Oldies but Goodies

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."

I have a lot of old things. From a twenty-year-old car to a five-year-old (non-smartphone) PDA, a sizeable majority of my possessions have been around for a while.

I like my old things. Our little sedan is fairly reliable, and it is up to almost any task we have put to it—on one occasion, we even managed to transport a bookcase in it! My trusty PDA seems to be going strong after all this time, and I know it backward and forward. Like an old pair of shoes, these things fit me comfortably.

Keeping old things around takes some work. It's not all peaches and cream—maintenance, repair and stewardship are all part of holding on to old things. I've had to buy new bits and pieces for my PDA on occasion, and our car sometimes needs repairs that are pretty expensive. At times like these, it's tempting to give up and replace something with its new counterpart.

But keeping old things around is usually cheaper than buying new things. Fixing that old car may cost a couple thousand dollars, but that's less money than you're likely to lose to depreciation during just the first month of owning a new car. Suddenly a new car doesn't seem like such a bargain.

Buying new is a slippery slope. If you're buying for the thrill of having something new and shiny, how much time will pass before you no longer feel the thrill from what you've bought? Until your gadget gets scratched? Until the next year's model comes out? That "new car smell" will fade long before the car does—are you going to devote thousands of dollars to chasing a smell?

Old stuff may not have the glitziness of new, shiny things, but keeping older things gives me more money for other, more important things.