As I walk around campus these days, I notice the various headphones people wear. As ever, Apple products are supremely popular amongst the young crowd. What is surprisingly however is the prevalence of people with the AirPods Max - a pair that costs $549. Even at its lowest Black Friday discount price, the top of the range AirPods are still $449. How the heck are college students affording these cans? Who spends that much money on headphones?
Perhaps I’m simply bitter that the AirPods Max does not fit my admittedly enormous head. The clamping force is too much, even at maximum extension of the ear cups. I bought a pair last year at a heavily discounted price of a still hefty $400, and sadly had to return them. The AirPods Max do sound amazing, but it’s probably for the best I didn’t keep them because spending that much money when I already have a set of Bose QC35 headphones is kind of ridiculous.
And I’m very much not a college student. I have disposable income!
I reckon my goals of austerity this year is going well thus far. With interest rates at relative historic highs, I’m trying to stuff as much money into savings as possible. I should be able to pay off the BMW M2 this year, thanks to earned interest in addition to the regular savings. Having that debt off my books grants me freedom to do other things, like paying extra for better seats on a plane.
The book Your Money or Your Life really shifted my perspective on new spending. Not that I was entirely profligate before, but I definitely like nice things (mainly, cars). The book frames money as life energy. After all, we have to work for money, and the prime currency (if you will) we trade for cold hard cash is our time. Therefore, anything you may want to buy should be viewed through the lens of how much of your life energy is required to afford it.
This is how I was able to avoid spending $79 on a Fitbit recently. That’s more than two hours of working, for something that is a nice to have. I’m not desperate to monitor my heart rate at all times; just continue to live healthily as I am now.
Stay in the middle.