10 Things Worth Splurging On

Alright, so if you’ve been listening to this podcast for any period of time, you probably realize at this point that I’m a bit of a cheapskate. I am frugal, possibly to a fault. I think a lot of this stems from the way that I was raised. I kind of grew up with a scarcity mindset, and a lot of that was reflected by the fact that I really didn’t have a lot of money. All throughout my twenty s, I was getting fired from a lot of jobs. I wasn’t holding down any jobs that were paying more than maybe 35, $40,000 a year. In fact, my highest paying job that I ever had working for somebody else was $40,000 a year in San Francisco. So that’s not great, considering you need like a low six figure salary just to be considered low income there.

So I’ve grown up for a long period of time. Like a large portion of my life was spent not having money. And that breeds certain ways of thinking and acting towards money that I’ve had a really hard time growing out of. Even as I started to make more money and be in a position now where I’m financially very secure and like, I could buy pretty much anything that I want, but still, it’s very difficult for me to pull the trigger and buy things. I’m getting better at it. It’s something that I’m trying to actively relearn or unlearn how to do. But this is one of the things that you don’t hear people talk about a lot, which is that often the thing that compels us to go and pursue financial freedom is the fact that we are in a place of financial lack, and the mindsets and the scars and the baggage that we carry from that place in our life where we didn’t have anything can manifest itself in one of two ways. Once you start making good money, which is you either go overboard and you start over indexing and buying things, and now your wealth isn’t actually growing because your expenses are creeping up just as quickly as your income.

That’s very common. The alternative is that you make really good money, but then you never can sit and enjoy it, you can never spend it without feeling deep amounts of anxiety and stress. And that’s where I’d say I largely spend a lot of my life these days is not spending money, because the idea of spending it causes me stress. But today I wanted to share with you ten things in my life that I have found to be worth splurging on. Things that I don’t mind spending that extra dollar to get the really nice version of the thing. So I’m going to share these with you. These might not make it onto your list, but I am curious what would make your list? But these are things that I found overall. They add to my quality of life, and so they’re things I don’t get too concerned about spending money on.

So, number one is a good pen. Behind me right now, there’s probably a dozen good pens. I love writing by hand. I think there’s some things that’s very visceral about your mind being linked with your thoughts and then expressing them on a physical page in a tangible way. There’s something very, very powerful about that. And the act of writing with a good pen is just so much more enjoyable to me than writing with a shitty bick. For whatever reason, if I have a shitty pen next to me, I’m not inclined to write. But when I have a nice pen that feels good, the ink glides, give it to me.
All right? And if writing is one of the most important, most valuable skills that we can participate in, because it is thinking made physical, then anything that can make that process just a little bit easier, it’s a win in my book. All right. Number two is boots. So there’s this. I can’t remember who said it, but it’s probably just like an old cliche at this point, is never go cheap on things that separate you from the earth. So that means your shoes, your tires, and your mattress. And I think that’s a good rule of thumb with boots. What I’ve come to realize, and boots could be shoes.
I’m just saying boots. But it could also be shoes, is that you spend so much of your time standing and walking and moving through the world. Like, you might as well have a great pair of shoes on that feel comfortable, that you feel great wearing. There’s no benefit in having shitty shoes that hurt your feet, that give you corns and all that stuff. So go for the good shoe. You can get them resold. They will last you much longer. So I’m a big proponent of buying nice shoes.
Number three is a mouse. I have a very nice. I have probably the most expensive mouse that you can get. Just Logitech, master, MX three or four. Again, considering how much time I use that thing, how often I’m on my computer, it’s well worth the investment. It makes my hands feel better, it makes me more precise, it’s more fun to use. So, a mouse. Number three, I guess this is four actually, number three, four or five? They’re all really connected.
I’ll throw a six on here, too. So that is mouse, laptop, monitor and keyboard again. I spend so much of my life sitting at a computer desk and working on a computer, it might as well be as enjoyable of a process as possible. And if I can have good equipment that makes the job easier and more enjoyable, then that is a win in my book. So a great monitor. I’ve had this monitor for years. I don’t think it’s that. It’s pretty cheap, actually, in the grand scheme of things, but it’s great for what I need it for.
The laptop. That’s a pretty expensive piece of kit right there. But considering how often and I spend on it, it needs to be as good as possible. The mouse is great. What was the other one? Oh, the keyboard. Oh, man. I love typing, but the process of typing is way more enjoyable when you have a great keyboard. I am a big fan of mechanical keyboards.
I’m just a nerd like that. Like the clicky clacky. Makes me feel more productive. All right, next on the list is a good jacket. A good jacket will last you decades. It’s something that you can pass on to your children, pass on to other people, if that’s something that you’re interested in. But a good jacket, just, it can be a staple of your style. It can take any outfit.
I’m a big fan of just wearing plain t shirts and jeans. I’m not too fancy, but throw on a jacket to dress it up and boom, you’re off to the races. So a good jacket, always worth the money. A good mattress in the same way, like I said before, things that separate you from the earth. So your shoes, your tires and your mattress, I think having a great mattress again, you spend a third of your life in bed. You might as well go all out on that thing and make it a good investment because the quality of your sleep is going to dictate the quality of your energy the next day, which is going to drive the results that you can achieve. And the last two. God, so much of these things that are worth splurging on in my book are things that I spend so much of my time interacting with.

So like this chair, this desk, in my headphones, these are things that you could say, I’m a workaholic, but I love my work and so I enjoy doing it and it might as well make that process as enjoyable as possible. So great chair to sit in helps me not be so sore at the end of the day, a great desk, so I can sit, I can stand. I have everything that I need. Good headphones so that I can block out the distractions. These are things that make me more productive, so that I can spend more time doing the things that I love, which is writing, which is doing the work. That’s fun for me. If it’s not fun for you, that’s okay. This isn’t so much a list of, hey, go buy these things.

It’s about thinking about in your life, what are the things that you spend the most time using and that would bring you the most fulfillment and enjoyment? Using that thing and then feeling, okay, it’s okay to spend that extra money to get this thing, knowing that quality has a, you know, it’s going to last longer and that it’s going to bring you more fulfillment. Those are great things. The thing to worry about is when we’re buying things simply for the sake of status, to impress other people or because we think we need that thing, that it’s going to fill some hole inside of us. And generally, when we spend and splurge on things to do that, you will never fill that hole inside of you because you cannot consume your way to fulfillment. You can only create it. And so spending time, spending extra money on the tools that help you create, that’s fine in my book, but just do it with intention. Be aware of why you’re doing it, and that’s going to do it for me. Guys, hope this brings you a little bit of value.

We’ll see you tomorrow. But until then, stay hyper focused, my friends.