Balancing act

Over the last year, I've become more and more convicted by my materialism and continue to be amazed at just what a strong grip American consumerism has on me even though I try and fight it. So I have tried to make a conscious effort to discern whether I really need something before I buy it. But let's be honest, all I really physically NEED in this world is some food, a place to sleep, and a few items of clothing. So then the question really becomes "what degree of frivolity is this purchase?" Also, as many of you know, I will usually not buy anything on impulse. Most anything I buy must be carefully researched to make sure I'm getting the best price, etc. Well both my fight against materialism and lack of impulsiveness were challenged today as I was notified (by my fellow deal-watcher Dan Brown), that 30 G refurbished iPods were being offered on Woot.com for $130 for one day only. Now Dan knows (after we visited him and Krystle a few weekends ago) that I have a 6-gig iPod mini that I've definitely outgrown. My iPod still works fine but the poor lil' guy simply cannot hold any more music. Which, for a music fanatic like myself, is not an ideal situation. I hate having to pick and choose what albums I can put on it because it's so hard to know just when I'll feel like listening to that old Jars of Clay album or rocking out to that compilation of Queen songs I made years ago.

So when Dan brought this deal to my attention, it peaked my interest. I had told myself a few weeks ago that before the end of the year, I would purchase a new iPod, but I hadn't really done any research yet. And now I was presented with a 24 hour window in which to purchase this iPod for only $130. The 30-gig iPod can hold up to 8000 songs, but would this be enough or should I just wait and buy the newer 80-gig iPod classic for a hundred dollars more? But then again, a hundred dollars is hundred dollars and Dan promised me that both players were the same as far as durability goes.

After being a slacker at work and looking in multiple Apple forums and reading cNET reviews, I reluctantly pressed the "buy" button and purchased the 30-gig iPod. This reluctance is a natural reflex that happens when I spend more than $50 on something...I always second and triple guess my decision. But now that it's been a few hours, I am happy and looking forward to expanding my musical horizons beyond the 1500 songs I've been able to have on my current iPod. I still struggle with the question of whether I've just fallen into another trap of 'acquiring more stuff', but the decision to go with the older refurbished model instead of buying the flashier new version (because really, will I ever have 80 gigs of music?) makes me feel like I was able to loosen consumerism's grip just a little. And even though I don't physically need to have an mp3 player with all my music on it, I would say it really is an emotional need....music is one of my lifelines!