I first noticed it when I used to trade. I would find myself cutting coupons to save 50 cents when 5 minutes ago I lost $10k on a trade. My wife would call and say she went ahead and bought the new fridge for the basement because it was on sale this week and I would spend $30 on taxi ride because I didn’t feel like taking the train home from work.
It’s not that I don’t want to save money or be frugal, its just seems there are times when I turn it off and on. It’s followed through on domains. I spend an hour trying to find a good price on a flight but think nothing of throwing down $400 on a name I have no idea what I’m going to do with.
Christmas is the time when I notice it most. During that time I was price shopping for an item for my Mom when I got an email reminding me to pay $2500 for a name I just bought. A name that I think I will make money on, but one that I saw at an auction and pulled the trigger with a 5 minute decision making process. I also put in a quick options trade on Apple last week and lost another $1000. More than enough to buy my Mom a great gift. From an outsider’s point of view it look like stupidity. But I justify it to myself like this.
Spending money is how I make my living. I made the money I have by making a combination of intelligent, thought out investments and some off the cuff, instant calls. It takes risk to make money and often times I either lose money quickly or I invest large amounts of money into things that take a bit of time to mature. It’s risk, but calculated risk. My domain money is not food, mortgage, or gift money. Parts of the profits may be siphoned off for those entities, but in general it money that is put out, taken back, and reinvested. And as the years grow so do the zeros. So despite the fact that I throw out $5K on a domain that I have no plan for other than to sell for more later, I still do the smart thing on my everyday purchases and try and get the best price I can.
Then there is my more conservative world, the nursery. For the nursery, the goal is to get the best quality products at the best prices available. Knowing when to squeeze and when to appreciate the vendors. If you squeeze too much without giving back your sources of sales will dry up. I need good products AND good prices. I can make a living with good product. I can make a great living with good product and good prices. This is food money, rent money. For the business and the employees. I can’t afford to be foolish. No gambling allowed. It doesn’t mean I can’t take a flyer and buy more than I’ve ever sold to get a good deal. Or try something that is not a guaranteed seller. There are times when I will get a little past comfortable and that’s ok. All businesses take a little risk to make profits.
But that brings us back to domain investing. If I think of my purchases in terms of what real world items it would buy it would be hard to pull the trigger. But we all know it takes money to make money, I’m just a little scared to explain it to my wife after she’s spent all that time trying to save money.