Categorizing purchases
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Jun 5, 2014
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I've noticed I tend to unintentionally group purchases into one of three categories: expenses, hobbies, or investments. Expenses are things that are basically just the cost of doing business, or the cost of living life. This includes gas and groceries, but I also lump things like wine into this category. Obviously wine isn't an essential item, but I've reached the point where I drink wine almost as regularly as I use gas to power my car, i.e. every day.
Hobbies are things that cost a decent amount of money, but the cost gets spread out over time. I like bourbon whiskey, and I probably have $300-400 worth of it in my house at the moment. That price point was daunting when I first started getting into whiskey, because I felt like I'd never be able to try the brands I wanted to try without putting up a big chunk of change. But spread out over time at $30 a bottle or so, the cost wasn't that big. It's not small or regular enough that I'd call it a cost of living life, but small enough that I can buy a bottle every few months or so and not have to think about it.
I'd like to get into Scotch, but that counts as an investment in my book. A bottle of Scotch is often 2-3 times the price of a bottle of bourbon. Investments require planning and budgeting, and because of their increased price (and my relatively un-lavish lifestyle), it seems like they should be treated as such. Obviously I would never mix good Scotch with Coke, but even drinking it regularly would feel a little wrong. Since I don't light my cigars with hundred dollar bills, it feels like expensive purchases should be treated differently, as investments.
Anyway, this was supposed to be about money, and it became a thing about booze. C'est la vie. #money
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