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New House or New Bass

Which to keep?

  • The dream bass

    Votes: 37 11.3%

  • The lake house

    Votes: 291 88.7%
  • Total voters
    328
#123
This is not a difficult decision. Look at it this way, the bass will likely come with a divorce down the road. My only word of caution would be to those who suggest a lake house is an investment that can only appreciate. As somebody who invested in a beach house in 2006, two years before the real estate bubble burst, I beg to differ. On the flip side, your $13k boutique bass will start depreciating the moment you take possession.

Choose the house.
 
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#126
muggsy said:
This is not a difficult decision. Look at it this way, the bass will likely come with a divorce down the road.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a win, win. :D

I've known more than a few guys who have given up things they love (music, sports cars, motorcycles) to please their wives and eventually end up with neither the thing they loved, nor their wife.
 
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#127
theSea said:
Interesting perspectives. Seems there are very different standards applied to musical instruments vs. other, more conventional and traditional male toys. Even by musicians.

IMO this is, at best, a 'Ten percenter' problem. ie "nice problems to have" for sure.

A one percenter wouldn't have to choose. They'd start an LLC and swing the 12 grand in seed money around in tight little circles until it was 36k on paper, cash out, leave some chump holding the bag and do both, with the initial 12k back in a tax haven. Then deduct both the bass and the house as business expenses. Yes, I'm exaggerating. But not much.

This is, of course, a distinction without a difference to most everyone as 12k all in one place is about as likely as a lottery win.

A Ritter. That does change things just a bit.

Firstly, one is NOT paying for 'wood and wire.' That's like saying a Rodan is just a hunk of bronze, or a Monet is just daubs of paint on canvas. A Ritter is a functional musical instrument that is also a sculpture. Or a sculpture that's also a functional musical instrument. Either way, that's exceedingly rare air and one of the very few cases where that price point makes something vaguely resembling sense.

Secondly, it *will* appreciate in value. They don't make many, demand is higher than supply and they won't be made forever. It's a decent place to park 12k. Better than a boat, a motorcycle, golf or any number of other hobby money pits the so-called normal people I work with are likely to dump their discretionary income into.

Again I really don't see much of a difference between owning a Ritter and dropping 12k on a toy car that's not going to be a daily driver. (how much toy does 12k buy these days? A timeshare?)

well, other than the difference in value assigned by our culture, which has a shockingly bad view of the arts vs other, equally pointless, time and money wasters.
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I think the difference between this and the idea of spending $12k on a car or whatever is that the floor is a lot lower for basses vs. cars (or other toys). A $1k bass is a pretty decent instrument but a $1k car is a POS. And $13.2k gets you an okay car, but nothing fancy, whereas a $13.2k electric bass puts you in the absolute stratosphere. Bugati, Pagani, etc. level.

That said, OP has clearly identified this bass as his/her dream bass, so trying to convince him/her that this is not a reasonable desire is kind of silly. He/she almost certainly knows that $13.2k on a bass is extreme, but has still identified it as a dream bass. Not just that, but he/she has gotten to a point where it actually isn't just a dream. Trying to talk OP out of this dream is pretty silly.
 
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#135
8 Pages in, so I would be very surprised if anyone reads this but I would say dip into the savings that were meant for the home repair, so long as the house is habitable (and truly livable) without them. My reasoning is that you're eventually going to want the bass anyway, so you might as well save the 1200 you'll eventually spend by placing another order. With some diligent savings for an average household not living hand to mouth, 12k is not an insurmountable sum. I really think you can have your cake and eat it too.
 
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#140
My wife and I have two separate accounts for our personal stuff (For me, it's music and motorcycles) and what I do has no impact on our joint account. Although I tell her if I am buying something new, she knows that I will do what I want. I've worked all my life (I am 72) and I know my budget - the same goes for her, she has no need to rationalize anything she decides to buy - cars, trips with friends etc. we are lucky, not wealthy, but lucky. Something like a lake house would fall into our joint selection. A bass, not at all.

Obviously it all depends on your relationship. Fortunately for me, ours is well defined. Maybe that's the joy of getting married much later in life.
 
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