It's a funny thing, how the mind works.
Twice in the second half of 2020 I've very seriously contemplated spending a large amount of money on a desirable thing, and twice I've stopped myself doing it. There was that flirtation with buying the Leica Q2 camera last August; and lately the flirtation with taking the caravan to Shetland. Both ideas brought to a halt by practical considerations.
I can't say I regret shelving these things. At the end of the day, I'm still a pensioner on a fixed income, and there are - or will be - many predictable calls on my limited finances. I need to build up capital. I don't want to be miserly, but I do need to be careful.
Nevertheless, having avoided paying £5,000-odd to own the Leica Q2 (and necessary accessories), and then £1,000-odd for the ferry to Shetland and back (and the pitch fees while there), it's hard not to think that I must be £6,000 better off!
I'm not really £6,000 richer, of course. But the way the mind works, I now feel perfectly relaxed about spending a somewhat smaller amount instead, as if it were a well-deserved reward for being 'strong' and not blowing the full £6,000. Or a kind of consolation prize for showing restraint, or even wisdom. That's rather dangerous thinking - in fact, a delusion! My circumstances haven't altered one bit. I shouldn't be blowing any money at all.
Well, rationality and common sense have now got the upper hand, and I can congratulate myself that I'm still on target for buying a high-tech, top-spec replacement for my car Fiona in 2025 or 2026, the precise year depending on when the next generation of all-electric cars becomes available, and the one I want is in production. But it was a close-run thing, all the same.
In any case, there are already two expensive items coming up that will make a dent in my savings, although I have budgeted for both of them: a new phone in 2021, and a new laptop in 2022. I don't regard their purchase as optional. Phones and laptops get out of date, or their storage gets full up - often both - and so buying replacements at intervals is something you can't escape. The only element of choice lies in what to buy, and when to do it. By 2021 my phone will be four years old. By 2022 my laptop will be six years old. Both devices could certainly soldier on for longer, but their utility and performance would suffer.
In my forward financial planning, I am allowing £1,250 for the phone, and £2,500 for the laptop. Some will say, why allow so much? Particularly when you say you need to be careful with your cash! The answer is that both my phone and laptop get heavily used every single day. I look after them, clean them and cosset them, but I expect unrelenting good performance from them. So I need well-made devices with high-end specifications.
The phone functions as a mobile mini-computer that I interact with throughout the day, and carry everywhere. I also occasionally take calls on it, but that's the very least of its many, many uses. It's indispensable. I use it to plan my daily life. I use it also to pay for almost everything I buy.
The laptop's duties are more specialised, but exceptionally onerous. It has to cope with the detailed processing of some 20,000 new photos a year. Plus all my photo publishing. Plus all my blogging. And it is the central hub for my frequent and highly-organised backup regime, covering every type of digital file, documents and music included.
Given the punishment both devices get, they need to be durable and utterly reliable, with a very good spec, including a superb screen, a fast processor, and the best onboard storage capacity available. All that means a major brand, at major expense. A cheap, flimsy solution from a lesser maker won't stand the pace, and will turn out to be a waste of money. Nor is it any good buying last year's model, and seeking savings that way. Each device must be as up-to-date and future-proof as possible.
At the present moment, I think I'll be looking at the top Samsung phones being launched in spring 2021 - one of the Galaxy models, just as before. I have the Galaxy 8+ from 2017 at the moment, and I'm thinking it'll be the direct 2021 equivalent, probably named the S21+. It'll be very slightly larger than the old S8+. Samsung will no doubt offer an even bigger 'Ultra' version, but it will probably be too long and wide for my left hand to hold comfortably. Whichever model I go for, I'll buy it in late spring 2021, between my West Country and Scottish holidays. I'll be ordering it from Samsung UK as soon as I've studied the online reviews.
As for the laptop, I've been so impressed with the Microsoft Surface Book I bought back in 2016 that I'm going to buy another, its latest reincarnation, but this time not compromise on its storage capacity. The current Surface Book 3 model (with a 13.5 inch screen and 1TB of storage) costs £2,699. I'm hoping that by 2022 I can buy a Surface Book 4 with 2TB of storage for slightly less money. Direct from Microsoft as previously. Fingers crossed on the price!
Once I've got the new phone and laptop, the next major item will be that new car three or four years later. Should I really plan so far ahead? Absolutely! Only by planning can I make things happen.
