Too many wants...

...not enough money. Let this be a lesson to any non-adult who may read this blog. Just because you are a grown-up and have a job does not mean you can buy everything you want. With adulthood comes bills, taxes and responsibilities. Sure I earn enough to go out and buy all the gadgets I want but then how do I make car payments, and Direct TV payments, and insurance payments, and property tax payments. The utility bills keep coming and if you want lights, water, heat, etc... you have to keep paying them. Don't forget that because you have that car and insurance payment means you have a vehicle that you have to keep gas in and tires on and fresh oil in and have enough in reserve for and work or repairs that need to be done. Most of us also want to eat so that means grocery bills and you know you don't want to run out of toilet paper or other of life essentials so that gets added onto the grocery bill. For those who believe God's Word is law there is also tithe and charitable giving that comes out of those paycheck that have already been hit by Uncle Sam. So face it. Even as an adult you can't spend money like it grows on trees. (I'll let someone with a family list all the extra expenses kids and spouses add to the budget.)

Now I'm not broke. I have a fairly healthy savings account that I could survive on for a month if I lost my job for some reason but I'm not affluent enough to buy everything I want all at once nor without thinking about whether I really need it and would use it. So these are the purchases I am currently mulling over and deciding if I should splurge and how much can I afford to splurge at once and what do I need to wait for:

1. A Nook: our library has started loaning e-books and I think it would cool to have an e-reader so I can check them out and read them.
I prefer reading from a physical book but when traveling it might be easier to take the e-reader with 20 books on it than to pack 20 physical books in my suitcase. Cost of Nook $199.99
2. A GPS: I do quite a bit of traveling for the library and I really don't like driving in cities especially if it is a new city and I don't know where my location is.
I've borrowed my Dad's GPS before and it really takes some of the stress out of driving even if it takes you down some weird roads. Cost of GPS $150.00 approximately.
3. A Digital Camera: I'm not a big picture taker as I always feel conspicuous when snapping pics. I don't know if it my aversion to having my pic taken or if it is my delusion that everyone is always watching and judging me no matter what I'm doing.

But I will admit that blog postings and facebook sharing are more interesting when there are pics in the content. Cost of camera unknown because I don't know what kind I would like.
4. TV Series on DVD: Regardless of what patron's may think I don't buy everything I want with library money just so I can watch it. I may buy the beginning of a series to see if there is more than me who like it but if it doesn't circulate well then I don't feel justified to buy the rest of the series just because I want it. Right now I would really like to see seasons of Mentalist, White Collar, Avatar: the Last Airbender, Lie to Me, The Office, and Warehouse 13 but without knowing if the will be popular with the library patrons I can't, in good conscience spend library money for them so I buy them myself and if I don't want to keep them after watching I donate them to the library. (Besides the library budget can't afford everything I want plus everything others want) Cost of DVD series $25-$65 a season.

My current free money budget $200. Anything over that I will have to save towards. So, what do you think I should buy first? (Future wants include a Smartphone and DVR)