One of the best pieces of advice shared with us is based on the premise that it’s wise to evaluate any purchase, particularly larger dollar purchases that involve hobbies, with the understanding that everything you own owns a piece of you.
This ownership comes in many different forms:
- Financial: The cost to acquire the item, cost to maintain the item, cost to pay the debt acquired to finance the item, cost of insuring the item, etc.
- Physical space: The physical space required to provide space for the item. You are now responsible for maintaining a living space that allows for this item.
- Time: Many items consume time to enjoy and maintain.
- Physical and Emotional Energy: Things can bring joy when they are functioning or stress when they become more work than fun. There is also physical energy consumed from engaging with and maintaining things.
In most people’s lives, the resources in the previously mentioned areas are finite. You only have so much time, storage capacity, or money in your budget to go around, so you need to use it wisely. At a baseline most of us must maintain a living space and a vehicle, so let’s talk about the extracurricular choices we make. Here are a few common examples:
Owning a Second Vehicle: Whether you want to cruise the backroads on a motorcycle or maybe a vintage car on the weekends, a second vehicle comes with a commitment.
- Financial: Can you afford the purchase or monthly payments? Insurance? Licensing? Tires? Oil changes? Can you maintain the vehicle yourself or do you need someone to do that for you?
- Physical Space: Do you have storage available? Is the space it takes up worth the rewards it brings in other areas?
- Time: Do you have the time available to utilize the vehicle? Will you choose to use it rather than something else in your garage? Do you have time to either maintain the vehicle yourself or bring it to someone when it needs maintenance?
- Physical and Emotional Energy: Does this hobby vehicle fill you with joy when you are using it? Are you physically able to keep up with it given everything else you have going on in your life? Do you have negative emotions, like guilt or remorse, if you are not using this other vehicle?
Weekend or Vacation Equipment/Toys: How many times have you gone and rented something on the weekend and suddenly decided that you need to own your own because then you will do it all the time? Examples include bicycles, surfboards, kayaks, wetsuits, camping gear, scuba/snorkel gear, fishing gear, ski or snowboard clothing, and equipment. Garages and closets are full of this type of stuff.
- Financial: Be honest about how many times you are going to use the equipment before it wears out, becomes obsolete, or does not fit any longer, then divide the cost by that. Does the investment make sense? Can you rent the equipment for less?
- Physical Space: Do you have storage available? Is the space it takes up worth the rewards it brings in other areas?
- Time: Do you have the time available to do this hobby? How many other toys do you own that will compete with the time you choose to use this equipment?
- Physical and Emotional Energy: Does this sport fill you with joy? Are you physically able to do it given everything else you have going on in your life? Do you have negative emotions, like guilt or remorse, when you can’t make the time to do this activity?
“Second Homes” (Cabins, Camping RV/Trailers, Condos): When people experience the magic of vacationing in a special place or camping in a remote location, they are drawn to the desire of owning a piece of that place or easier access to it. “Second homes” inherently take up a lot of financial resources, physical space for the RV/Trailer, time, and physical and emotional energy. Ask yourself the following:
- Financial: Can you go back and rent again for less than the total cost of ownership? The answer is more frequently yes than no.
- Physical Space: Do you have storage for an RV/camper?
- Time: Will you realistically want, be able, and choose to allocate the hours to returning to a place time and time again?
- Physical and Emotional Energy: Just like a primary home, “second homes” require maintenance and care. Is it within a reasonable distance for you to go regularly enough to check on, maintain and enjoy it? If it is not nearby, you must rely on others, which can be very stressful and expensive.
Boats: Let us leave it at, “The happiest days in boat owners’ lives are the day they buy their boat and the day they sell their boat.” Charter or rent and think long and hard before you buy.
If any of the ownership areas are out of balance the thing that you own begins to own you more than you own it. So, ask yourself next time you are looking at an extracurricular purchase or just decluttering, “Is there something I can purge to make room financially, physically, timewise, and/or energy-wise so that I am not overwhelmed with all the stuff in my life?”
Real-life story of a family with an addiction to things with two wheels:
Husband: “Hey, do you want to look at the new Monkeys coming out? We could get matching ones!”
Wife: “Honey, Monkeys sound really fun… I think we should sell some things to pay for them and make space for them. Let’s go in the garage and talk about this.”
Husband: “Hmmm…let’s go rent them first and see how much fun they really are compared to what we already have.” ????
Wife: “Great idea!”
