:54 PM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
This is despite me being in the middle of this sort of thing; after burning out on the animation industry around 2003, I picked up a super-cheap copy of last year's version of Moho for a mere $35, and I have been spending a lot of my time this month excitedly trying to make sense of it, and wondering if I will still be enthusiastic about this once I have gotten to the point where I can start actually Doing Animation with it instead of beating my head against the gaps in my knowledge of how it works. If I am then the "second price" of this $35 impulse buy is not just a couple hundred bucks to upgrade to the latest version, but a significant chunk of the next few years of my life going back to the weird, weird world of animation, and possibly learning how to do the team management that often requires.
Maybe I've just long since attained the attitude this person speaks of longingly in the end of this essay, where I spend more of my resources and energy on things I actually enjoy doing instead of just acquiring things I never have time to play with. Being a slacker helps a lot.
posted by egypturnash at 3:54 PM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]
The sixth price is the Iron Price.
posted by I-Write-Essays at 5:32 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by I-Write-Essays at 5:32 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
I also like the idea of a 'depth year' and spending some quality time with the things/hobbies/etc. already on their plate. A year feels too long to me, at least at this point in my life, but I might try out a 'depth month'.
FWIW, I like the "price" framing because I have trouble (a) overcoming inertia to do even fun things, and (b) justifying spending money. The last big hobby I picked up, I worked out how many sessions it would take to "break even" on equipment/fees and made a calendar reminder for that, and it helped. (Then I upgraded and reset the countdown, whoops.)
posted by mersen at 5:41 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
FWIW, I like the "price" framing because I have trouble (a) overcoming inertia to do even fun things, and (b) justifying spending money. The last big hobby I picked up, I worked out how many sessions it would take to "break even" on equipment/fees and made a calendar reminder for that, and it helped. (Then I upgraded and reset the countdown, whoops.)
posted by mersen at 5:41 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]
To me, a lot of the first cost, the acquisition cost, can be looked at (justified as?) as a type of insurance. The Moby Dick book for a dollar is a good example. I don't know if I will ever read it, but I am willing to pay a dollar to ensure it is there at the very moment I do decide to read it.
I used to think this way, but increasingly I'm treating the "insurance" by knowing that if I did need a copy of a certain book, the library might have it, and if they don't it can be bought from any number of used or new bookstores, locally or online. That way I get the advantage of having potential access to it, without the need to store it, move it, and eventually try to sell or give it away. I'm a long way from being doctrinaire about this and I buy plenty of "just in case" things still, but I really try not to given how accessible most things actually are.
Staying with the example of books: Over a series of moves, we went from having some thousands of books to now having just a few hundred. It has been vanishingly rare that I end up wishing I still owned a certain book, and it kind of makes me wince to think about the money we spent acquiring those books, which seemed so important and meaningful at the time, given how little used books end up being worth when you decide to downsize. We still have more than we "need," but at this point they don't take up much space so I'm not feeling any pressure to further trim them down. (But next time we move, there will be another serious culling.)
posted by Dip Flash at 7:05 AM on June 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
I used to think this way, but increasingly I'm treating the "insurance" by knowing that if I did need a copy of a certain book, the library might have it, and if they don't it can be bought from any number of used or new bookstores, locally or online. That way I get the advantage of having potential access to it, without the need to store it, move it, and eventually try to sell or give it away. I'm a long way from being doctrinaire about this and I buy plenty of "just in case" things still, but I really try not to given how accessible most things actually are.
Staying with the example of books: Over a series of moves, we went from having some thousands of books to now having just a few hundred. It has been vanishingly rare that I end up wishing I still owned a certain book, and it kind of makes me wince to think about the money we spent acquiring those books, which seemed so important and meaningful at the time, given how little used books end up being worth when you decide to downsize. We still have more than we "need," but at this point they don't take up much space so I'm not feeling any pressure to further trim them down. (But next time we move, there will be another serious culling.)
posted by Dip Flash at 7:05 AM on June 30, 2023 [2 favorites]
> I used to think this way, but increasingly I'm treating the "insurance" by knowing that if I did need a copy of a certain book, the library might have it, and if they don't it can be bought from any number of used or new bookstores, locally or online.
Last year, I went searching for some rare books, and if an online store seemed useful, I made sure to bookmark it.
Then I added my local public library and OpenLibrary with the same tags just as a reminder to check them before buying.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:00 AM on July 1, 2023
Last year, I went searching for some rare books, and if an online store seemed useful, I made sure to bookmark it.
Then I added my local public library and OpenLibrary with the same tags just as a reminder to check them before buying.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:00 AM on July 1, 2023
This article also overlooks the joys of having things. I have a number of old SLRs and rangefinders which I bought non-working and which would take far more to restore than is worthwhile. They’re still something I’m glad to have. Same with books - I have probably 1500-2000 fiction books, most of which I’ve only read once, a handful that I’ll return to again.
Quantifying the costs of everything to this extent is buying into the faults of capitalism just as much as acquiring everything you think you might want. Don’t spend beyond your means, and don’t get yourself into a dangerous hoarding situation, but beyond that just do what makes you happy.
posted by Molten Berle at 1:07 PM on July 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Quantifying the costs of everything to this extent is buying into the faults of capitalism just as much as acquiring everything you think you might want. Don’t spend beyond your means, and don’t get yourself into a dangerous hoarding situation, but beyond that just do what makes you happy.
posted by Molten Berle at 1:07 PM on July 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
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