Resist! How Do You Hold Off The Next Purchase?

[PAKMAN]

I tell myself "self, you have too many pens, you have to sell a pen to buy a pen". Then if I have no pens I want to sell all is well... unless I have the money in hand and get too close to where one is for sell...

[DRWWE]

How do I avoid making purchases? I have a wife.

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I think of things I want more. And I think of all the people who are starving, or dying of some horrible disease, or being persecuted, who need my money more than I do.

 

Then again, the most expensive pen I've ever owned, or even had a serious desire to own, is a Pelikan M200. And the current object of my desire (a second Wearever Pennant, maybe in a burgundy barrel) would probably cost me no more than $20, including whatever parts it might need that I don't already have on hand from repairing the first one.

[de_pen_dent]

I dont. I can afford to indulge and generally do so responsibly - so I see no reason for deliberate self-abnegation.

[fernobre]

Forget it! You will never be able to stop buying the next pen. Face it:

 

- you already have to much pens

- you already tried many times to stop (or at least slow down) the urge of getting the next one

- you reached the point of asking for help

- you are no longer able to find were to find help (certainly NOT on a Fountain Pen Forum !!!!, where ALL participants are pen addicts)

 

So, run for the next pen! (and if you think you need to release some space, I will be glad to welcome your poor homeless pen...)

[requiescat]

- I have a husband.

- I have enough fountain pens for practical use reasons and seriously, they're gorgeous, I never get tired of them.

- Possibly most usefully, I remind myself that money I don't spend on a fountain pen is money toward a particular piece of music software that I've been wanting for a while.

[Sasha Royale]

Avoid buying another fountain pen ? You can do that ?

 

So far, none of your ideas make sense to me. Currrently, I am in negotiations

to sell a kidney. I have to remind myself that "she only has the two kidneys."

 

What's that you say ? My kidney ? That's just crazy !

[kywildcats]

By being a broke college kid

[pajaro]

Having regaled myself with acquisition debaucheries with a few kinds of pens, seeking to acquire pens compatible with the way I want to use them and nibs to do the kind of writing I wanted to do, and having found some Brands lacking in one way or another, I have found one that has made the pens and nibs compatible with my aims and it is time to dispose of the ones that were not so much. Powers of resistance are gaining steam. I am actually evaluating wares for sale in the light of do they fit in with the general theme, or is it another shiny bauble? The frustration of scads of almost stiffens the resolve.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Window shop on Fleabay. I look at brazillions of listings with no intent on bidding.

 

Same for the classifieds here.

 

USE them! Write someone a postcard or letter.

 

Do some pen maintenance, get them back to writing their best.

 

Maybe do a polish job on one that could use it and hasn't had one.

 

If you have a pen you think you might be interested in next, learn all you can about it. Check completed sale prices.
Read up on it here and on-line. Learn what you need to know to get a good one, not a lemon. An hour spent searching

here on FPN can save you A LOT of grief.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[Joker4Eva]

Window shop on Fleabay. I look at brazillions of listings with no intent on bidding.

 

Same for the classifieds here.

 

USE them! Write someone a postcard or letter.

 

Do some pen maintenance, get them back to writing their best.

 

Maybe do a polish job on one that could use it and hasn't had one.

 

If you have a pen you think you might be interested in next, learn all you can about it. Check completed sale prices.

Read up on it here and on-line. Learn what you need to know to get a good one, not a lemon. An hour spent searching

here on FPN can save you A LOT of grief.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

Cr*p, that doesn't help me at all. Rather, it has the opposite effect on me.

I go there, and see, "OMG, WHY ISN'T ANYONE BIDDING ON THIS BEAUTY?!" "OH, LOOKIE, A NICE PISTON FILLER FOR LESS THAN 20 EUR! BID BID BID!" *insert maniacal laugh*

[xwingrox]

I am trying to hold off on buying more pens and ink by playing with my entire collection every few days. That reminds me that I already have 15+ pens that write perfectly well and that I don't REALLY need another. But inks... that's a different story. Playing with inks just makes me want to buy more!

As a broke college student, I have to keep reminding myself that my money can be better used towards the more important things in life - like going out for drinks and dinner with friends and what not. That can also do the trick ... until the next paycheck!

[Bo Bo Olson]

Some day when I get some 'free' time I have some 25 pens to repair.

With the 30 that work, I have 2/3s of the necessary 35-45 nibs of this and that width and flex.

Of course I'm missing some. I'm not ready for noodles, Easy Full Flex is good enough right now.

 

I made a major mistake...buy not buying paper and ink at the same time I bought the pens. I made a major mistake in not buying paper or as much as I 'really' needed, when getting up the 'basic' fifty inks. I got quite a while before I have the 100 necessary inks.

Then there is paper....I've got some on order from my B&M, then there is some Gmund 120 and 170 g I'd like to get and ...and and...You just buy something else than a pen.....like Paper.

#1, chase the nib, after you have the basic set of 45 then you can chase make and model.

#2, buy some good to better paper with every second pen and third ink.

# 3, Start looking at a small order of great paper....like for your birthday....you don't need another 12 ties...

 

I've developed a liking for the 150-170g and may be even higher grammage paper.

When you start looking at a 160 or 80 sheet box of paper for €35...it does slow down the pen buying.

 

I'm waiting for some DCP paper by Clairefontaine 120g, some G. Lolo Verde de France, and their Velin de France 160 g...after I see what that costs...my B&M couldn't give me a price...I'll see if I have some ink money left over.

It's easy to stop buying pens. It must be months since I last bought a pen....I bought 15 inks instead.

Edited May 16, 2013 by Bo Bo Olson

[Namo]

I am at the point where I know what I like and what I am likely to actually use. So the pens I^d like to buy are very specific and I know I will not be able to buy any of them any time soon. In the meantime, I have enough pens I love to fullfill my need for change and my joy of rediscovering old friends.

[Runnin_Ute]

How do I avoid making purchases? I have a wife.

+1

[79spitfire]

Are you kidding?

[jar]

It's pretty easy when the hot water heater starts leaking, the pipe to the guest bathroom shower starts leaking, the faucets at the kitchen sink won't shut off fully, the garage door opener dies, the air conditioner is on its last legs ...

[Sailor Kenshin]

I get a mini statement from a cash machine. Soon sobers me up.

Since I buy (for the most part!) inexpensive pens, this doesn't stop me.

 

Wonder what WOULD.

[Sudhir]

Good question and even better answers...

 

I have a journal where the first few pages are reserved for pens and inks I have and the bulk of the journal is for pens and inks I would like to have. Writing in this journal, usually the second part of the journal, depresses me. There are so many pens and inks out there that I just have to have.

 

To get out of this depression, I usually have my laptop right next to my journal for placing bids on pens or for shopping online... So I think of buying pens as therapy for my self-created depression.

 

Am I addicted? I think so, but this is an addiction I can live with. People drink or do drugs or whatever else works for them. I buy pens and play with them. Right now, I am not able to buy as many inks because I do not have the space to store them carefully. But, we move to a bigger house soon, so that will be the end of that.

 

The short answer is that I resist this temptation by giving in to it.

 

Cheers,

Sudhir

[MX5l]

The words "Insufficient funds"

Edited October 27, 2013 by MX5l