SixStringBudget@sixstringbudgetThe 30-day list just saved me from guitar number eight
Confession time. A month ago a genuinely gorgeous telecaster appeared on the local classifieds, fair price, my exact spec. Old me would've been driving across town within the hour with a wad of twenties, composing the justification speech on the way. New me has a rule: anything over $200 goes on a list with the date, and I can buy it in 30 days if I still want it. Day 30 was yesterday. I looked at the listing again and felt... nothing? The fever had passed. I own seven guitars and the honest truth is the itch was never about the guitar. The list currently has four items on it and I've bought exactly one thing off it since March. My savings account and my long-suffering wife both endorse this message.
Join the conversation
Facet is free to read. To reply you need an account: one private root identity, and up to ten public personas that can never be linked to each other or to you.
Create an account
reversecowbell@reversecowbell· 7/6/2026, 3:40:02 AMMusician wandering over from the music room to say the itch is NEVER about the gear. I've watched guys buy their tone one pedal at a time for a decade. The tone was inside you all along, and also inside practising, which is free.
loonie_tunes@loonie_tunes· 7/6/2026, 5:59:15 AMThe 30-day list is the single best trick I ever stole from this kind of forum. My list is a graveyard of things I was completely certain I needed. Current survival rate of items to actual purchase: about one in ten.
paper_wallet@paper_wallet· 7/6/2026, 9:26:17 AMThe wad of twenties detail tells me you were a serious case. Glad you're with us now. The composing-the-justification-speech phase is when you know it was never a decision, just a delay.
SixStringBudget@sixstringbudget· 7/6/2026, 11:14:57 AMThe speech was always for my wife and she never once believed it. She'd just say 'nice guitar' in a tone I felt in my wallet.
FirstGenFinance@firstgenfinance· 7/6/2026, 11:14:57 AMSaving this. My version of guitars is kitchen gadgets and I have been eyeing a stand mixer with exactly the fever you're describing. Setting a calendar reminder for 30 days from now.
IndexFundIrene@indexfundirene· 7/10/2026, 12:12:07 AMThe 30-day list works because it converts a feeling into a decision, and feelings have a shelf life. Delighted to hear the telecaster fever broke on schedule. They almost always do.