Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

When do you go from Liking It to Buying It?

Upgradable

Upgradable

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 15, 2004
Messages
5,537
I especially mean when you have the money.

Or... if you don't?
 
I can't remember the last time I had the money, lol.

But if I do, then I will sit on the idea for a week or two - if I still get the same happy feeling about it, I buy it.
 
When I just. Can't. Get. It. Out. Of. My. Head.

That's exactly what happened with my last big purchase, my beautiful Art Deco line bracelet: I saw it and loved it, but I was there to buy something else (eternity band). Three months later, I saw the costume version of it at a flea market, and snapped it up, and loved it ... but it just wasn't the same. So two days later, I went back and bought the original! I've worn it every day since. :rodent:

Why, Uppy - what's on your mind? :twisted:
 
Mostly I've just got some $$ burning a hole in my pocket. Trying to decide how to spend it. :confused:
 
Minutes after I realise I love it. I'm impulsive. :bigsmile:

On the rare occasion where I see something I have to have, I have to have it there and then. ;))
 
Upgradable|1306356890|2930142 said:
Mostly I've just got some $$ burning a hole in my pocket. Trying to decide how to spend it. :confused:
Click to expand...

Well, that's a nice problem to have! I've found it usually doesn't last too long. :rodent:

(I say this as someone who thought she'd gotten most of what she wanted ... and just saw a gorgeous fancy intense grey in an auction catalogue.

THUD. Must have!)
 
I take forever to make a decision about buying things, especially for larger, big ticket items.

I actually just finished making a PowerPoint slideshow listing the cars we're thinking about buying. Are we buying new cars now or anytime soon? No, not for another year or two, most likely. I research, research, research things and then think about them for a long time 'til I FINALLY pull the trigger. Yeah, I'm weird like that. :cheeky:
 
i take time to make decisions about what i spend the money on.It either grows on me or i soon forget about it.I buy from stores that have return policy. i no longer buy something just to buy or because its a good deal.
 
It depends on how unique it is. My onyx/diamond ring took me about 10 minutes of dithering before I bought it but other less unique pieces I can watch come and go with only a little pang of regret.
 
I just don't buy it. I'm pretty good at not spending money when it's over a certain amount (like $200). There's a ring that I'm in love with over at Single Stone (saw it in person over a year ago, still can't get it out of my head) but I know that we can use the $4k for so many other things.

At this point, I'm wondering if I'll ever even get the studs I so desperately want. I'd like to spend $2k or a little more, but I just can't see spending that money on jewelry any time soon when we can spend it on stuff that benefits both me and DH.

We have the money, I guess at the end of the day I'd just rather spend it on my house and on vacations.

eta: I'm with Zoe! I've been planning my next car for years, though I really hope my current one lasts at least 2-3 more years (I'll drive it into the ground)
 
I think it depends what it is. Here, we don't ever really "have" the money, if that makes sense..we've got bills, a mortgage, non existent savings etc. There will always be something better to spend the money on in our house, that's just a fact. When I say screw it I'm treating myself (which is something I NEVER did before coming here, and even then took me a full year to do), sometimes I'm impulsive and then sit here and think I may vomit b/c I spent money on myself. Sometimes I hem and haw about it and have to spend hours emailing a friend about it before doing anything.

Do you have things you're eyeing?? :naughty:
 
packrat|1306373938|2930401 said:
I think it depends what it is. Here, we don't ever really "have" the money, if that makes sense..we've got bills, a mortgage, non existent savings etc. There will always be something better to spend the money on in our house, that's just a fact. When I say screw it I'm treating myself (which is something I NEVER did before coming here, and even then took me a full year to do), sometimes I'm impulsive and then sit here and think I may vomit b/c I spent money on myself. Sometimes I hem and haw about it and have to spend hours emailing a friend about it before doing anything.

Do you have things you're eyeing?? :naughty:
Click to expand...

I am the same way packrat. I *never* spend money on myself, just flat out never. The only things I have really spent on myself are my diamond purchases, and I agonized for so long over those. Last year I got my upgrade, the biggest purchase for myself I have made in my life, and though I love and adore my diamond beyond reason, I still think of selling it sometimes from guilt. This summer, I want to buy something to commemorate the birth of our second child, and I am driving myself BATTY at the notion of spending $500. I gre up poor, very very poor, and you just never really shake that way of thinking of money. We earn very good livings now, it should be so easy to decide to spent $500 or even $1000, but it is not. I doubt it ever will be easy for me to spend any money.

Anyways, before I ever spend more than about $300 bucks, I research the idea for about 4-6 months :rolleyes: Overkill, I think. But there you go.
 
I buy it when I just have to have it. There's always something better to spend the money on, but the way I feel about money is that you can't take it with you!

That said, I don't buy big ticket jewelry items very often. In the last 4 years (aside from my e-ring and wedding band) I've bought diamond earrings, a pendant, a little OMC (that I *still* haven't set) and 2 Cartier rings. That was all under probably $4k.
 
If I have something in mind and look around for awhile, if I see it, then I usually buy it and keep the receipt on hand to make sure it's the one I REALLY want. If it's not, back it goes. If it is, then we're in good shape and I am :love: :appl:
 
I buy it only if it speaks to me and I can't forget it. Then I spend 6 months trying to find something I like better, just in case. If I don't find anything I like better, then the wallet comes out.

Jewelry is the one thing I will spend a good bit on money on. Because you can't take it with you. And that's fine by me because I want to leave it with my daughter to enjoy and remember me by (or pawn, if she needs the money!!!)
 
When I bring my personal enablers along! I will lust after something or plan and plan and plan but if I don't have somebody there to give me that push? I won't pull the trigger.
 
If I can't get it at a discount, I don't. Not paying full retail is a game for me -- if I can't figure out how or where to get a lower price, I don't want it very much. Gems are a little different, but I consider buying them online a discount over B&M stores anyway. Even then, I've pondered & visited them long enough to lose a few I'd love to have -- don't really regret it; there's always another along to go nuts for.

--- Laurie
 
If I want it, I buy it. I am a *spender* but that doesn't say money doesnt get saved (Thank God my DH is GREAT with saving!). I have an amount that I can freely spend each month. Now that I am a SAHM, the amount does have limits...so for jewelry items I have been buying 1 bigger item a month. My huggies were last month, my eternity band will be here tomorrow :D , small studs next month. So,I guess with jewelry I DO have to *think* about what I want before I buy it and for large items I will have to save up for a few months.
 
My husband has had to teach me to allow myself to 'enjoy' money. Although my parents were comfortable they were very money concious and savings came way before luxuries.

I left home at 18 and at one point worked 3 jobs just to be able to pay the rent. My mother sent me $50 as a gift and I used it to buy a pair of shoes as my other pair had holes in and I got wet feet when it rained!

Even now I buy nearly everything on eBay or in the sales and hate, hate, hate paying full-price for things like clothes.

My big weakness is coloured gemstones and all my disposable money goes on them - but then they will be there for years and years unlike shoes and bags.

If I just 'like' something then I don't buy it unless it is ridiculously cheap for what it is. Otherwise if I dream about it for more than 2 days or I just can't not have it then I will buy it (if I can afford it).

The only real impulse purchase I ever made - and one of the most expensive - was my ring to celebrate my daughter's birth and the end of a courtcase. The company I sued made their 'n'th mistake and paid me more than they should (for the second time) in their settlement to me. Having pointed it out to them the first time and had all the paper-work re-done I just thought sod you if you can't manage to pay me the right amount this time round then I am keeping it.

I was at a very good antiques show in London a week later and just happened to see a 3 stone OEC antique ring around 2.50cttw. It was just amazing and the vendor let me wear it round the show for an hour to make my mind up (I left her my e-ring and w-band). I went back 20 minutes later and blew the whole extra sum then and there!

Then I called Surfgirl in the USA to tell her what I had done. Her reaction was that it must be amazing if Mrs 'I need to tie myself in mental knots about every prong, angle and aspect of design' had pulled the trigger that fast! :bigsmile:

I have never had a minute of regret or buyer's remorse. The diamonds are around a J but the cut is unbelievably high and they look good even in crappy light - even better I actually paid a very good price.
 
Zoe|1306359478|2930186 said:
I take forever to make a decision about buying things, especially for larger, big ticket items.

I actually just finished making a PowerPoint slideshow listing the cars we're thinking about buying. Are we buying new cars now or anytime soon? No, not for another year or two, most likely. I research, research, research things and then think about them for a long time 'til I FINALLY pull the trigger. Yeah, I'm weird like that. :cheeky:
Click to expand...

I am the EXACT same way!!! :bigsmile:
 
How interesting that a thread that assumed buying when you liked something and could afford it as a given is turning into a thread on whether you do or don't, period!

I do (obvs :tongue: ), but it got me thinking about how. When it comes to small things, say, under $50, I'm an impulse buyer: if something is both beautiful and an excellent deal, I tend to snap it up. More than that, and it had better be really beautiful and a really good deal! (Best recent example is the purse I started a whole thread about.) And much more than that - i.e., jewelry - I either already know a lot about and I don't need to research it, or I wait on it and research it to be absolutely sure I'm getting the best price and the best example possible. Which is funny, when you think about it - my time is worth money, too, so any money "saved" needs to be balanced against time invested. The closest I've come to a big-ticket impulse buy is probably the bracelet - and that took me three months!
 
If I have money- within minutes. As for electronics---I research first.

If I don't then I just don't buy it.
 
It really depends on what it is.

I don't impulse buy on items over a couple hundred dollars, generally.

If it's under a couple hundred and has a great return policy I will buy it and see how I feel sometimes. Then return it if I change my mind.

Over a couple of hundred dollars I don't buy unless it's just about perfect. Unless its something I need and I just lose patience. But I usually regret those purchases. So I try not to do them.

I've been looking for a rug for 6 months. Have the money. Just haven't been sucessful in buying one that's right. Don't know when I will be either, it's been a total pain. Sometimes I over think things. I guess it's better than under thinking.

But with bling purchases usually I have already planned out every little thing before I buy. So I'm ready to go, and the minute I get funding I hit the go button.

Electronics I research, same with cars. Then I buy when I am ready.
 
I'm a researcher. I have to consciously remind myself that my time is worth a lot more than the half hour I'm tempted to spend reading reviews on a $20 purchase... I usually sleep on bigger purchases (over $100ish for me) for several days - and if, at the end of that time, I still *want* it, I'll get it right away. I've noticed two things -

1. Most of the things I want, I don't *want* anymore after two or three days! So it's a perhaps surprisingly effective deterrent.
2. I'm a lot more likely to look for and accept cheaper alternatives for things I'm buying for myself than when I'm shopping for DH - I'll get the 14k or the older model to save a little, whereas if DH tells me he wants something and I'm getting it for him as a gift I'll always choose the better option. Possibly because he so rarely expresses interest in any material goods, whereas my wishlist is always well-stocked!


Off topic, but has to be said - I DETEST when people have fantastic stuff and not a clue as to how to use it or care for it. I should not get consistently better photos from my P&S than you do with your nifty new DSLR, and you should not be grinning abashedly when your top of the line laptop is fried *again* because you regularly use a pillow as a table :nono:
 
I tend to put off big purchases. I think about them for a long time and do a lot of research, then I think some more. Sometimes I miss
out on something doing that, particularly if it is at Costco.

We have been talking about buying a new tv for our bedroom for years. I just keep putting it off. I really don't need one, but
would like the space saving of one that would hang on the wall. I have also been wanting a new patio set. I think about it and tell
myself I will wait a little longer.

If something breaks though, I do the research and just go out and buy it. I guess that's a needs over wants kind of thing.

Sometimes the wait is only a few days, if it is really inexpensive or years if it is a big ticket kind of purchase.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top