Do you experience Technolust? It’s the feeling you get when you just want some new gadget or software and can’t really afford it. You’ve maybe got the money or room on a credit card and the desire is strong. But you know you don’t need it and it might even be damaging to your finances if you buy it anyway. We’ll share some thoughts on how to avoid getting in a hole or going into debt unnecessarily. We’ve got the cure for Technolust.
The Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. (1 Timothy 6:10) It also tells us not to covet. However, it’s so easy to fall into the trap. How do you avoid the trap of covetousness in the area of tech, what we call Technolust?
Avoiding Technolust
Here’s a list of our tips for avoiding technolust…
- Stay accountable – make sure your spouse or a friend is checking on you so you don’t spend when you can’t afford it or don’t need it.
- Set limits – don’t bring your credit card with you shopping or put extra funds in an account you can’t easily access.
- Find relief before the longing hits you – don’t shop when you don’t need anything or avoid websites or magazines that promote technolust.
- Satisfy the hunger with something far less cheaper – buy an app or some software or upgrade a computer with some memory or with an accessory.
What to do when you regret a purchase? Plenty of people experience buyers remorse. We talked about why that is, so make sure you watch or listen to the podcast. Here’s what we do.
- Return it! Don’t buy from places where you can’t return things.
- Give it away. Someone else may need it to be productive or to replace something they’ve lost due to failure, theft or just losing something.
- Make sure you can buy. Walk away from the purchase and think hard about it before forking over the cash or plastic.
- Sell it. Craigslist, eBay and Amazon allow you to sell things and if it’s barely used you may even get close to full price.
- Repent. If you’re giving into covetousness, then you need to repent by returning it, selling it at a slight loss or giving it away.
Our Favorite Things
I talked about my Samsung Gear VR, which T-Mobile gave me as part of a promotion that’s no longer available. Check it my article about it at GottaBeMobile.
You can also use the Google Cardboard devices which work like Gear VR. Here’s a cheap one at Amazon.
Speaking of Amazon, I also showed off my new Amazon Tap. It’s a voice controlled mobile speaker that does so much more. It’s like the computer in Star Wars with a limited set of tools like playing music, sharing sports scores, weather updates and even ordering pizza at Dominos.