Need to vent

[BlackDiamond]

I am disgusted with myself right now and if one more moron tells me "you deserve to have fun!" I swear I am going to throw something... so hear me out, financially intelligent people.

I made my savings goal of $6000 this past week. In fact I made close to $6450. I paid off a credit card I had. But I still have some debt. It's manageable but it is there.

Anyway, I love film scores and I love classical music. I heard on the radio today that John Williams (THE John Williams) is conducting the Boston Pops in an evening of film score music he composed this week. I've also always wanted to go to the symphony and never been able to.

Well to celebrate surpassing my goal, I stupidly bought tickets. I didn't buy the expensive tickets, I bought the $50 ones. Two of them, since my date who I'd like to bring along has no money (that's a whole other issue, I know). So $100 and some change for service fees.

Well, fast forward... I can't list my weekly Ebay auctions because my worthless camera is not working. I've fought with it always trying to get the pics from the camera to the Kodak Easy Share (easy it is not) program. But it's always worked before.

Tonight, I gave up after literally 3 hours of trying. I will lose a weeks worth of auctions now. I plan them to start on Monday or Tuesdays. The soonest I can get the camera looked at now is Thursday and by then the week will be almost over. A week of auctions is almost always $100 for me.

I wish I had not wasted the money on the tickets now. I don't even want to go. This is what I get for being stupid and irresponsible. Never, NEVER again. I am going to try to sell the tickets at work tomorrow. Hopefully a coworker will want them. I won't even remotely enjoy the show now.

My friends are all "you work so hard you deserve to go to the show blah blah blah." It's irritating. Complacency = failure. I got complacent. I made my goal so I threw away $100...

I am shocked at my own irresponsibility.

[nmboone]

I don't see how missing a week's worth of ebay listings qualifies as being stupid and irresponsible. If you already bought the tickets why don't you just go? Think of it as a small reward for saving so much money. I wouldn't make it into such a big deal.

[Confetti]

Could you borrow a camera until you get yours straightened out?

[HouseHopeful]

I think that its not as bad as you think. Once you get the camera working, could you just sell this weeks planned items plus next weeks? The money could still even out that way, it will just be delayed

[BlackDiamond]

Thanks all. I am going to borrow a camera. It'll just throw my listing schedule off and I generally try to limit what I sell each week because I can only make it to the post office once a week.

I also rememebered I got a warranty when I bought the camera so I am going to try and return it this weekend and use the credit towards a better camera.

I guess I'm going to the show since it's tonight and I can't find anyone to buy the tickets. I don't like "rewarding myself" though. I'm not at a point where I deserve rewards yet. Once all my debt is paid off, then I can justify spending on luxury items. Not yet. It was just a lack of self control.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Hope there is someone who will want to buy your tickets.

For the future, find out if the symphony has practices open to the public. Then if you have a work day off, perhaps you can hear the symphony free. Practices also have an intimacy that polished performances don't have. It is not the "big event," but fun and satisfying.

When I was in college I heard performances free by volunteering to usher. That took only about 45 minutes before the start. People of all ages volunteered.

[rennigade]

Why even bother with the kodak easyshare software? that crap is junk and it clogs up your computer with useless software. Just pick up one of these.Remove the sd card from your camera, pop it into this thing, and plug it into the usb port on your computer. I use a kodak camera and wouldnt think twice of putting the easyshare software on my machine. The usb method is also much quicker, easier to select the pics you want.

I actually picked up this exact one from meritline for .89 with free shipping when they had a deal going on. You can find them anywhere. I wouldnt recommend buying from bestbuy, walmart, etc. They're all overpriced. The one I listed above does the exact same thing as the more expensive ones. Amazon.com has a bunch as well.

[BTC]

It's not quite a Greek tragedy, but it could be if you failed to disclose that you're sleeping with a close relative.

[snafu]

Hope you enjoyed the concert since it was a rare opportunity. Perhaps you can also make this more than a concert experience to remember but a life change opportunity. Whenever you want to make an unplanned purchase...make it a rule to hold back for 24 or 48 hours to avoid 'regret' buys. I'm guessing that a lot of the stuff you are selling on e-bay fall into that category.

[BlackDiamond]

I never impulse buy. I honestly can't remember the last time I bought something on an impulse or bought anything that was not a necessity.

The problem with waiting my usual 48 hours or so with something like concert tix is that if you wait to decide if you "really" want it, when 48 hours goes by, the cheap seats will be gone. Or if you're the type of person who wants the really good, expensive seats, those might be gone. Concert tickets for a popular event are not really an item you can wait on.

This wasn't a matter of wanting the tix or not. I still want to go. But honestly, a person with only $6450 cash and $12K+ worth of debt should not be purchasing $50 concert tickets. No matter what kind of savings milestone they reached.

[BlackDiamond]

Why even bother with the kodak easyshare software? that crap is junk and it clogs up your computer with useless software. Just pick up one of these.Remove the sd card from your camera, pop it into this thing, and plug it into the usb port on your computer. I use a kodak camera and wouldnt think twice of putting the easyshare software on my machine. The usb method is also much quicker, easier to select the pics you want.

I actually picked up this exact one from meritline for .89 with free shipping when they had a deal going on. You can find them anywhere. I wouldnt recommend buying from bestbuy, walmart, etc. They're all overpriced. The one I listed above does the exact same thing as the more expensive ones. Amazon.com has a bunch as well.

Thanks. i will check that out.

[jpg7n16]

.. I've also always wanted to go to the symphony and never been able to.

Well to celebrate surpassing my goal, I stupidly bought tickets. I didn't buy the expensive tickets, I bought the $50 ones. Two of them, since my date who I'd like to bring along has no money (that's a whole other issue, I know). So $100 and some change for service fees...

What's the point of saving money and getting to a good place financially, if you're just gonna beat yourself up over doing something you've "always wanted to do"???

I agree with the other people here, it's not stupid to buy tickets as a reward for making your goal at all. In fact, rewards are one of the most successful tactics of changing behaviors - but only if you enjoy them. Go enjoy the show and don't feel guilty about it

For more on how rewards can be used to motivate you to achieve higher and higher goals, check out: Amazon.com: Self-Directed Behavior (9780495093244): David L. Watson, Roland G. Tharp: Books

You even bought the financially responsible tickets! You did good

What in the world are you saving for??

[bjl584]

$100 in tickets represents 1.6% of the money that you have saved. You are doing a great job financially. Take a breather and go enjoy the show.