A while ago I set myself a goal of keeping things I buy for at least four years. I wasn’t happy with some of my spending habits, tending to get an idea and rush out and buy something to satisfy it. Then realizing it wasn’t quite right, then eBay-ing it and getting something else. It felt chaotic and I was losing money on the reselling.
The other issue was I was buying the thing I could afford at the time which ended up being a compromise and less likely to be satisfactory. Conversely, things I’d bought that were ‘recklessly’ expensive were good for much longer and ended up being better value. Pure Vimes boot theory.
So the idea was to slow me down and force me to think about my decisions knowing I’d be stuck with them for four years. In turn, the money saved from not being stupid would mean the things I do buy ended up being good things, and I get into a nice virtuous circle.
I track all of this in a Google Sheet, name, purchase date (hidden below), calculated age and RAG status. Green status for things that are as good as I need, amber for could be better, red for causing issues. Sometimes I’ve thought about buying something and realized I’d put it straight into amber status, which is a strong indicator it’s a bad idea.
More of a guideline
It’s not absolutely a hard rule. But if I do break it I have to acknowledge to myself that I’m consciously doing so and think about about why it happened. Mostly now that’s lack of experience. If it’s a whole new area of interest then I give myself some slack on decisions that don’t work out, providing I didn’t overcommit. If I buy second hand, then sell second hand losing a fraction of the money that’s not a big deal.
Difficulty: Easy
As this is a blunt measurement different categories of things have different levels of difficulty to hit the four year threshold. Among the easiest is audio gear where ten or more years is pretty straightforward. For example, my Kef Ref model 1 speakers I’ve owned for 25 years and this point will probably only get rid of them if they’re too big to take into assisted living. My Spendor studio monitors are over 14 years old, and the amplifiers for both of those are around 10 years and going strong
Headphones might last over a decade, but it’s variable due to build quality issues. I have Sennheiser RS170 TV headphones older than 15 years, and my Plantronics Backbeat Pros I use at work are coming up to 10 years having gone through several pad replacements.
The other end of the signal chain is much the same. The older microphones I bought for sessions are approaching ten years now and I have no plans to replace them, not just because it’s not a priority at the moment but also because there’s no real upgrade for them. For example, the Shure SM57 selling today is the same one released in 1965.
Difficulty: Medium
The next tier down is the 4-10 year band. A lot of consumer electronics comes into this category, e.g. these days the gap between major console generations is the upper end of this range.
Four to five years is a reasonable cadence for PC parts if you buy at the medium tier. Enthusiasts complain about how each new generation isn’t a huge jump from the previous, but if you skip a few generations you notice.
My Dell 9305 laptop is about to hit four years now and if I change it, it will mostly be because I want a different kind of machine, e.g. gaming, 2-in-1 or something where the goddam headphone port works without having to reboot.
My iPhone 13 Pro is also approaching hit the four year mark (2021 Duncan was spendy). This was expensive at the time, but it’s lasted well. I could upgrade now but I probably won’t bother, as I’m not convinced a new one would offer enough. I do like USB-C, I just don’t £700 like it. So I’ll probably replace the tired battery, get the Lightning port fixed and go for a few more years.
Similarly my iPad Air, now over five years old, sporting an alarming bend but still working. I’m sure a M3 based one is better, I just can’t see how it would matter for me. When OLED trickles down from the Pro, that could be tempting.
Difficulty: Hard
The last category is where four years is a struggle. And for me, cameras are my nemesis. I’m not quite as bad as Casey, but I’m pretty bad. I made a list of all the cameras I’ve used over the last ten years or so and I’m too embarrassed to share. One of the issues with cameras is that they’re all a compromise, and I fixate on the shortcomings and make a change and then hit a different set of problems.
Of the cameras that have lasted, my Panasonic G80 cameras made four years by being utterly inoffensive, and my Canon G9X II is still around after six as there’s really nothing like it anymore. My current Panasonic S5 II has a decent chance of making it as it serves it’s purpose as a session camera and occasional serious camera quite well. It also serves a useful blocking function as when I get tempted by something new and large I remind myself I could do that on the S5 II if I really wanted.
The OM-5 in theory is vulnerable as there are obvious ways it could be better, but luckily OM are helping me by refusing to release a meaningful upgrade. Still, if I can get the OM-5 to four years I’m cured.
Bikes have also been a bit of a mess since this is a relatively new hobby and mistakes were made mostly in terms of geometry. Fortunately I was smart enough to (mostly) buy second hand so I didn’t lose too much in the process. I also bought a hardtail which I regret as it’s not getting enough use. But my boring aluminium Topstone gravel bike is looking safe as an all rounder and I have a cheap retro single speed which I really like as it’s so very pretty.
Finally in this category, wireless earbuds just because they don’t last. Cheap ones break, expensive ones break, they’re all crap. I’ve stopped tracking these and consider them disposable which is terrible.
Does it work?
Broadly, yes, a bit. It’s an assistance tool, like anything similar it still requires a baseline of self-discipline. I quite like looking at the tracking sheet, seeing a nice list of green statuses which reminds me nothing needs doing. Similarly all of the 4+ ages are a testament to good decision making. There’s a slight gamification element to it.
And I’m not exactly living like a monk here, this year I replaced my PC graphics card (after five years), secondary monitor (four years), TV (six years) and handheld games console (eight years). Technically, my PC CPU and motherboard as well, but that only cost around £100 so I’m not counting it.
Finally, this is also useful as a planning tool. I know that next year should be pretty quiet. Maybe one or two significant things. So if I make those changes I can afford to push the boat out a bit.