Originally Posted by
mpath
Or there's things called self control, discipline, will power, and hey, budgeting and prioritization. I guess we middle aged geezers weren't blessed with the instant gratification of today's youth.
I'd say I actually have pretty good self motivation, will power, and budgeting. Since I can technically "afford" most of the things I Want, the only real reason to have a system at all is to avoid just going crazy for no real gain.
Originally Posted by
cccorlew
The trick to getting more bike stuff is to endlessly expand your available rationalizations.
As a bike commuter every tank of gas I don't get is $50 for bike stuff. BUT THAT'S ONLY A START!!
The expensive gym around here is about $100 a month. I'm not a member because I cycle. Therefore, that's $100 tax free savings to me! Every month! See where I'm going here?
Everything I buy as a Performance Bike member gives me a 10% credit. Now, I'm saving that to get my sweet cycling wife a present. Do I want to look cheap, or get her something nice? That's right-- something nice.
And how can I get my Performance credits up? Only by buying more bike stuff. It's a win-win!
Do you have a neighbor that water skis? Every dime they spend on their boat counts as money you save by not spending it on YOUR boat that you don't own!
If you do it right, it turns out you can't afford NOT to have a bunch of new bike stuff ALL THE TIME!
Send me $27.50 for my new book on how this works, or better yet, don't send the money and you save $27.50 to spend on your bike. Not enough? Then don't buy copies for your friends and save $27.50 on each friend you didn't buy for! Tell your friends not to buy it for you and in no time they'll be rolling in bike swag too!
This is indeed awesome.
Originally Posted by
Doohickie
You actually keep track of cycling hours? Ugh. That would take all the fun out of it for me. I think a $1k wheelset would too, for that matter.
It's actually pretty easy. I have an Android phone, and there's a free app by Google called My Tracks that uses GPS and records a bunch of different parameters. At the end of each ride, or later if I want to just do a batch of them, it exports the data to an Excel spreadsheet, which I then copy and paste into my own excel spreadsheet with a few charts and summaries. Literally a matter of minutes to see my progress day by day, season by season. I think it's very cool and helpful.
Originally Posted by
jrobe
Here is another system.
Spend your time and effort improving your job skills so your can afford some of the luxuries of life.
That 45 year old going 14mph is probably someone that went to medical school and now spends his working life saving lives. Then he relaxes on his expensive bike (and gets criticized by the paupers of the world). LOL
When I work, I work. When I play, I play.