Free Write 9

Been a while.

I've been thinking a lot about my money recently. After years of sticking to consoles, I've finally caved in and gotten a gaming PC, primarily for the purpose of playing Overwatch, though there are other games I would like to play. At the same time, however, I have recently gotten a new job at a place where I am currently not making a ton of money, just because I do not have as many hours as I did previously, but where I am surrounded by very nice things that I would like that are fairly expensive. And being surrounded by them and needing to be able to sell them, I have been learning more and more about them - primarily about clothes at the moment. I have learned how to better fit shoes onto my feet, which has led me to realizing I am in desperate need of some new well fit shoes, and my rain jacket that I have been using for years recently fell apart on me. I have also in recent months been considering fashion in ways I never have before, and the casual clothing available to me is very nice, though also very expensive.

At the same time, I would very much like to be able to move out of my dad's house and be able to rent an apartment with a friend of mine, which is another huge money commitment that I can't really afford. I mean, technically I probably can, but it would cut a heavy hole into my paychecks, and I rather like being able to save up my money. Between holiday presents, having a girlfriend, and being a gamer, there are a lot of things that I would like to be able to save my money for, both in the near future and the distant. And part of the reason I want to be able to save money is so that when needs such as new shoes or a new jacket arise, I can afford to do that kind of thing. But I don't really like spending money on myself. I would be much happier to spend it on just about anyone else, in fact.

I still do, of course. Mostly to buy myself video games, because I feel like the number of hours I put into each game can be compared to how much I spent on it, which makes it a lot easier to feel justified in a purchase. After all, when you're effectively spending half a dollar per hour of entertainment, you're getting a pretty good deal - much better than going to a movie theater.

Doesn't make it much easier to tell myself the thirteen hundred dollar computer in my room is worth the money, though, even if I know in the long run it will more than run its course in value. Or the two hundred dollar shoes or jacket I'm looking at.