If Money Could Buy Skill | brokeGIRLrich
Decluttering my parents house all summer has made me sure of one thing:
If spending money could actively implant a skill in my brain, I’d be freaking brilliant.
When I sold off a ton of books on my bookshelves, I’d say I had read about 70-80% of them. The others I sold I bought at one point or another because I thought I should read them and it would be cool to have the knowledge in my head but at no point in the 15 years that it sat on my bookshelf did I ever sit down and read Moby Dick for fun.
Let’s not even get started on the theological and philosophical books I amassed during grad school because I wanted the knowledge in them but was then too lazy to read them.
Am I the only one who does this?
I have two Rosetta Stones. To be fair, I actually made it half way through one and was vaguely conversational in Tagalog before I gave up and left cruise ships and stopped practicing and now the only words I remember are maraming salamat and some sketchy slang terms for bad words that my technicians taught me well before I ever opened that Rosetta Stone box.
The Russian one, I think I’ve done like six exercises off of the first disk before it lost my attention.
There’s also a trombone in my room. I’m going to learn how to play that sucker someday.
And a sewing machine. I’m going to make my own amazing thrift store outfits, just like the ReFashionista! If I ever commit time to learning how to sew.
None of those are recent purchases, but as I clear through things, I’m shocked at the amount of money over the years that has gone into attaining skills I’ve never really attained.
Clearly, if just buying the right equipment or owning things actually put the skills into your mind or body, I’d be a freaking Renaissance woman.
I’m 30 years old and I have two pairs of roller skates. This is unnecessary. Until I’m a roller derby superstar, like I am in my mind, then maybe that’ll make sense.
On the flip side, skills I have actually amassed almost seem to have the lowest investment.
I played trumpet for 12 years. I do have a nice trumpet, but for the first 8 years I played the crappiest, cheapest, clunker you’ve ever seen. And it was totally adequate to learn on.
I’ve swam on and off for years and whenever I pick it up again, I wear the same old bathing suit until it’s nearly see through and I make sure I’m back in the habit of swimming regularly until I buy a new tank suit (except this time, I failed this time, but in all fairness, my tank suit was stolen while I was on tour this spring). Even buying a new suit this time, I’ve been swimming for so many years that I knew as soon as I paid to join a gym again with a pool, I’d be there 4-6 times a week until I leave the area again.
I’ve been using the same goggles for 5 years.
Stuff I’m actually good at takes minimal financial investment, but a ton of my time. When I was at the height of playing my trumpet, I was easily averaging 15-20 hours a week (and I was crappy about practicing).
Even when you do wind up making larger financial investments into projects like that, the cost seems like less because you utilize whatever it is so much that it feels worth it.
When you’re just racking up knickknacks that never get used, you’re draining your bank account without any real payback.
Maybe someday when they integrate computers right into our brains, we’ll be able to download an app full of information directly into our brains and then this post will be a completely moot point.
But until then…
Am I the only one who does this?
You and I are basically the same person. 😉 I just got a piano for free in April — haven’t paid to get it tuned yet. I also have Rosetta Stone, but although I planned to breeze through it this summer I haven’t touched it since May. I am pretty sure my bookshelf is sinking under the weight of all the books I have, although to be fair a lot of them are textbooks or readers sent from publishers for me to consider for my courses.
But I kind of love it. Although sometimes these little hobbies or interests can take up a lot of space (*cough*scrapbooking*cough*), in general I do return to my interests and enjoy reading/playing the piano/speaking Italian.
Alexandra @ Real Simple Finances recently posted…Overcoming Financial Burnout
I do hoard old textbooks under the crazy assumption that someday I will be a professor – of course, by then they will all be outdated anyway. :oP
My husband is a Renaissance man, and as a result we have like infinite stuff. I always request that he go back to being good at one thing like the rest of us, but he refuses to comply.
My personal weakness is athletic equipment. I do actually enjoy almost all sports, even if I only dabble, but I need to get rid of my baseball glove, and my shin guards, and… Let’s be honest, I’m pretty much done with adult rec leagues.
Sometimes it’s hard to let go. I had two trumpets for the longest time even though I wasn’t really playing any anymore. It was still really difficult to get rid of the one I sold.
Ugh, I’m with you! Too many unread books, sheet music, unused workout equipment. I’m desperately in need a good decluttering, as well. Have you had a hard time letting go?
Kate @ Cashville Skyline recently posted…Discovering Something When It’s Too Late
For some things – the things I actually did put some time into. I have a bunch of advanced trumpet music that I’ll never be able to play again but still can’t get rid of, whereas tossing a bunch of soccer stuff didn’t bother me at all.
I’m always experimenting with new things – new exercise routines, new recipes, new crafts, new languages. I like to think of it as a drive for continual self improvement. I try to keep the financial investments as minimal as possible, although given that learning new things is very enjoyable for me, I figure it is OK to spend a little on the requisite supplies.
Ali @ Anything You Want recently posted…Lifestyle Inflation Illustrated
I think if you’re actually utilizing them, spend away! I just have a problem with having the best intentions and then never following through.
Haha I think I’m kind of opposite in this regard! I don’t buy little things I might enjoy because of the few dollars it costs. I would love to paint again, but somehow I can’t justify the $4 for the canvas. I’d love to get back into swimming, but I need to buy a new cap and goggles. And I’m on a mission to repay my debt dangit! And yet, here I am, happily spending $80 once in a while for dinner for two, and I just don’t get it! And by “it” I mean “myself.” Hahaha I guess I’m too far gone in the opposite direction.
Chela @SmashOdyssey recently posted…Mel is Awesome! (And Frugal Fun in NYC)
Maybe. I actually started swimming when I was drowning in school debt, but justified it because if I went to the gym 90% of the time, then I was pretty much paying $1.50 to swim and the bathing suit and goggles quickly became negligible at that rate. It made sure I actually used my gym membership! But I totally get how sometimes the initial investment can keep you from pursuing things you really would enjoy!
I can totally relate with this one! I bought a bicycle and motorcycle because it’s the most common transportation here in our small province, but I don’t even know how to drive it! 🙁 I need to ask my cousin to drive for me, whenever I need to use it.
Kate @ Money Propeller recently posted…Life and Financial To-Dos
LOL – yup, that is definitely an excellent example.
Dude, the Russian Rosetta Stone is hard, and I studied a little bit of Russian in a traditional classroom. I wonder if it’s something about the different alphabet? Because the other ones I’ve done have been kind of amazing, but they all used the same alphabet as we do. Maybe I’ll have to try Japanese just to test my theory.
Totally got the message…. :p
femmefrugality recently posted…The Ultimate Frugal Pittsburgh Tourist Guide
I can actually already read Cyrillic – I have no clue how you’d ever do it otherwise. I was actually booking along until it started with the grammar stuff and then I had no clue WTF was happening and gave up.
Hi Mel, I am completely on the same page as you. I have bought thousand of books, CDs, DVDs and internet courses in the hope of developing a new skill. Honestly, I can count how many of these items I have actually sat down to really learn the skills. A few months ago, I literally sent all my books to charity as part of my financial spring cleaning exercise.
Esther recently posted…10 Ways to Save Money This Summer
I did the same thing when I was decluttering earlier in the summer. Now that I think of it, maybe second hand stores are really the place to go when you’re looking to pick up a new skill ;o)
That is a great point you know.
Esther recently posted…10 Ways to Save Money This Summer
I’ve wasted a lot of money on things I want to do but never actually got around to it. I spent £200 to do a nail technician course in my early days of working from home. Even after the course I couldn’t do it (and wasn’t prepared to practice) so I promptly gave up. Yet I managed to run a successful bridal makeup business on the side for 8 years, starting out just doing friend’s makeup. I didn’t have to spend much at all, except get better makeup products at one point. Even then I was making a profit so it was ok.
By the way, thanks for sharing the ReFashionista site, I’ve been looking for a site like this for ages! Not that I can use my sewing machine yet!
Hayley @ Disease Called Debt recently posted…Financially Savvy Saturdays #101
I know, isn’t she incredible!! Talk about inspiration to learn how to use a sewing machine.
You make me feel better about never reading Moby dick. Although I periodically go through my stuff too there are things I never touch. I may play my flute someday too. Then if I ever get rid of my husband’s stuff I swear he will need it the next day. Oh the money we could have saved!
Ah yeah this. Lots of cookbooks and kitchen gadgets for example. All the crafty type stuff – knitting, quilting. An electric keyboard and books and dvd’s on how to play. Has anyone ever learned to play piano by reading a book? Anything they sell on infommercials/shopping networks. I resist but have to say all those things are tempting. Guilty as charged. Although I have to admit I have learned a lot from YouTube.
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YouTube is awesome – and free!
That picture is adorable!!! I have Rosetta Stone for Spanish. I’ve had it for 4 years – Not giving up on that. Ha! You at least have interesting stuff to declutter. I can’t say the same – at all.
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