I have a question about adulting and since I'm trying this up at 3:30 am, I'm clearly not doing a good job. I really think I would enjoy the hobby of woodcarving but it cost money and time. It would definitely be an investment of my money. The knife cost money, the wood cost money and the time I need to spend learning this is an investment. I have always grown up poor so my mentality is to save, save, save and not spend on unnecessary items. I'm not saying I follow this rule to the tea but other than on food, electronic necessities for a college student, and once in a blue moon, buying something impulsively or a gift for a friend, I don't spend much money. I also work a part time job. I don't make amazing amounts of money but it helps with the groceries. This is all to say that I don't spend a lot of money and I've been saving it up slowly overtime. I have never been that girl to save up money to go and buy something like a concert ticket or makeup or shoes. Not to say there is anything wrong with that but I don't try and save up till a certain amount and then spend it all on something. Whatever I earn, I know I will need later so I save it up for another day. Bring this back around, I want to trying woodcarving or whittling but I feel guilty spending the money on a useless item. I am poor but I have save up more than enough money but I don't feel comfortable spending that money on a potential hobby. How do you as an adult decide that it's okay to spend money on things you enjoy that are not much of a necessity? How do you save up that money separate from your saving for emergency or costly life stuff? Am I confusing you?
I'll be frank, hobbies are food for the soul. If you want to stay mentally healthy you pretty much need an outlet. With that in mind, a relatively cheap hobby like woodcarving is a good idea. On the other hand, no point in a soul if you don't have a body. So if you have more immediate needs, those should be seen to first. Woodcarving can be made a lot cheaper if combined with hiking, and while specialised knives do make it easier, ordinary pocket knives work fine for beginners
Adulting? Must be a new verb i'm not familiar with. I could think of several that sound pretty similar, but likely have no connection to it. As for whether woodcarving seems like a good idea or not, you could try to make use of it either as side-income or as a source of gifts for whatever special days your family & friends will get if you do do it. As for the costs of it, that depends on what kind of things you want to carve and how big they are, but I would suggest you search up any factories , companies or individuals nearby that use lots of wood themselves, and check if they have large enough scraps or pieces left over that they would otherwise throw away, in those cases, most would probably be pretty okay with just letting you take them instead. If you're feeling confident, you could probably even ask to buy directly from them or their suppliers at a lower price than you would likely get in stores. 'Course, it also depends on how good you would actually be at it, but you could atleast try it out a bit and make some pieces and then have them either handed out to someone and ask for honest reviews on it or find someone who does it for a living. You're good, you can do it for a more serious hobby, you're not so good, you can do it as a relaxing hobby.
If I can live without something... I'll live without it! One of my greatest pleasures in life is saving up and counting my pennies. It's a consequence of financial insecurity while growing up, I guess.
First of all, I think it’ll be more appropriate to say “maturing” instead of “Adulting” cause I also first thought of adultery lol. Back to your question, it’s good to have a bit of cash saved up for a rainy day but its also wise to not limit yourself financially on things you might not necessarily need but would still be helpful to you. Like woodworking for example, you wana try it as a hobby and that’s great. You never know, in the future you might end up selling your work and making more money off of that. But even if you don’t and it stays purely as a hobby then at least you’re buying yourself some much needed mental comfort by doing something you enjoy. Anyway, my advice is to buy what you want but with a logical and clear thought process.. that way you won’t regret it in the future
Look, it's healthy to have other hobby other than reading. Also, it's not totally useless, it a good anti stress hobby. It can actually help you when in crise and you have no job you can sell it. As for your money, for your own mental state you should separate at least 10% for guilty pleasures/hobbyandotheruselessthings.
I think it's great to have something that you're willing to put in a great deal of effort, money and time on. I think the key to just about everything is doing it in moderation. If you know you have enough money for a hobby, I would go invest in it, because there isn't really much to life aside from the everyday routine things. Having a hobby you can fully immerse yourself in gives you that sense of accomplishment and productivity no other thing can give you. Of course, the first step is always the hardest to take, and gradually becomes easier the more you do it, provided that you have a clear view of your transactions. How much has it affected your life? How much money have you spent on it? Is it way beyond your budget? Do you feel happy engaging in your hobby? People also have different priorities. It's best to identify whether engaging in this hobby would suit your prerogative as a good hobby or not. I always like to keep 3 or more bank accounts just to keep a good bird's eye view on my financial expenses. One where I put my miscellaneous spendings, for me not to feel guilty whenever I want to take up a class or a hobby to try. One for my everyday expenses and one for my savings for masters/emergency fund.
honestly, unless you're going to be doing something like intarsia wood carving, just about any knife will do. I would recommend using a soft wood and something with a small blade though. After a while you can just start picking up random branches or blocks of wood (which are mostly pine) and whittle away.
It seems like you are simply asking the basic question of what is budgeting. Set aside $X a day/month and treat that money as though it is lost. You can use that on hobbies or whatever. Then set aside all your other money for savings for your cat master. Cause all money exists for the sake of human slaves worshipping their cat overlords. End of the day, my grandparents spent all their lives savings, so much so they bought food past expiration at discounts and denied themselves everything. They ended up dying with all that money. Of course my parents didn't inherit much since due to the place having high inflation, it pretty much became worthless. So all that money they saved was wasted for naught. Don't be wasteful with money by no means. But at same time, learn to set aside a certain amount and LIVE. Just don't fall for the temptations of going over it just this once.
How do you as an adult decide that it's okay to spend money on things you enjoy that are not much of a necessity? When you feel it's not affecting your PRIORITIES. I MEAN SURVIVAL NECESSITIES. how do you save up that money separate from your saving for emergency or costly life stuff? Well sometimes you can't manage money,cuz life is a bitch, when life hits you, you must endure. So your saving money but don't know how much %? Or how much to waste? Why not both. First prioritize your savings if it's for investment (studies,seminar, training). But for the sake of emergency? That's not so smart. Just remember this, if your having fun in wasting money, it's not wasted at all.(UNLESS you regret it). Coming from the bread winner who's previously dipshit poor but gradually improves his family's life. From pH (life sucks here if you don't have ability)
Wood carving seem like in expensive hobby imo You can just pick wood of any size from broken fence or something as for knives you can buy one first then slowly buy more if you think it what you like doing
I’ve been homeless poor a good chunk of my life and I understand the need to not waste what little hard earn money you do get. But understand this. The mind set you’ve created is holding you back. Being cautious and being prepared is normal but, over thinking it will also drag you down. Even now I live from paycheck to paycheck. I’m lucky the novels here are free. So I can continue to live vicariously through my novels. That aside I’ve realized that spending money on frivolous things is sometimes necessary. For a time I was SOL for a few weeks. I was without a computer. It almost drove me crazy. Imagine nothing but work and sleep. No interaction with anyone else. It’s like living in solitary confinement and being made to work ridiculous hours. It a type of torture. It’s all right to splurge on yourself every blue moon. It won’t kill you. It might make you a better person. Besides compared to other hobbies/ habits that are a drain like alcohol or drugs. You choose carpentry/ whittling. Which at least is a useful skill. Also consider the fact that the initial cost is small. It can be a very cost effective hobby. All you really need is a knife and a sharpening stone. Wood can be gathered almost anywhere. The beach, mountains and of course forests. Have a mind set the glass is half full. Not half empty. Think positive. Move when the need arrives. Be bold. You’ve been through hard times before. This will not set you back by much and it can be recovered fairly quickly. My rule of thumb among many was. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. You’ve foreseen the worst and you are prepared for it but, to tell you the truth. Often times I usually land in the middle or slightly onto best side in most things. Settle your heart and jump. If you can’t do this. What happens in the future when it really counts and you back off because you afraid to take the risk. Man up. Move forward. Even if you take two steps forward and one back. Your still moving forward. It may not be the right move but, at least you can say you tried.
Whatever you spend money or time on, you must be able to justify it. How would you justify purchasing the tools and materials to practice woodcarving? Usually, people would justify it on one or several of these points, but it's not limited to just this: 1) Morale. How does spending money on this item makes you happy? 2) Experience value. How does spending money on this item gives you a valuable experience? 3) Job skills. Do you want to be a woodcarver? Will this help you in landing a job otherwise? 4) Self-esteem. Does this make you feel more respected? Will buying this allow you to raise your head high and be proud of yourself? 5) Relationship. Does purchasing this item make your relationship stronger? Will this get you closer to you family or loved ones? As for saving up money, Ai-chan has a separate bank account for emergency stuff. Every 2nd of each month, $100 from Ai-chan's main account is transfered to this emergency account automatically. Ai-chan also sometimes buy 99.999% gold coins when there's nothing Ai-chan wants to buy and there's enough money to purchase one.
You made the money and you have the right to reward yourself for your own effort. Think selfishly when it come to yourself first things first.
Try to find a place that'll let you try it out for free. Or go to a class to try it out instead of buying all the materials yourself. Wait until next month to buy it.
From your saving mindset you sound like a charming person. As others mention you can try courses, classes, workshops in woodcarving so you can see better whether you want to spend more time on it or you are ok with doing it sometimes. You could also take that chance to find out if you can make a living from it.