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Getting rid of GAS. Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

09/15 by The Frug Leave a Comment

guitars

Buying stuff you don’t need in hopes it will make you better at something.

By Brad Beckstrom

I have it. I think I’ve had it for a long time. At least, I still have many symptoms. Psychology Today defines Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) as “lustily buying more tools than you need.”  Wikipedia’s describes (GAS) as “the urge to acquire and accumulate lots of gear.” They single out musicians in their definition, saying the term sometimes refers to Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. Guitarists tend to acquire lots of guitars, guitar amplifiers, custom pedals and effects processors.

But this goes way beyond musicians. In fact, I could list any number of hobbies, interests, careers, passions etc. that suffer from gear acquisition syndrome. Just pick up any magazine on cooking, photography, technology, fitness, beauty, cycling, hunting, fishing, boating, camping, gaming, music, cars and you’ll see gear featured front and center on nearly every page. Web sites are worse, the candy colored gear pops up and can lead you on click tangents.

I recently canceled a free subscription to a photography magazine because they weren’t really talking about photography, they were talking about gear, tricks and tools to make you a better photographer. Most of the photos in the magazine were of …..gear. What I know now is that gear will not make me a better photographer. The best camera, latest versions of software, and the fastest Mac out there will not make me a better photographer.  Going out and doing the work, taking the photographs will make me a better photographer.

GAS can definitely be a problem for someone like me who is interested in everything. Technology, music, boating, even healthy stuff like hiking, cycling………lots o’gear.

Even self-help junkies (people constantly trying to improve themselves ) are not immune to this syndrome. Our gear just looks different, books, online courses, the latest to do list app software and razor thin laptops, tablets and phones to run it all. Holy shit, I am in that group as well. If I’m not careful GAS could kill me!

Getting rid of bad GAS

The first step in getting rid of GAS is admitting that you have it. So how do I get rid of it? There is no remedy that you can go out and buy in chewable tablet form for this.  Even if there was, I would probably tell you not to buy it.

Once you know you have it, understand that it will pop up in the strangest places. This is not your fault. If you’re reading this, you are lucky to live in a place that has a paradox of choice. Meaning that there are so many choices and options screaming for your attention that some of that cream really has risen to the top and grabbed your attention. You feel the urge to buy and the pressure to make the “right choice.”  Smart phones, motorcycles, vacuum cleaners, laptops, guitars, high-tech shoes and clothing, all available all the time, next day delivery. This stuff all looks great doesn’t it ? Which one will be best for me?

How to deal with this? Do what you do best, procrastinate. Put off the decision, stop spending time researching, tell yourself “I’m going to think about this for a few weeks.” This is one of the single best things I’ve found for getting rid of GAS and avoiding purchases I will regret later.

carte

Once you’re able to put that decision off, think of the time you just saved yourself. You’re done with the research. You can use that time to go fishing, go skiing, cook, or do whatever it was you were trying to improve with new gear. I recently heard a writer speaking about how she used to be a self-help junkie, taking every course, buying every book, attending seminars. What she finally realized was that she could improve her writing, by actually doing it instead of reading about it. She had found the secret!  She literally found the secret, instead of buying a book called The Secret for $14.95.

Output versus Input [Read more…] about Getting rid of GAS. Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

Filed Under: Live Lean Tagged With: Frugal, saving money, Saving time, Travel lean, war on stuff

Trending Minimalist. Looking for less.

07/15 by The Frug Leave a Comment

oneroom

By Brad Beckstrom

Tiny houses, bring em on. Tiny house on the beach, even better, less lawn care. Less yard work, absolutely. In fact, tiny everything, that would be perfect.

Spent several hours last weekend pulling huge weeds in 95° heat. I like to take a stoic approach to work around the house. I should be thankful to have a yard, some people have no weeds to pull. I’m fortunate to have the rain and subtropical heat that helped create these epic tree-like weeds. Some people’s yards, somewhere, are burning up, literally, droughts, forest fires. So yeah, bring those weeds on, glad to have them.  If I get too hot, there is a ton of stuff to do inside as well.

Years of Work

In fact, there is easily a couple of years of work waiting for me in the house. Closets, drawers, the basement and garage to clean out. You see, I am trending minimalist. I’m defining this as “moving in the general direction towards less” less clutter, less stuff.  The thinking behind minimalism is freeing your life of stuff and possessions to focus on whats important.

Maximist
[Read more…] about Trending Minimalist. Looking for less.

Filed Under: Live Lean Tagged With: Frugal, less equals more, live lean, minimalism, Saving time, Tiny House, war on stuff

Everyone under 25 needs to read this story.

05/15 by The Frug 1 Comment

Growing old

By Brad Beckstrom

Theodore R. Johnson worked for UPS and never made more than $14,000 a year. After a 28 year career with the company, he retired in 1952 with $700,000 in company stock. He remained retired for 39 years, while amassing a fortune of $70 million.

Johnson died at the age of 91 leaving much of his fortune to an education fund he established with his wife, for disadvantaged students attending small colleges.

70 Million! How did he do it?

Many people today retire, worrying about if they’ll run out of money in their later years. How was Johnson able to retire and grow his $700K into a $70 million fortune that will benefit many into the foreseeable future?

He used some of the same tools we have available today. [Read more…] about Everyone under 25 needs to read this story.

Filed Under: Live Lean, Work Lean Tagged With: early retirement, financial independence, Frugal, less equals more, live lean, retirement, saving money, work lean

The Costco Date. Declaring War on your Grocery Bill.

03/15 by The Frug Leave a Comment

Jumbo Dog and Refillable 20oz Pepsi. $1.50
Jumbo Dog and Refillable 20oz Pepsi. $1.50

My wife Kelly and I have started a new tradition. The Costco Date. Kelly actually coined the term and I jumped on it.  I was recently complaining about our grocery bill that two growing teenage boys have something to do with.  We had bailed on Costco a few years back primarily because the times we usually went, weekends, it was usually a zoo. I have better things to do with my time than visit a big-box store on a weekend. We also started ending up with oversize stuff we didn’t need like giant jars of olives and other questionable clothing and gadget purchases.

We’d started using Amazon Prime for paper products, pet food, and lots of other items so we decided not to renew our Costco membership. That was before I decided to declare war on our grocery bill. [Read more…] about The Costco Date. Declaring War on your Grocery Bill.

Filed Under: Live Lean Tagged With: Dining out, family of four spending, family of four stats, Frugal, saving money, The Frug recommends

Dusty CDs and the Price of Music.

10/14 by The Frug Leave a Comment

Why now is really the best time for music lovers.

1-IMG_2524

In my relatively short time on this planet, here are the many different ways I’ve purchased and listened to music.  Oh, so many ways that the music industry has zapped us music lovers over the years.

  1. Vinyl 45 records on mono record player
  2. Vinyl LP records with high fidelity turntable and stereo
  3. Cassette Tapes and mix tapes on tape deck (Luckily, I avoided the whole 8-track tape thing) But my Dad’s 1968 Olds Tornado did have one in the dash.
  4. Recording cassette mix tapes from vinyl records and playing them on my first Alpine car stereo (I had arrived)
  5. Cassette tapes in a Walkman
  6. Compact discs on a compact disc player plugged into home stereo
  7. Compact discs and cassettes on a boombox
  8. Compact discs on portable Sony Discman
  9. CDs, Concert DVDs, cassettes and vinyl LPs with 6 speaker home theater surround sound system. (why would I ever need anything else to listen to music?)
  10. Six Disc CD changer in the car with cassette player and AM/FM radio
  11. MP3 Player (one of the early versions, can’t remember how I even got the music on the thing.)
  12. Using my laptop to “Rip” my CDs to iTunes and then sync them on my iPod
  13. iTunes on laptop with Harman Kardon surround sound speakers and subwoofer
  14. iPod with iTunes. Discovered the iTunes store along with everyone else.
  15. Burning CDs from tracks downloaded on Napster, LimeWire, shared with friends
  16. Streaming commercial free radio stations like Radio Paradise on my Mac with various desktop apps including iTunes, Chrome and Safari browser extensions
  17. XM satellite radio
  18. iPhone with iTunes
  19. Streaming music via apps on my iPhone, like Last FM, then Pandora
  20. Streaming music on Tivo, Roku and Apple TV with Surround Sound Digital Amplifier
  21. Streaming Music from Apps to Bluetooth car stereo and a Bluetooth HD home receiver
  22. Amazon Prime Music via Amazon Music apps

I’d almost be afraid to total up what I’ve spent on music, including all the gadgets, CDs clubs, and concerts.  But the problem is, I love music. I basically listen to it all the time and I still use many of the items on this crazy list, including the vinyl records.

Dusty CDs

I am sitting here in my office looking at a very tall tower of dusty CDs. [Read more…] about Dusty CDs and the Price of Music.

Filed Under: Live Lean, The Frug Recommends Tagged With: apps, Frug Rants, Frugal, less equals more, live lean, saving money, The Frug recommends

B.Y.O.P. Bring Your Own Phone.

09/14 by The Frug Leave a Comment

How to Take Advantage of the Mobile Carrier Price War.

A new unboxed kick ass iPhone 4S
A new unboxed kick ass iPhone 4S

I’m going to keep this short because I can’t stand mobile phone plans. Mobile carriers have always thrived on complexity. The arrival of smartphones and data plans over the years has only added to the bizarre mobile pricing schemes already out there.

Smartphones have become money machines for the carriers, racking up all kinds of data charges, upgrade fees, smartphone accessory sales.  It’s time for things to change.  I’ll be the first to say that the smartphone a useful appliance. See 21 Things my iPhone replaced.

But if you’re not careful your mobile phone bills will be higher than your utilities. If you’re single, they probably already are.

Tmobile le frug

About a year ago, things did start to change. T-Mobile touched off a price war with some aggressively priced data plans. Especially for families of four which seem to be the holy grail for carriers. T-Mobile is trying to grow market share with some heavily discounted plans and even offered to buy out your old contracts.  To our benefit this infuriated competitors in bringing us to some of the better values out there today. [Read more…] about B.Y.O.P. Bring Your Own Phone.

Filed Under: Live Lean Tagged With: cheap, family of four spending, Frug Hacks, Frug Rants, Frugal, saving money

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