My ipod Story: How I Wasted 10k

My ipod Story: How I wasted 10k

(Babble On for the Sunstar Davao, October 5, 2007)

I once had a great ipod nano. It was a 1st generation 4 gigabyte black model. It played music, which is the obvious point of an ipod, and it looked really good. I loved the way it looked, the way it felt in my hand, and the simplicity of use. It was, in my mind, perfect. It was not only cool in itself, it also made me feel cool.

And the best thing about it was that it only cost me around ten thousand pesos. I had gotten a great big discount when I bought it you see, and that fact made me feel even better about it.

Yes, I loved that ipod. But notice the past tense. It’s gone now. It figured in an accident a few weeks back and so it doesn’t even work anymore. I had it for a little over a year and so it’s already past the warranty. I can’t have it repaired because its already phased out and no more parts are available. The best I can get is a ten percent discount on my next ipod purchase.

Man do I feel sad about it. And just a little bit stupid.

Now here’s the thing. I bought that thing with my own money. I did some work for a law firm and used my salary for it. But around that time, I had the option of going into the stock market, or a mutual fund. I had the choice of either instant gratification or investing for the future. I picked instant gratification. And look where it got me. A broken ipod, a year later.

If I had bought stocks instead or invested in mutual funds, I could have made, conservatively, 30% increase in my investments, since the stock market is on a bull run this year (which means it’s going up!). In other words, I could have made money, rather than lose it like I just did when the ipod broke.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved that ipod. And boy do I miss it. But I realized that there were better things I could have done with that money. I could have invested. I could have earned. I could have made my money grow. Now it’s gone. And so is my ipod.

So what am I left with? Memories of private musical moments, of clear symphonies wafting through my ears. And a lot of regrets.

So what’s the lesson for the day? Be smart with your money. Before you buy anything expensive (like an ipod), figure out if you really need it. Don’t buy something just because it’s cool. Stick to stuff you need. So that in the future you won’t wind up like me, with nothing in your hands and your money gone.
Be smart.