"A 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar. I paid $400 for it in 1987 and sold it for $500 a few years later after I bought a fender which was more my style. Wish I never sold it. It would be worth over $3500 today, easy."
Wuzzy_Gee
"An original Gameboy. I cut lawns for a summer to save up for it."
kor_hookmaster
"A TV for my bedroom. I wanted one when I was 13, and my parents said that was fine as long as I paid for it myself, so I got a job picking strawberries at a local farm. Yes, I got my TV, but I was so sick of the sight and smell of strawberries that it was at least a year before I could even think about eating them again."
mrwednesday33
"My very first car. It was in 1998, I was 19 years old when I bought it. A 1987 Chevy Camaro. It needed some work, it looked like s@#t, but I loved that car. My friends liked it as well. My sister’s friends all told me it was garbage, but their parents bought them newer cars that they didn’t appreciate."
GreatJanitor
"A trumpet. Professional brand silver trumpet. I wish I still had it, but it was stolen."
wakingdreamland
"A mountain bike in High-school. it was a Gary Fisher full suspension bike, back when full suspensions were fairly new. it was kinda a big deal for me."
Expired_thumbtack
"A hamster. Not just the hamster as those costed like $7, but the cage, the plastic hamster ball thing, the bedding, the treats- the works! I named him Sam. He lived to be almost 5 years old and he was the best. My mom helped me figure out how much money food costs and I made sure I had enough money saved at the time of buying him, to be able to get him food for at least a whole year. My mom didn’t think he’d stay alive longer than that."
theWildBore
"Worked two jobs and sold plasma while in college a few years ago to take my then-girlfriend and myself to Europe. Neither of us had ever really traveled before, and she was always worried she’d get stuck and never get a chance to see the world.
Thought bringing her along was a huge waste of money for the longest time after we broke up, but she died recently and I found out she kept a box of momentos from our trip. In hindsight I think that was probably the best money I ever spent."
MagicMan54
"The whole Beatles Rockband set. With the drums, mic, and guitar. Only had that job for three weeks but got enough to buy it and was beyond happy."
bpanio
"Clothes. I grew up poor often going to school with jeans that I grew out of a year ago. They would be tight and would get like high waters while everyone else had well fitting or baggy jeans. I stood out and I got teased and bullied because of it.
When I got to high school I got a part time job and started buying some decent clothes. Jeans that fit. Decent shoes that sort of thing. My first major purchase that actually required saving was a nice leather jacket was about $400 roughly 30 years ago which was several weeks pay."
-_-NAME-_-
"A transistor radio…1972."
ZacMorrisPhone
"Drivers Ed. My father refused to pay for it, wouldnt allow me to take it till I had saved enough money to pay for it myself."
lizzpop2003
"College (despite having scholarships and financial aid, I needed to support myself). I got my first official job at 15 to help pay for college and move out. My parents refused to support me financially and I desperately wanted to move away as soon as I graduated from high school."
ImaginaryOwls
"I worked my @$$ off for all of the summer of 1975, at the end, I bought a programmable calculator. A TI SR52. It allowed you to save your programs on magnetic strips.
It was the first programming I ever did. My demonstrating my work to a teacher at school got me access to a computer the school had.
I never went to college for programming. Instead, I landed a job in what would have been the middle of my junior year of college.
In April, I will be a professional programmer for 40 years."
justfriendshappens
"When I was a kid, I saved up all my birthday money and Christmas money (never got an allowance) to buy myself the original NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Yes, I’m f@#king old (born in ’76). But no one in my family thought I could do it because I’d have to save for a few years and not spend it on anything else.
My mom refused to buy me a video gaming system because she didn’t want me to spend all day playing video games and said if I wanted one I’d have to buy it with my own money. I think she thought she found a loophole in telling me I had to buy it for myself. But I did it. She kept her word though. I bought it and did play that thing forever and all day."
you_are_marvelous
"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition DVD. Mowed. Lawns, saved allowance (which was rare in my cash-strapped family), stockpiled birthday money. Anything it took, because I loved those movies. Next year, I did the same for the Two Towers extended edition, but my Grandmother, God bless her, gifted me The Return of the King for Christmas the next year because she wanted me to save my money. I still have them and watch them frequently."
LeoPertinax
"My dog.
I’ve shared this before, but when I was about 10 years old my parents and I were in our backyard clearing out a ton of weeds that had gotten out of hand. I had trouble focusing because our next door neighbor had this really adorable puppy and all I wanted to do was play with him.
We found out that they were actually going to take him to an animal shelter because their son was not taking care of him like he promised. I decided to ask my parents if maybe we could get him instead. I was an only child and never really have anyone to play with unless a friend would come over and the thought of having a puppy to play with whenever I wanted to was great.
My parents agreed and our neighbors offered to sell him to us for $20, which is really cheap for a dog when you think about it, but a lot of money for a kid. I had that saved up and immediately agreed and promised I care for him and love him forever. So, he became my puppy and like a brother. After a few days of debating I named him Snoopy.
Snoopy became my closest friend. He made me laugh, played with me, and would just hang out and watch TV with me. He was always there for me, especially through some tough times in my life where I was extremely self-destructive. He saved me from myself. He was there at my side through tough breakups where all I ever wanted to do was lay in bed. He was an amazing friend. He was there to see me graduate 8th grade, high school, and college. I hoped he would be there on the day I got married and maybe be around for when I had kids, but unfortunately as much as we wish for things, sometimes they don’t happen.
Next week will mark 6 years since he passed away, after being by my side for almost 17 years. That little ball of fur in the first picture made such a huge impact on my life bringing me years of happiness, friendship, and love."
-eDgAR-
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Sure, I could afford to just buy it, but I decided to pay for this one outside my regular budget, so I set aside some money each month for a while. Just as I had enough set aside it became available and with a discount, so I'll probably get the kit to put lights in it as well.
I'll "set money aside monthly" more when I want something though; getting something you want feels better when you have saved up for it over time rather than just having enough money after bills to simply buy it.