This won’t come as a surprise to those who know me but I’m very much an instant gratification kind of guy. I see something I want and I buy it. It’s not complicated. Occasionally, I’ll put off buying an item but that’s the exception not the rule. My affliction mostly revolves around whatever shiny new gadget came out this week but not always.

Thankfully, my shopping handicap is not much of a problem because my expense to income ratio has a fair amount of wiggle room which brings me to my point. I’ve set a goal for myself to save a predetermined amount of money by the end of the year. I sorta arbitrarily picked a number and when I figured out how much I’d have to set aside each month, well it turned out to be rather aggressive. Ooops.

What does this mean? I’m committed to my goal, arbitrary or not, so that means I have to suck it up. Yeah, goodbye Mr. Instant Gratification, hello Mr. Budget. Can I just say, Mr. Budget is a LOT less fun. He won’t let me buy any shiny new toys! So no new Kindle, no new iPod Touch (rumored to be announced),  and no iPad for me. And that’s just the stuff on the short list, I’m sure I could come up with others. Insert frowny face.

I guess it’s not all bad. I’ll have a nice chunk of change at the end of the year to show for my shopping abstinence and perhaps I’ll learn a thing or two about self-control. More likely, I’ll welcome back Mr. Instant Gratification with an open wallet. ;)

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