Impulse purchases.

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MontyVeda

MontyVeda

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
Location
Lancaster... the little city.
My impulse purchases are so mundane i don't even know what they are (were)... pies, a multipack of crisps or three, a t-shirt or two, padded envelopes, yet another set of Allen keys, etc. That was before lockdown. Now I mostly buy the things i actually need and at the end of each month, i seem to have an extra couple of hundred quid in the bank... it's staggering to think that I flittered so much away in numerous needless purchases costing from £1-£5 each.
 
HMS_Dave

HMS_Dave

Grand Old Lady
There's a condition in amateur astronomy called aperture fever... Basically, you start off with say a 3 inch refractor and you keep wanting bigger telescopes to tease them photons out of those very distant objects... Naturally, to the unguided and untrained this can get out of hand until you end up with a yard cannon like this..
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That is a 40 inch reflector telescope on a dobsonian mount. I didn't end up going that big, but i did have a 20 inch which i have to say qualifies as an impulse buy as i quickly realised that it was way too much and required hours of set up and mirrors cooling and standing on step ladders to use it. Aside from the fact i didn't want people to think id declared war on my neighbours and was ready to fire a howitzer at them, I certainly didn't want my kids or my missus find me dead in the morning with a broken neck so, im down to a 12 inch reflector and a 6 inch refractor and that is fine by me...

Bigger isn't by any means always better... :becool:
 
postman

postman

Squire
Location
,Leeds
Not as much now.I have started to sleep on things.Usually two weeks.Then i buy if i am still interested.I have got three things in the post at the moment.phone cover ,mtb brake shoes and a dvd boxed set,sci fi series.
 
OP
OP
gavroche

gavroche

Getting old but not past it
Location
North Wales
Just done it again. Went into Tesco and just bought a deal meal for £10, 12 cans of cider for £10 and a pack of whisky flavoured bacon for my lunch with a baguette. Next time I will leave my bank card at home.
 
accountantpete

accountantpete

OAP
An impulse buy motor car as it seemed too good a bargain to resist.

I usually average 2,000 miles a year and my old petrol Astra, which had a sweet engine and good bodywork, was perfect for me.

It was barely getting used in the Lockdown but then one night I started dreaming of an upgrade and all those BMW bargains that must be out there due to Covid-19 - so, at 9.00am, I started looking through ebay motors. Sadly there were no BMW bargains but there was a Honda newly-listed under BMW in error and I thought the amount the dealer wanted was also an error but a quick phonecall confirmed the price £1200 and mileage at 54k so by 11.00am the Astra was headed for the scrappy and an Accord was in the driveway.
539925
 
ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Location
Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
When I had ample spending money, I used to buy what I wanted, when I wanted it. A classic example... I set off to watch the Tour of Britain climb over the Nick o'Pendle near Burnley but got there too late and saw the peloton disappearing into the distance. Feeling mightily peeved, I decided to go and see my mate who worked in a nearby bike shop. When I got there I saw that they had one of Marco Pantani's Bianchis in the shop. It was doing a tour of Bianchi dealers, helping to drum up sales for the brand. It worked on me! I asked about a £1,000 Bianchi. It was quite interesting, but ooh, look - a £1,250 Bianchi! But that was next to one costing £1,500, which was overshadowed by its £1,750 big brother. Oh, damn - I'll take the £2,000 one at the end, please! :laugh: (Those were late 1990s prices - probably more like a £3,000 bike now.)

I am so hard up these days that I will spend hours scouring eBay to save 50p on an inner tube. I was pretty annoyed with myself after spending about 30 hours researching one purchase and thereby saving £20. So, my time is now only worth £0.66/hour! :wacko:
 
Brandane

Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
Not usually one for proper impulsive buys, but I did start a CycleChat 100km challenge ride on one bike, and finish it on another in January 2018.
I had been giving some thought to buying a Merida Ride 4000 carbon framed bike for a while. Set off on my 100km ride one day in January 2018 and took a break at the half way point in Prestwick, where there just happened to be a LBS stocking Merida. There it was, last one in the shop and in the right size. Temptingly discounted as it was a 2016 model. I went for a pub lunch a few doors away while the shop owner sorted the bike, and an hour later I was on the second half of the ride on a new bike. Went back a few days later to pick up the old one :smile:. Glad I did it, it has turned out to be a good bike; still very happy with it.
 
vickster

vickster

Legendary Member
johnblack said:
I bought a Spec. Sirrus Sport the other day, only ever been ridden a couple of times and only a couple of years old. Too small for me, but such a great bike I didn't like to see it gathering dust in this old boys garage and he didn't want it. No idea what I'm going to do with it.
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Sell it for a Covid profit?
 
Rusty Nails

Rusty Nails

We remember
Location
Living in the slow lane
gavroche said:
Are you one of those people who will buy something on impulse, without thinking about it first? I must confess that I fall into that category although, with ageing, I am calming down a bit and talk myself out of it more often.
I have bought bikes and cars on impulse many times but not recently, my last impulse buying of a bike was 3 years ago and my car is now 5 years old, so, may be I have become wiser with old age , I certainly hope so.
What I resent the most now is paying loads of money for holidays that will last a couple of weeks and then , phew, gone. At least, when you buy something, you have something to show for it.
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I have never regretted spending thousands of pounds on holidays, or even hundreds on great nights out. I don't get much pleasure out of buying possessions, particularly furniture, and except bikes.

I have impulse-bought many bikes on eBay or Gumtree in the past that I subsequently disliked or didn't ride much, but am not bothered as I always sold them on, often at a profit.
 
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