Author Topic: Unhacking the wallet  (Read 344350 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline katushkin

  • Too Keycool for School
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 3667
  • Location: Birmingham - Not Alabama
  • Just the guy
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #200 on: Thu, 25 August 2016, 16:52:08 »
I have decided in 2016 to get my finances in order once and for all. I only have a few things I would like to spend money on in this hobby now, those being orange artisans, my customs in the mail, and maybe GMK Classic Beige if we can ever get it going again.

The rest will be saved for my current car, a prospective car towards the end of 2016, and maybe another Kustom if I can get one for a reasonable price. I can't give in to Classifieds and Group Buys like I have been doing this year. I've managed to steer clear of Massdrop largely, other than GMK RGBYK, but I don't plan to buy much else on there, even if I would like to get in on the GMK SNES buy.

LOL THIS WENT WELL.

Just bought another custom. And I bought GMK SKIDATA.

I'm definitely not getting another car at the end of this year, but I did manage to pay for a holiday :)

with a loan lmao
Can we get them to build the Alps ten feet higher and get Cherry to pay for it?
Katushkin's Clearout | Twitter | Steam | Instagram| Discord - katushkin

Offline yowaffle

  • Posts: 81
  • Location: Virginia
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #201 on: Thu, 25 August 2016, 21:10:20 »
Went absolutely nuts late 2015 on keyboards and had an extremely good 2016 until this week. Saw the MiniVan and was kinda in the middle. Thought it was absolutely beautiful with the granite on it, which was weird because I'm not much of a granite fan. A few days later, I saw the R4 Zealios gb and decided to check out. omg.... 78g zealios!?! The 65g was too light for me but the description of the 78g was exactly what I was looking for. Couldn't not buy. Then (of course) I had the thought "how cool would it be to put these on the MiniVan?". Purchased. Started looking through the comments and noticed somebody did all the work and figured out which kits people would need to re-create the granite set that was pictured on Massdrop. Unfortunately, granite isn't anywhere to be found right now so I need a set in the mean time. $55 Light cycle set it is T_T And if that isn't enough Evangs might drop an ALPS standard set of the light cycle and my ALPS board needs some love...
V60 [MQC] | KC60 [Zealiostotles] | Leopold FC660c [Topre] |  Ducky Shine 4 [MX Brown] | MiniVan [Zealios]

Offline chuckdee

  • * Destiny Supporter
  • Posts: 1308
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #202 on: Thu, 25 August 2016, 22:17:09 »
Granite is going to be on PMK soon as a regular item, so we should have that set coming out our ears.

Offline yowaffle

  • Posts: 81
  • Location: Virginia
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #203 on: Fri, 26 August 2016, 05:22:52 »
Granite is going to be on PMK soon as a regular item, so we should have that set coming out our ears.

Thanks for the heads up!
V60 [MQC] | KC60 [Zealiostotles] | Leopold FC660c [Topre] |  Ducky Shine 4 [MX Brown] | MiniVan [Zealios]

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #204 on: Fri, 26 August 2016, 05:46:50 »
Granite is going to be on PMK soon as a regular item, so we should have that set coming out our ears.

PBT or ABS?
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline xondat

  • i'm not a star
  • * Maker
  • Posts: 5366
  • Location: United Kingdom
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #205 on: Fri, 26 August 2016, 06:27:44 »
I'm getting towards the point on where I need to do something. If you browse geekhack daily, you've probably seen that I collect Reaper Classics, of which I now have 14. Artisans and collections completely destroy your wallet.

I'm at the point where I know I have too much money sank into them, but for the sake of the collection I'm not going to sell any because that would mean all my work would've been for nothing. I don't even have an end goal, maybe collecting them all? But there are 26 (known), and I can probably max out around 20 or so. But getting 20 will leave the collection feeling incomplete, so whilst I have probably over $1700 sunk into the collection, it'll still feel like I'm not done, essentially leaving me short of too much money.

To me, at least, artisans usually carry a story behind how I got them, therefore leaving me feeling bad/guilty if I think about selling them... to probably fund Reaper Classics, or just because I need the money. I have probably have $2k into just artisans. It's so silly, but I know that none are leaving me soon.

I do wonder when I'll get bored of them and just sell them all. In the current state, I use KK mods and some blank caps on my daily HHKBT. The rest of them just sit in some plastic containers on my desk. I haven't used any on a daily MX board, mainly because I haven't owned an MX board since February, but still, I doubt I would use them. All of them would probably be sold easily within an hour, but I know they'll be too hard and too expensive to reacquire down the line which is why they just sit there, being unused.

Fortunately I'm in a position where I can keep them (and probably carry on spending...), but when it comes around to actually needing money, I have no idea what I'll be doing with everything.

/ramble over

Offline chuckdee

  • * Destiny Supporter
  • Posts: 1308
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #206 on: Fri, 26 August 2016, 09:43:41 »
Granite is going to be on PMK soon as a regular item, so we should have that set coming out our ears.

PBT or ABS?

It's listed on PMK right now.  I don't know offhand.

Offline Belfong

  • Posts: 5217
  • Location: Malaysia
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #207 on: Tue, 06 September 2016, 04:01:30 »
I'm at the point where I know I have too much money sank into them, but for the sake of the collection I'm not going to sell any because that would mean all my work would've been for nothing.
I am past this stage and now all I am doing is just buying when the maker has sales and if I win them, I'll be happy, if not, I will just enjoy the photos. I am content with my collection and use the keys daily and changing them as often as I like. I have enough to cycle around. But yeah, I have stopped looking at Classifieds and scorned at eBays. You should be glad you are only focusing on one design instead of multiple. I am limiting my choices to BBv2, Clacks and hopefully Ewoks.
 

Offline mobbo

  • u fk
  • * Exquisite Elder
  • Posts: 1135
  • Location: Canada
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #208 on: Thu, 08 September 2016, 12:59:20 »
I'm at the point where I know I have too much money sank into them, but for the sake of the collection I'm not going to sell any because that would mean all my work would've been for nothing.
I am past this stage and now all I am doing is just buying when the maker has sales and if I win them, I'll be happy, if not, I will just enjoy the photos. I am content with my collection and use the keys daily and changing them as often as I like. I have enough to cycle around. But yeah, I have stopped looking at Classifieds and scorned at eBays. You should be glad you are only focusing on one design instead of multiple. I am limiting my choices to BBv2, Clacks and hopefully Ewoks.

+1

although all the recent clack hype has got my trigger finger itchy whenever I seem the pop up on ebay. I know people usually trade clack for clack so without any it's hard to acquire them without turning to the aftermarket. bit of a catch 22. it does not seem to be nearly as bad for me with other artisans.
Quote from: Binge
crumping is like twerking but it's all about getting low with force.

Offline ideus

  • * Exalted Elder
  • Posts: 8123
  • Location: In the middle of nowhere.
  • Björkö.
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #209 on: Thu, 08 September 2016, 15:43:36 »
Granite is going to be on PMK soon as a regular item, so we should have that set coming out our ears.

PBT or ABS?

It reads sublimated, it should be PBT.

Offline Belfong

  • Posts: 5217
  • Location: Malaysia
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #210 on: Sat, 17 September 2016, 00:42:44 »
I saw hotkeys new Pre order sales - us$14 for one dual tone key! What? I'm just glad I've broke this addiction. Crazy times to be in.
 

Offline pr0ximity

  • Posts: 2705
  • Location: Maine
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #211 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 18:17:50 »
HKP and the Hyperfuse re-run are pulling me back in..
| Flickr | KMAC 1.2 | Koala | GSKT-00-Z | GSKT-00-AEK | GON NerD60 | Jane V2 CE | Whale | J80S | Ibis | Pro2 | Pro1 | 356mini | 356CL DGE | G80-5000 HAMDE | IBM 1390120 | IBM F AT | IBM F122 | IBM 3101 | Zenith Z-150

Offline katushkin

  • Too Keycool for School
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 3667
  • Location: Birmingham - Not Alabama
  • Just the guy
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #212 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 18:47:52 »
I caved and bought GMK hydro as well...
Can we get them to build the Alps ten feet higher and get Cherry to pay for it?
Katushkin's Clearout | Twitter | Steam | Instagram| Discord - katushkin

Offline E3E

  • Posts: 2831
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #213 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 18:53:54 »
Just bought a Realforce 10AE 104UB-KB45S XF140S. Figured I might as well put my chips in and really give Topre a shot.

I need to get away from keyboards, seriously. :P

Offline xondat

  • i'm not a star
  • * Maker
  • Posts: 5366
  • Location: United Kingdom
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #214 on: Tue, 20 September 2016, 20:28:38 »
Just bought a Realforce 10AE 104UB-KB45S XF140S. Figured I might as well put my chips in and really give Topre a shot.

I need to get away from keyboards, seriously. :P
What a great product name!

You haven't tried topre before? Or just not seriously?

Offline E3E

  • Posts: 2831
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #215 on: Wed, 21 September 2016, 07:06:23 »
It's very too the point.  ;)

I've tried it half-heartedly before with a Realforce 104UW with variable weighting.

Offline alienman82

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4051
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #216 on: Mon, 17 October 2016, 11:04:29 »
removed.
« Last Edit: Thu, 01 March 2018, 13:56:02 by alienman82 »

Offline katushkin

  • Too Keycool for School
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 3667
  • Location: Birmingham - Not Alabama
  • Just the guy
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #217 on: Mon, 17 October 2016, 17:48:08 »
I maxed my credit card on holiday.

At least I had a nice holiday and bought a lightsaver and GMK Hydro  :))

Time to sort out a payment plan with the bank I guess.
Can we get them to build the Alps ten feet higher and get Cherry to pay for it?
Katushkin's Clearout | Twitter | Steam | Instagram| Discord - katushkin

Offline xondat

  • i'm not a star
  • * Maker
  • Posts: 5366
  • Location: United Kingdom
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #218 on: Mon, 17 October 2016, 17:56:45 »
I think I slightly unhacked my wallet by selling $2500 of artisans... Getting there.

Offline pr0ximity

  • Posts: 2705
  • Location: Maine
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #219 on: Mon, 17 October 2016, 19:53:55 »
I think I slightly unhacked my wallet by selling $2500 of artisans... Getting there.

The temptation is real, I have too many to use..
| Flickr | KMAC 1.2 | Koala | GSKT-00-Z | GSKT-00-AEK | GON NerD60 | Jane V2 CE | Whale | J80S | Ibis | Pro2 | Pro1 | 356mini | 356CL DGE | G80-5000 HAMDE | IBM 1390120 | IBM F AT | IBM F122 | IBM 3101 | Zenith Z-150

Offline alienman82

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4051
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #220 on: Mon, 17 October 2016, 20:03:21 »
removed.
« Last Edit: Thu, 01 March 2018, 13:55:52 by alienman82 »

Offline pinkizhip

  • Posts: 97
  • Location: Vancouver Island, Canada
  • No, you're a towel.
    • Prime Caps
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #221 on: Mon, 17 October 2016, 20:40:35 »
I think I slightly unhacked my wallet by selling $2500 of artisans... Getting there.

 :eek:
Check out our Artisan keys at Primecaps.ca

Offline E3E

  • Posts: 2831
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #222 on: Tue, 18 October 2016, 01:48:49 »
There's no getting away from this hobby unless you literally just pull back from the community or somehow resist the temptation of every hot new thing coming out every other week or showing up on the classifieds.

Offline alienman82

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 4051
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #223 on: Tue, 18 October 2016, 10:23:08 »
removed.
« Last Edit: Thu, 01 March 2018, 13:56:02 by alienman82 »

Offline davkol

  •  Post Editing Timeout
  • Posts: 4994
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #224 on: Tue, 18 October 2016, 11:23:03 »
There's no getting away from this hobby unless you literally just pull back from the community or somehow resist the temptation of every hot new thing coming out every other week or showing up on the classifieds.
There are very few new things coming out, though, and even fewer provide any benefits.

I'm certainly fascinated by, say, XMIT's attempt to bring Hall-effect switches back, but I won't buy the keyboard, because it can't improve my life in any way, other than feeling good about owning a Hall-effect keyboard; in the end, it's yet another keyboard with linear switches and a generic layout.

Offline PollandAkuma

  • Posts: 324
  • Location: London
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #225 on: Thu, 20 October 2016, 12:17:05 »
i hope to end my collection after getting dark leds, lighter gold springs for my mx clears, a hhkb, and a 40% :D

and how many years will i take to do this lol

Offline fublamchu

  • Posts: 233
  • Location: sureño
  • ㅋㅋㅋ
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #226 on: Sat, 22 October 2016, 17:13:08 »
After six boards, I think I'm in a good spot right now since I have three boards which I switch between back and forth quite frequently. I don't know if my interest and preferences will change significantly later on, but we'll just have to see
LZ-CE VBlacks
910-CE

Offline katushkin

  • Too Keycool for School
  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 3667
  • Location: Birmingham - Not Alabama
  • Just the guy
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #227 on: Sat, 05 November 2016, 09:35:49 »
So I'm in a pretty bad place right now.

With my recent holiday and various stupid spontaneous purchases, I'm up to about £8000 of debt across a loan and a credit card, which has basically ruined any chance of me going on a holiday or doing anything cool for the next 2 years at least. I haven't missed out on mortgage payments or anything but my bank account is looking incredibly sick the last few months.

Stop it before it's too late.
Can we get them to build the Alps ten feet higher and get Cherry to pay for it?
Katushkin's Clearout | Twitter | Steam | Instagram| Discord - katushkin

Offline iLLucionist

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 2734
  • Location: Netherlands
  • Topre is Love.
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #228 on: Sun, 29 January 2017, 13:50:29 »
I realized something recently. Luckily, I can contain myself (so far). I also have too many hobbies that are expensive: keyboards, computers, audio, digital photography, cooking. It all adds up rather quickly.

But recently I doubled down on trying to leave most advertisement out of my head. It makes me very anxious and tense. Everywhere you look. Literally EVERYWHERE you are confronted with purchases you MIGHT MAKE for stuff that you DON'T NEED but somehow DO WANT. It struck me: why don't I just read a good book instead? Leave off the TV, no commercials. Try to avoid facebook and even mail (I use gmail, with ads in it of course). Even try avoid googling up to a certain extent.

Don't get me wrong, I love GH. But sites like GH and other tech sites like anandtech, toms hardware, oc, hardforum, macrumors, linus tech tips. They all have articles on new tech that is coming out or reviews on tech that is just out.

All these articles and videos are - in my opinion - a form of very very intrusive marketing. Because you think "I'm just updating my tech knowledge. Just learning about new developments." But all these articles are also marketing at the same time: coz they cover new products that you COULD buy.

I noticed that I am very susceptible to these articles and it makes me very tense... like it reminds me of how much farther, materialistically, I would like to take my hobby: buy this new kitchen knife, check out this sick f/1.0 lens, check out HHKB Type-S, check out this LG ultrawide monitor it's better, check out O-LED TV. And the thing is, I am very curious about tech. And I like to try many things, so that amounts to buying stuff.

But this "tech site knowledge" really is advertisement hidden in plain sight, at least for me.
MJT2 Browns o-rings - HHKB White - ES-87 Smoke White Clears - 87UB 55g

Offline VGVisionary

  • Posts: 13
  • Location: Netherlands
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #229 on: Mon, 20 March 2017, 18:10:23 »
Definitely food for thought. Bough my Corsaird K70 Vengeance back in september, my very first mechanical keyboard. Thought very long and hard for years about getting a vintage IBM Model M and just purchased a 1986 one that's 2 months older than myself. Got another one from 1992 right away that's arriving today while the 1986 one is in the US and a friend is bringing it over when she's coming over to the Netherlands. Now I'm finding myself spending on various drops on Massdrop to get cool switches and caps.

The reason why I'm not feeling too bothered is the feeling that I should've been on this forum years ago. In other words, I'm spending money on an investment long overdue: quality keyboards with some style. For someone working with videogames for over a decade, I feel very late to the mechanical keyboard party.

Let's see where this goes Wallethack will take me eh :D?

Offline Belfong

  • Posts: 5217
  • Location: Malaysia
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #230 on: Tue, 21 March 2017, 03:51:40 »
Definitely food for thought. Bough my Corsaird K70 Vengeance back in september, my very first mechanical keyboard. Thought very long and hard for years about getting a vintage IBM Model M and just purchased a 1986 one that's 2 months older than myself. Got another one from 1992 right away that's arriving today while the 1986 one is in the US and a friend is bringing it over when she's coming over to the Netherlands. Now I'm finding myself spending on various drops on Massdrop to get cool switches and caps.

The reason why I'm not feeling too bothered is the feeling that I should've been on this forum years ago. In other words, I'm spending money on an investment long overdue: quality keyboards with some style. For someone working with videogames for over a decade, I feel very late to the mechanical keyboard party.

Let's see where this goes Wallethack will take me eh :D?
So long as you don't go into artisan and is just buying keyboards, I think you are fine. I feel sorry for your wallet IF you start being curious about artisan  :eek: :p
 

Offline swimmingbird

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 2119
  • Location: Sydney, Australia
  • keyset hoarder
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #231 on: Mon, 27 March 2017, 05:01:53 »
Definitely food for thought. Bough my Corsaird K70 Vengeance back in september, my very first mechanical keyboard. Thought very long and hard for years about getting a vintage IBM Model M and just purchased a 1986 one that's 2 months older than myself. Got another one from 1992 right away that's arriving today while the 1986 one is in the US and a friend is bringing it over when she's coming over to the Netherlands. Now I'm finding myself spending on various drops on Massdrop to get cool switches and caps.

The reason why I'm not feeling too bothered is the feeling that I should've been on this forum years ago. In other words, I'm spending money on an investment long overdue: quality keyboards with some style. For someone working with videogames for over a decade, I feel very late to the mechanical keyboard party.

Let's see where this goes Wallethack will take me eh :D?
So long as you don't go into artisan and is just buying keyboards, I think you are fine. I feel sorry for your wallet IF you start being curious about artisan  :eek: :p

best to stick to one artisan if you get into that side of things as well

Offline futurecrime

  • Posts: 1001
  • Location: London, England
  • Get Zooted
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #232 on: Fri, 30 June 2017, 09:05:52 »
Wish I'd have seen this thread in January, or maybe it wouldn't have made a difference. I just read through the whole thing right after submitting my order for an Ellipse F77.  Seems like a lot of people have used this thread as a bit of a confessional, as well as an advice and support thread, and it's been somewhat enlightening reading it all. So I'm gonna write my confession and maybe it'll spur a change in me, and we can heap it on this pile here with the rest.

My spending has spun out of control over the last six months. I already have credit card debt, student loans remaining (I'm 38 ffs) and overdrafts on two bank accounts. It's thousands but it's not like oh **** bankruptcy here I come. But I certainly don't feel 'secure'. I also have a partner who earns hardly anything and a 3yo daughter, so I'm not just responsible for me. This year I've earned a fair bit more than usual (than ever, actually) and really should have been using this opportunity to clear that debt, because I'm freelance and there's no guarantee this work is gonna continue. But I'm crap with money. Always have been. So instead I built a high end PC and I've poured money into keyboards. It may be crass but I'm gonna list what I've bought to illustrate the level of spending I'm talking about and give some perspective.


More
Leopold FC660m
Matrix Abel
Planck on Massdrop
AMJ40 w/ alu case
Lightsaver
TX1800v2
Filco TKL
LZ-St
F77 from Ellipse
Fully modded HHKB

DSA Granite
GMK 9009 (all kits aftermarket)
DEVLIN SKIDATA
GMK YURI
GMK Oblivion
GMK Miami Nights
GMK Solarised Dark
Aerokeys pink topre mods

Extra stuff like a Hakko soldering iron, some Artisans, packs of Zealios, Phantom PCB, etc...


90% of that stuff is in the last two months. Because I know myself and I knew I'd end up there eventually, I decided to go straight for the customs after I got the Leopold, but I'm not rationalising that I've saved money by doing that. Maybe I'm attempting to speed through the whole process of trying everything and finding the thing I like so I can move on. But endgame is a myth, as everyone knows. I have rationalised that I'll find 2 or 3 boards that I love and sell off the rest, and get maybe 80% of the cost back, but I'm not great at getting rid of nice stuff, so we'll see. I am at least trying to sell the Leopold and Filco right now, and getting rid of the artisans.

I do a lot of mental acrobatics to justify purchases, and there's certainly personal issues with my work, family and just life in general which affect my reckless spending. I've given up a lot of stuff in the last couple of years and I think somehow keyboards have come in and filled some of the hole left behind. I've gone with it because nothing has really grabbed my attention so much in a long time and it's been nice just following it without analysing too much. I've learned a lot, for sure, which is positive. Basic soldering, electronics, coding, touch typing... all completely new to me, and very interesting and fun to learn. And my god every single time I sit down at my desk and put my fingers on the HHKB or the GMK caps on the Zealios it feels good. It feels so good. But the spending... it's too much. My partner doesn't know how much this stuff costs (she thought the Abel probably came to about £100, and I didn't correct her), and when the new boards on order start showing up a conversation about all of it is inevitable. Will I lie about it all, or 'fess up and tell her I've spent thousands on this stuff? I don't know but I feel the pressure and stress of that near-future horror everyday. I wonder if it's all part of a mid-life crisis cranking into gear.

Hopefully by writing all this out here it will motivate me to change. I have plenty of stuff to be getting on with now, boards and caps on order, so I hope I can chill on the spending. I've resisted a couple of boards I've really liked, and felt the relief when the GB period has ended, which is some small victory for common sense.

It's quite obvious there's a fairly common pattern in this hobby, and this forum, so in an attempt to expedite my journey through the stages, I'm shifting my attention from classifieds and group buys to off topic. After reading a lot of old threads it's evident the community is pretty ****ing great here and if you can resist the hype and FOMO it seems like a fine way to hang out online.

tl;dr - Same ****, different guy.
« Last Edit: Mon, 03 July 2017, 04:09:56 by futurecrime »

Offline Belfong

  • Posts: 5217
  • Location: Malaysia
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #233 on: Fri, 30 June 2017, 09:23:47 »
Thanks for sharing and yeah, the addiction is real but being able to win over it is also pretty easy. It's just a matter of brain powers. I just promised myself I have enough artisans and keyboard to last a lifetime and if I still want them then I will only get them through retail wins (i.e. not after market) and that seemed to work. It also make losing in sales does not make me feel bad at all and in fact, I am glad I lost so I don't have to spend. As for keyboard, I just tell myself that having own some of each switch (MX, Topre, Alps, BS), I should have covered most of my curiosity in regards to the keyboards and having more of them, or different variant, does not help me typed better nor faster. It's a lot of mental acrobatics, as you put it, and self conversation, but surely, you can't put keyboards above demands of real life.

You are not alone in all these and so hope we can encourage each other.
 

Offline need

  • Posts: 460
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #234 on: Fri, 30 June 2017, 10:51:08 »
It's been pretty easy for me to stop buying stuff, as there hasn't been any true innovation or outstanding projects for almost a year now. I'm just too comfortable with what I have. The gmk plate mount silencing clips though... now that's something worth getting.

Offline hapakey

  • Posts: 35
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #235 on: Fri, 30 June 2017, 11:57:32 »
OP is cured

Quote
I haven't been doing anything with keebs lately.

Offline pr0ximity

  • Posts: 2705
  • Location: Maine
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #236 on: Sat, 01 July 2017, 19:16:36 »
I've resisted a couple of boards I've really liked, and felt the relief when the GB period has ended, which is some small victory for common sense.

This right here, I've been doing a lot of this lately, and learned one thing: FOMO is the driving force behind almost all of the over-indulging I've done. But looking back at this year and forward to the rest of it, there is *no* shortage of awesome stuff coming down the pipe, so you're never really "missing out." It's quite easy later to get 90% of the stuff out there if you trade up or have some money to throw at it if it turns out you really must have it. And I think developing that perspective helps in evaluating whether you really need something, or just feel like you want it because -- oh, shiny new thing!
| Flickr | KMAC 1.2 | Koala | GSKT-00-Z | GSKT-00-AEK | GON NerD60 | Jane V2 CE | Whale | J80S | Ibis | Pro2 | Pro1 | 356mini | 356CL DGE | G80-5000 HAMDE | IBM 1390120 | IBM F AT | IBM F122 | IBM 3101 | Zenith Z-150

Offline ideus

  • * Exalted Elder
  • Posts: 8123
  • Location: In the middle of nowhere.
  • Björkö.
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #237 on: Sat, 01 July 2017, 19:19:14 »
I have only joined in a couple of GB for key caps that I really like, far from the group hyping train. The key is not to let the hype building thing to catch you in.

Offline OneNightFriend

  • Posts: 261
  • Location: US-LA
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #238 on: Sun, 02 July 2017, 09:49:36 »
I have only joined in a couple of GB for key caps that I really like, far from the group hyping train. The key is not to let the hype building thing to catch you in.
Yeah I'm only in for solarized dark and that's because I really loved the set. I've been trying to be smarter about which artisan sales I enter too and not just go hog wild. It's been hard, but having a goal in mind helps too.

Offline intelli78

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1503
  • Location: Seattle
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #239 on: Tue, 03 October 2017, 20:15:40 »
2.5 years later, I can conclusively say my wallet is unhacked. What finally worked?

Taking a huge step back... a complete break from keyboards and other money-hungry hobbies. Quitting cold-turkey. I found scaling back to not be effective. It helped some but I never really felt like I had things under control.

Only stopping completely and staying stopped for 1 year+ truly fixed me.

This is a big reason I stopped posting on GH. It wasn't possible to develop new habits while continuing to participate in keyboard discussions and be exposed to all the new products.

Interesting things to note. At the end of it all, after going through 100+ keyboards, the couple I kept were the ones I started out with. If you're just now starting to go down the rabbit hole, be careful. Don't chase perfection...it absolutely doesn't exist. With every new keyboard, the novelty wears off sooner. The getting is never as good as the wanting. And you can end up making yourself pretty unhappy with this cycle.

It's all about habits, I think. You need to rewire your brain by performing the correct action over and over until it's the default.

I think the worst moments I've ever had in this hobby were literally pacing back and forth considering what I should buy, and literally mulling over it for hours on end to convince myself it was fine. I was dealing with a **** ton of cognitive dissonance and that was really horrible. It's true that this hobby can pull out tendencies that are dangerously close to substance abuse.

Nailed it..
Please consider carefully before you decide to comment, for Jesus.

Offline ideus

  • * Exalted Elder
  • Posts: 8123
  • Location: In the middle of nowhere.
  • Björkö.
Re: Unhacking the wallet
« Reply #240 on: Tue, 03 October 2017, 22:10:41 »
I've never escalated my keyboard's expenditure as much as you appeared to have done. I keep a couple of keyboards, four sets and one more coming and that's it. I may get one more custom  and I'd probably quit. I am more preoccupied for the time I spend lurking, than on money.

Offline HoffmanMyster

  • HOFF, smol MAN OF MYSTERY
  • * Senior Moderator
  • Posts: 11449
  • Location: WI
Re: Unhacking the wallet in 2015 - confessions of an addict (warning: long)
« Reply #241 on: Tue, 03 October 2017, 22:53:42 »
2.5 years later, I can conclusively say my wallet is unhacked. What finally worked?

Taking a huge step back... a complete break from keyboards and other money-hungry hobbies. Quitting cold-turkey. I found scaling back to not be effective. It helped some but I never really felt like I had things under control.

Only stopping completely and staying stopped for 1 year+ truly fixed me.

True that.  I stepped away for other reasons, but the time away forced me to stop buying keyboards and artisans; once I broke the FOMO-combo I realized that it wasn't such a bad thing to not spend money all the time.  Coming back after such a break is interesting, because the hobby is so focused on buying, but I do believe that it's still possible to enjoy by living vicariously through others.  :D 

For me, I ended up with the core grouping of boards I've had for quite some time as well.  I don't use my first board at all, despite still owning it, but I could have stopped many years and many boards ago and saved quite a bit of trouble.  :))

Thanks for stopping by with an update, intelli, always great to see you around.  :-*

Offline Belfong

  • Posts: 5217
  • Location: Malaysia
Re: Unhacking the wallet
« Reply #242 on: Wed, 04 October 2017, 02:28:36 »
I am glad to see both of you back in GH. For me, I have grown out of the artisan after the prices become high, even at retail. I still participate in the sales by the makers but I don't despair if I didn't win. I just moved on, reminding myself I have enough artisan keys, some of them very much sought after too, to enjoy for my lifetime. That have worked so far..

On keyboard end, I can't resist buying a 75SQ (by leeku) and my most recent purchase was that SIIG-wanna be with Monterey Blues which was too good to be true. I hope these two will be my last keyboards for some time, so wish me luck.
 

Offline iLLucionist

  • * Elevated Elder
  • Posts: 2734
  • Location: Netherlands
  • Topre is Love.
Re: Unhacking the wallet
« Reply #243 on: Sun, 08 October 2017, 08:04:13 »
My solution, currently, is that I get to spend a % of my company revenue to cool geek stuff I like. This only motivates me to work harder and earn more money, so that I get to spend more on things I like.

Now, when it comes to making more revenue, I DO allow myself to increase my productivity, for instance, buying more monitors, buying a mouse mat, upping my desktop etc. But I try to carefully evaluate every purchase, because of course the risk is that "I just need that model M" will be justified as an "efficiency increaser".
MJT2 Browns o-rings - HHKB White - ES-87 Smoke White Clears - 87UB 55g

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Unhacking the wallet
« Reply #244 on: Wed, 11 October 2017, 21:03:05 »
2.5 years later, I can conclusively say my wallet is unhacked. What finally worked?

Taking a huge step back... a complete break from keyboards and other money-hungry hobbies. Quitting cold-turkey. I found scaling back to not be effective. It helped some but I never really felt like I had things under control.

Only stopping completely and staying stopped for 1 year+ truly fixed me.

This is a big reason I stopped posting on GH. It wasn't possible to develop new habits while continuing to participate in keyboard discussions and be exposed to all the new products.

Interesting things to note. At the end of it all, after going through 100+ keyboards, the couple I kept were the ones I started out with. If you're just now starting to go down the rabbit hole, be careful. Don't chase perfection...it absolutely doesn't exist. With every new keyboard, the novelty wears off sooner. The getting is never as good as the wanting. And you can end up making yourself pretty unhappy with this cycle.

It's all about habits, I think. You need to rewire your brain by performing the correct action over and over until it's the default.

I think the worst moments I've ever had in this hobby were literally pacing back and forth considering what I should buy, and literally mulling over it for hours on end to convince myself it was fine. I was dealing with a **** ton of cognitive dissonance and that was really horrible. It's true that this hobby can pull out tendencies that are dangerously close to substance abuse.

Nailed it..

I see the OP was modified recently, but I don't know what has changed.  Perhaps introducing the above text (even a synopsis of it) under a "2.5 years later" heading at the bottom would be nice.

I still direct people to this thread from time to time.

As for me, I ran out of money and had to stop spending on everything.  So far I have not had to sell anything, although a couple of offers have meandered my way.

I'd agree that having stopped buying for a while (more than a year for me) I can more objectively evaluate whether I really need that new thing.  In most cases I don't, and I can resist a bit more easily.
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline intelli78

  • Thread Starter
  • Posts: 1503
  • Location: Seattle
Re: Unhacking the wallet
« Reply #245 on: Thu, 12 October 2017, 04:23:38 »
I only edited the title of the OP  :)
Please consider carefully before you decide to comment, for Jesus.

Offline gizmoplex

  • Posts: 29
Re: Unhacking the wallet
« Reply #246 on: Thu, 12 October 2017, 06:24:17 »
Thanks for sharing this intelli78! 2.5 year old disscusion thread and still helping new guy like me. 8 months since my first purchased keyboard & my first post on GH (I know I don't post that much), currently 6 keysets incoming and 2 boards on my desk. I do still think it's not that much (compared to other members here, it's nothing), and still planning to buy some more custom boards that I like.

I never really thought about what this hobby might become and what it might do to me (mentally and financially). But after reading this thread page by page it got me thinking, while it's still early for me I might have to come up with some strategy or plan for me to enjoy this hobby on a healthy level, more of a preventive side.

So once again, thanks man!

After reading a lot of old threads it's evident the community is pretty ****ing great here and if you can resist the hype and FOMO it seems like a fine way to hang out online.

That's very true futurecrime there's a lot of cool thread here in GH other than GB and classified that I need to dig deeper. :thumb:

Offline dante

  • Posts: 2553
Re: Unhacking the wallet
« Reply #247 on: Thu, 02 November 2017, 09:12:16 »
I think I've been cured of my keyboard spending habits.

I would decide on something I "need", delay purchasing it for a few weeks, by that time I don't even want it.  In fact often times there is a sense of gratefulness upon myself that I didn't go forward with the purchase.

Offline rowdy

  • HHKB Hapster
  • * Erudite Elder
  • Posts: 21175
  • Location: melbourne.vic.au
  • Missed another sale.
Re: Unhacking the wallet
« Reply #248 on: Thu, 02 November 2017, 20:57:55 »
I think I've been cured of my keyboard spending habits.

I would decide on something I "need", delay purchasing it for a few weeks, by that time I don't even want it.  In fact often times there is a sense of gratefulness upon myself that I didn't go forward with the purchase.

That's a good approach.

Works even better if you don't have the money for the purchase in the first place.
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline xondat

  • i'm not a star
  • * Maker
  • Posts: 5366
  • Location: United Kingdom
Re: Unhacking the wallet
« Reply #249 on: Thu, 02 November 2017, 21:11:28 »
I think I've been cured of my keyboard spending habits.

I would decide on something I "need", delay purchasing it for a few weeks, by that time I don't even want it.  In fact often times there is a sense of gratefulness upon myself that I didn't go forward with the purchase.

That's a good approach.

Works even better if you don't have the money for the purchase in the first place.

I've been practicing this. 10/10 works every time.