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I like to fish. Specifically, I fish for largemouth bass. Like many hobbies, some expenses go with participation in fishing. For bass fishing, these expenses can be anywhere from a few dollars for a fishing pole to over $100k for a new boat and all the latest equipment. My investment in bass fishing tends to be towards the lower end of the scale.

I have a 17-year-old bass boat I bought used ten years ago. Even after replacing the carpet and upholstery, it looks a bit worn. About 90% of the original equipment works fine. The engine and trolling motor work great. It will never be 100% again; I just live with the 10% gap in functionality. While a brand-new boat would be nice, there are two key benefits to keeping this old boat. First, I don’t worry about scratching the boat or bumping into a stump while trolling. This boat is well broken in, so I can concentrate on fishing. Second, I know this boat inside and out. After ten years of ownership, I have experienced about everything that can go wrong with the boat. It would be tough for this boat to surprise me.

A few days ago, I was fishing on a cloudy, damp morning. While the lake was not crowded, there was a boat fishing near me. By looking at the boat, I could see it was brand new and contained the latest equipment. One noticeable addition was a power pole to hold the craft in place over a particularly hot spot. I have thought about adding this to my boat, but they it very expensive. It would cost me over $3K to hold my boat in position. Other fishermen who have power pole claim they couldn’t do without them. I am not so sure; perhaps they are trying to justify the expense. While power poles are cool, for me they haven’t passed the return on investment test.

I talked to this fellow in the new boat, you know, just regular fisherman talk. After a while, he said he needed to leave. As he was sitting in the driver’s seat, I was about to remind him to pull up his trolling motor. For those of you not familiar with bass boats, it is a bad idea to run the main engine with the trolling motor deployed. Don’t ask me how I know this; it happened to a friend of mine once, yeah, that is it.  Just as I was about to issue my warning, the guy pushed a button on his console. His trolling motor and power poles automatically retracted, and his main motor lowered down into the water. I was speechless. My first thought was, I need these features on my boat. Maybe I just need a new boat! You see to retract my trolling motor; I must yank on a rope and pull the motor back on board. While this method has never failed me, it simply was not as cool as the automatic retraction.

After the new boat departed, I recovered from the emotional excitement of seeing this new boat in action. I realized I don’t need any of that stuff to catch fish and I certainly don’t need more things that will break. I desired that newfangled stuff because I thought it was cool. It also helped my attitude that I caught a nice bass right after the new boat left.

Separating need from want is a key component of achieving financial success. It is easy to get caught up in the allure of a shiny new object. Cars and cell phones seem to be popular areas of struggle, but this dilemma can show up in all elements of our lives. How do we separate a need from a want?

1. Resist impulse buying; all impulse buying is a want (I believe this, feel free to provide a counter argument)
2. Take time to reflect and research the item under consideration
   1. Ask if this item will make your life better
   2. Is there a positive return on investment?
      1. Is a logical or emotional decision emotional?
      2. Emotional decisions are very risky
   3. Evaluate your finances, can you afford the purchase?
   4. If you must go into debt, the item better be transportation or shelter
      1. Even if the item is transportation or shelter, be very thoughtful about debt
      2. Debt for transportation is sometimes necessary but always a bad financial move
      3. Avoid debt if possible
   5. Our default response should be to avoid or delay this sort of purchase
   6. Go slow, avoid rushing into a purchase

Now you might be saying, Alan, you are no fun at all. Aren’t there times when you should splurge and live a little? Sure, I like to splurge, particularly on vacation. The test for splurging is if it causes financial hardship or regret. There can be a fine line between being a whimsical, carefree spender and being a financially overextended person full of regret.

Make the most of this day!