On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:23:57 -0700, Larry Jaques
wrote:


That was me. I have spent maybe a couple three hundred on flashlights
over the past few years. I do like flashlights, but not enough to
blow the toy budget on 'em. Luxeon III and Luxeon K2 emitters were
only about $6.50 each last I looked.

Oh. That's not nearly as bad as I'd expected, but still pricy. What
about all the tools and such you bought for doing your daughter's LED
bike light, hmmm? You forgot to add those.

I don't think that way. I allocate so much a month that I can spend
on "toys" or "amusements". When it's gone, I'm done for that month.
That includes tools, electronic stuff, shooting stuff, flashlights,
supplies and materials, yada yada. I very rarely buy anything very
expensive (more than $100) anymore because I already have pretty much
all of the major tools and machines I want or have room for. Took a
while, about 40 years while I was working.

Our newest vehicle is a '97, the others are '95's. They run and look
just fine.

Sometimes I "save up" my toy budget for a little while for a medium
ticket item, like a new (to me) handgun or rifle. I don't have many
of those and don't need many but I sure enjoy the ones I have. When I
occasionally pick up a little consulting job, the proceeds go directly
into the toy budget. I really spent very little on Karen's bikelight
because I could piggyback the printed circuit board on a layout for a
consulting gig I had at the time. Incremental cost there was about a
buck, maybe two. Elex parts were maybe 15 bux max, including the
Luxeon, and it was an Xmas present. I made nearly everything else
out of stock I had on hand.

I don't even have a clothing budget. Buy a pair of Levi's and a
flannel shirt at Wally's once in a while.

We retired fixed-income pensioners think of money very differently
from when we had incomes. We don't need much cash flow because we
don't have any debt and we keep it that way. We have all the nest
egg we're ever gonna have and we need to make it last for the
duration, but in fact it's time to be enjoying a little of it now and
then. Otherwise the kids will just give it to the damned democrats,
right? The only type tighter than a Scotsman is a frugal Finnish
engineer. I'm workin' on getting my inner Phrugal Phinn to shut the
hell up once in a while. Goal is for the last one in the house to
check out with no bills and a nickle left.