You Cheap Bastard.

There is nothing wrong with cheap as hell. You can choose to purchase in store brand food items over the name brand stuff to save a couple of bucks and because you once heard that Sara Lee white bread is the same thing as the Great Value variety.

You can be cheap by extending the length of your electronics a bit longer instead of upgrading them every year and you can fly economy if it the trip is only a 2-hour flight.

Despite the looks you might get from friends and family, you can be aggressively cheap with many things, expect a few items that will enhance your life.

On this post, I'll talk about a few things you should never penny pinch (aka bitch about), no matter what. The items listed here have benefited me and they might not mean much to you, but you never know when you'll gain interest or a need for these things.

Item # 1: A Laptop

I always tripped out how in school, almost everyone had a decent laptop with them during lectures. While other students were rocking Macs and PCs, I had to contend with my piece of shit laptop, its battery from dying out so quickly, and the slow processor. I fell behind on note taking and it would take a lifetime to send presentations to my professors.

I couldn't relate to having an easy time in class because I didn't want to fork out more than $300 bucks or open up a credit card to pay for a good laptop for school and for work. I chose to suffer because I saw no use for having good hardware.

What a fucking loser I was.

My HP Spectre has been a godsend, not only for class, but for my writing challenges as well. It even comes with a stylus so I can draw goofy shit on the screen during my writer's block.

$1,400 might not seem a lot for a great quality laptop, but again, this price gave me chills because I am a cheap bastard.

I paid it anyways because I needed to no longer suffer with the terrible speed that came with my $300 laptop. I could have paid it sooner, but I like to prolong my own pain dealing with stupid shit.

Many future job opportunities, zoom meetings, blog posts, and coding camps will go much smoother if you have a great laptop.

Get a kick ass laptop and pay whatever price you have to.

Item # 2: Investments

I'm not going to tell you what to invest in. If you want to invest your funds solely on technology stocks and crypto, by all means, do so. That's a volatile space and you run a larger risk losing all your money than with ETFs or bonds. Actually, keep away from crypto or at least put an amount you're not afraid of losing into that industry. That's my opinion.

I am going to tell you that you need to invest in money making assets and in yourself.

If you are in your early 20's to 30's, then most of your money needs to go into a retirement account or into acquiring skills through courses and maybe a few books.

Whatever you have left for splurge on after bills are taken care of, needs go towards building you a great future in 10-30 years.

$750 bucks invested every month at 11% interest for 30 years is about 2.1 million. You can do this making 55k without breaking the bank. And there is a slim chance you'll stay at that salary. Your stacked skills will get you more funds to add to your account.

Money made while you sleep isn't a bad thing.

The S&P 500 might take a long time to accrue large amounts of dividend income for you, but while you build that nest egg, you can stack coding, writing, marketing, selling, and communication skills through courses on Skill Share in quicker succession.

Skill Share is $32 a month. That's one less take-out meal or one less haircut every month.

That's not a bad price to pay for life changing skills. Of course, you got to act on the skills once you gain them, but this can prove easier if can learn to accept rejection as a learning experience and tool.

The more times you fail during trials, the easier it gets to spot the weaknesses and the quicker you can thrive.

Also, don't be shy about buying some good books. Fictional works aren't a bad buy since they can help you be open minded to new possibilities and perspectives, which can lead you to finding new opportunities to gain money with your new skills. Go fall the fuck in love with a bookstore.

All of this sounds ridiculous when all you want to do after work or school is relax, but I'm telling you that this investment will pay you the most. You can sacrifice a few years of fun (or doom scrolling) to grow great amounts of wealth in a few years.

I learned this lesson a little too late and I'm catching up after ignoring it for so long.

Try not to be cheap here and your future self will thank you.

Item # 3: A Hobby

Everyone needs a hobby. No, binge watching another stupid show or doom scrolling through shit platforms isn't a hobby.

Hobbies provide mental breaks from the world's bullshit. You could work yourself crazy. Your brain needs to recharge and it's okay to have a hobby that you actually enjoy more than your professional work.

I've heard people spend crazy amounts of money buying collectible figures, going to the firing ranges, on musical instruments, and even knitting, for God's sake!

I have had two hobbies outside of school and work that have brought me joy and showed the inner critic that I can remain disciplined and focus on tasks these last few years: Music and cooking.

To this day, I don't regret ever spending so much money on effects pedals or my guitar.

While writing and reading have taken up a huge chunk of my time, I still like to pick up my instrument and jam along to some jam tracks or I'll try a new technique to improve my pick attack or left-hand speed.

As for cooking, I have some equipment that I knew was an impulsive buy, like an Anova Sous-Vide machine for tender meats and liquid-y egg yolks or a heavy cast iron for stir fry tacos.

The food I cooked turned out pretty good, so the equipment wasn't too bad of a buy.

You can go broke on a hobby, but you tend to have fun doing so, which I would consider a win since you can't put a price on joy.

Hobbies can become passions and can even set you up for a new lease on life.

Mark Manson once said, "Your passion is right in front of your face. If you have to look for it, then you’re probably not passionate about it at all. So, screw "finding" your passion."

I don't have to find writing, reading, music, or cooking and form it to become my passion because it just brings me into a calm state when I dive into it. Those things drive me to improve at them whenever I get a chance.

Find a hobby. Discover a passion. No matter the cost.

These are just a few things to spend good money on if you want to improve your life a little bit at a time. Be cheap outside of these things if you want.

Take Care.