Just a Few Grains
Dec. 30th, 2022 08:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebe
Today brings the last paycheck of 2022! That means one last check of the finances before embarking on a new year, making sure I'm being at least a little financially prudent. Honestly, I've done OK for myself all things considered. I've definitely been bitten by the impulse bug a bit too often but otherwise I haven't been too bad.
Next year I'd like to be a lot more mindful about the way I spend my money, but that's an easy goal to make. I tend to blow money on food -- groceries, candies, alcohol, and restaurants -- so that I don't have quite enough to be comfortable when I want to do something bigger with it. Like buying organizational items for the house, buying gifts for friends and family, or having a more stress-free vacation when I'm traveling. The problem is I'm able to resist impulse purchases for so long before something happens and then I'm stress-eating candy or getting so frustrated with a mobile game that I end up buying a package to help me out. Which I'm not proud to admit, obviously.
The quickest (and probably best) solution would be to uninstall the mobile games that are giving me the most trouble, and that's honestly not a bad idea for one of them. I play Yahtzee, which has exploded into all kinds of variations and special events. You can also collect custom dice and backgrounds, win "free" extra rolls that give you a better shot at filling out a category, things like that. I've always liked the base game, and the extra bells and whistles give me a free shot of dopamine. But man, it's an expensive thing.
I purchased "Prize Pass" for $8/month, which basically works out to nearly $100/year on a stupid game that gives me nothing but an emotional sugar high. On top of that, I'm even less proud to say, I buy bundles of free rolls when I'm having a particularly bad game. Like I said, most of the time I'm able to avoid the temptation but it wears you down the more you play it. Eventually, $20 to get past a hard part of a tournament feels like a good idea.
It's not, and logically I know that, but this is where mindless behavior with your finances gets you. The best way to avoid being suckered in any more is spending a lot less time with the game. So cancelling my Prize Pass subscription and uninstalling the game is a really strong option. In fact, I think it's the answer. Why put myself into the position of throwing away money on a mobile game?
The other culprit is...a bit harder to deal with. Marvel Puzzle Quest is a game I've been playing for like, a decade. I've built a *stacked* roster of 250 superheroes and I have a lot of fun with the gameplay -- mostly. The higher-level challenges can be just ridiculous, and I'm not sure I have the power levels to actually have a shot with these folks. It's possible that I'm not the best at creating teams that will chew through opponents, but it's a freaking mobile game -- how hard does it have to be?
With that game, there's "VIP Access" for 30 days if you pay $10. If you play every day, that works out to around $120/year but since I don't it's more like $100. Still, that's $200 a year on mobile games that just give me a dopamine hit. In the grand scheme of things, it's...honestly not that much. I get paid enough that I can blow the money on incidentals. But think about what else I could do with that?
I could get a better coffee maker, or start in on making over my kitchen so that it's a lot more functional. I could put it into the gift pool for birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries. I could get a new iPad or purchase an online class that'll teach me how to make maps, or DM, or write better. There are better ways to use a finite resource like cash.
The more I think about it, the more it feels like changing our lifestyle really happens in these small decisions. Just taking a look at the things we do, realizing it's a blind spot where we could be doing better, and making the little changes that set up the foundation for living better in general.
That's one of the themes I'd like to carry through the rest of the year. At least in the first few months. Taking a look at small ways to be better and finding ways to do that.
Next year I'd like to be a lot more mindful about the way I spend my money, but that's an easy goal to make. I tend to blow money on food -- groceries, candies, alcohol, and restaurants -- so that I don't have quite enough to be comfortable when I want to do something bigger with it. Like buying organizational items for the house, buying gifts for friends and family, or having a more stress-free vacation when I'm traveling. The problem is I'm able to resist impulse purchases for so long before something happens and then I'm stress-eating candy or getting so frustrated with a mobile game that I end up buying a package to help me out. Which I'm not proud to admit, obviously.
The quickest (and probably best) solution would be to uninstall the mobile games that are giving me the most trouble, and that's honestly not a bad idea for one of them. I play Yahtzee, which has exploded into all kinds of variations and special events. You can also collect custom dice and backgrounds, win "free" extra rolls that give you a better shot at filling out a category, things like that. I've always liked the base game, and the extra bells and whistles give me a free shot of dopamine. But man, it's an expensive thing.
I purchased "Prize Pass" for $8/month, which basically works out to nearly $100/year on a stupid game that gives me nothing but an emotional sugar high. On top of that, I'm even less proud to say, I buy bundles of free rolls when I'm having a particularly bad game. Like I said, most of the time I'm able to avoid the temptation but it wears you down the more you play it. Eventually, $20 to get past a hard part of a tournament feels like a good idea.
It's not, and logically I know that, but this is where mindless behavior with your finances gets you. The best way to avoid being suckered in any more is spending a lot less time with the game. So cancelling my Prize Pass subscription and uninstalling the game is a really strong option. In fact, I think it's the answer. Why put myself into the position of throwing away money on a mobile game?
The other culprit is...a bit harder to deal with. Marvel Puzzle Quest is a game I've been playing for like, a decade. I've built a *stacked* roster of 250 superheroes and I have a lot of fun with the gameplay -- mostly. The higher-level challenges can be just ridiculous, and I'm not sure I have the power levels to actually have a shot with these folks. It's possible that I'm not the best at creating teams that will chew through opponents, but it's a freaking mobile game -- how hard does it have to be?
With that game, there's "VIP Access" for 30 days if you pay $10. If you play every day, that works out to around $120/year but since I don't it's more like $100. Still, that's $200 a year on mobile games that just give me a dopamine hit. In the grand scheme of things, it's...honestly not that much. I get paid enough that I can blow the money on incidentals. But think about what else I could do with that?
I could get a better coffee maker, or start in on making over my kitchen so that it's a lot more functional. I could put it into the gift pool for birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries. I could get a new iPad or purchase an online class that'll teach me how to make maps, or DM, or write better. There are better ways to use a finite resource like cash.
The more I think about it, the more it feels like changing our lifestyle really happens in these small decisions. Just taking a look at the things we do, realizing it's a blind spot where we could be doing better, and making the little changes that set up the foundation for living better in general.
That's one of the themes I'd like to carry through the rest of the year. At least in the first few months. Taking a look at small ways to be better and finding ways to do that.
