I haven’t had a watch in years. My last one died and when I replaced the battery, it refused to start up again, so I put it in the drawer with a few other watches that don’t work. Why I have a drawer with dead watches is a discussion for another day. Once I started carrying a cell phone (much later than everyone else) I started using its clock otherwise, getting the time if I needed it was not difficult. I might add, this is one of the side benefits of being on-time most of the time. So while we were on the cruise, we browsed through the stores on the ship and I saw some pretty nice watches. I then realized that I wanted a nice watch. This wasn’t one of those “mind transforms a want to a need” times when I suddenly saw something I didn’t know I wanted and I had to have it. Instead, it was a fundamental change in my thinking, a very different feeling for me.

As you can tell, many of my previous (pre-budget) impulse purchases centered on seeing something, something I had not even thought of moments before and probably never knew it existed, and suddenly deciding that my life needed it. Once I broke myself of that habit, I discovered that there was far less that I actually wanted than I thought. I spent less money, had less clutter, and less guilt from purchases.

So back to the watches. I haven’t felt the need for a watch for quite a while, but I have noticed that pulling out my cell phone to know the time is becoming annoying. So a watch seems like a good choice. Previously, I’ve never spent more than $25 on a watch, and the drawer of dead watches is a testament to that. Occasionally, I’d receive a watch as a gift that cost more, but that was my typical price range. Now, though I’m actually looking at the watch as an accessory in addition to a tool. Suddenly, a $20 Casio is not good enough. Now I’m looking at Tag Huer or Breitling. At least I was until I saw the price tag on them, $2,000 +. Ok, so I haven’t gotten to the point where something like that is doable, but I have upped my price to the $150-$250 range. Suddenly, I’m seeing a lot of nice watches that I never would have looked at before.

But I come back to the fundamental question of “why do I need a watch, and why do I need one like that?” My fear is that I’ve convinced myself this is something I need, but I realize that this is the culmination of a thought that has been going on for quite a while. I’ve realized that I need to update my appearance (thanks to watching “What Not to Wear”) and my beautiful wife has done tremendous things for me in that regard. I’m not a big fan of jewelry, I wear my wedding ring and that’s all, but a nice watch would compliment my appearance nicely. Thus, I’ve actually made a slowly informed decision rather than a hasty impulse purchase. I feel more mature for engaging in such a thought process.

So there you have it. I need a nice watch to continue the upgrade of my appearance. Not because it would make me feel better, not because I have to have it, simply because it would help in my current goals. Have you had similar changes in your thought patterns, especially when it comes to buying things? I find it refreshing.

Of course, now I just have to decide on what watch to buy. So far my Amazon wishlist only has 15 of them on it.