Friday, April 5, 2013

Gazingus pens are my Gazingus Pins

While reading the book "Your Money Or Your Life" I've run into a couple ideas that really hit me. I'll save my review of the book for later, but I'd like to share one idea from the book at this point.

The authors call this idea the "Gazingus Pin." I wish I knew where they came up with the term, but the idea is this: if you go to a store and there's some item that you buy without thinking even though you get no enjoyment from that particular item, that is your Gazingus Pin.

Examples they give in the book is someone who buys a new pair of shoes every month or upgrades to the latest cell phone even though their old one works fine and the new one has no new features they will actually be using.

I realized I have a few Gazingus Pins.


  1. Gazingus pens, I mean fountain pens. Really any kind of nice pen. I almost bought some Sharpie retractible pens at Staples the other day even though I am just fine with my fountain pens, Fisher Space pen, and Pilot G2 pens.
  2. Office supplies to help me get organized - planners, calendars, folders, index cards, etc. I've pretty much settled on using a combo of Levenger Circa and Staples ARC systems so I am mostly down to just spending money on the refills I need.
  3. Apps - being a developer and always on the lookout for a better way to do things in particular to be organized, I will jump on an app that is on sale that does something I want to do. I am particularly bad about buying note taking or todo list apps. I used to buy a bunch of budgeting apps but have settled down on that as there are a couple that I really enjoy using.
  4. Ebooks - I recently bought a Kindle Paperwhite intending that would help me do more reading. It has, but now I also tend to hit Amazon and buy any book I really want to read that our local library doesn't carry.
  5. Caffeinated beverages - I am not sure if this counts or not, but I'll buy pop or if I'm really tired, energy drinks without thinking about how much I'm spending.
So what is YOUR Gazingus Pin?

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