Know anyone who GASed themselves to financial ruin?

[efnikbug]

I have my bouts with GAS and, though I don't think I'll ever be free of it, I believe I have it well under control. (Hey, I can hear you guys snickering in the back there.)

When I do GAS, I also take the opportunity to explore the psychological side of it. What voids, insecurities, etc., in my life does it reveal, y'know?

Anyway, I've yet to hear a story of a person completely losing control and finding themselves in a financial wreck.

And, I'm serious here.

[telecopter]

It would be easy to do...I've gone overboard with GAS many times, luckily I came to my senses before any financial ruin...but it's like being addicted to drugs/alcohol. I'm serious too.

[rob2001]

I'm sure there are many, but they won't admit it....certainly not here.

I wouldn't say financial ruin, but in the early 00's I spent way more on gear than I should have.

[pdks]

.

You're right, serious GAS or compulsive shopping is no joke. While I wouldn't call myself a 'serious case,' I do have gear spread around the house that I never use and likely will never use. Guitars, amps, effects, straps, recording tools, you name it. I tend to engage intensely for a period of time and then stop altogether for a period of time. Every once in a while, I put an effort into selling valuable stuff that I don't use, but not often enough.

Every piece of gear gave me a rush while I was pursuing it. And I truly do receive joy from some acquisitions. A really special guitar. An amp with magical tone. But most ...gather dust.



Have a read of this. It may put your 'habit' in perspective. Or ring alarm bells.



In June of 2006, Betty Jean Barachie of Kunkletown, Pa., was sentenced to 27 months in prison for embezzling $1.5 million over eight years from the credit union where she was a branch manager. She used the money to buy, among many, many other things, hundreds of pairs of shoes, more than 3,000 books, 58 coats, 16 chain saws and a $25,000 John Deere tractor.

A psychologist called as a witness at her trial testified that she was a compulsive shopper.

Most of the items she bought sat piled in her house unused with the price tags still on them. The psychologist said Barachie was depressed to the point of being suicidal about her inability to stop spending money.

Compulsive shopping, also known as compulsive buying disorder, can be just as addictive -- and as destructive -- as alcohol or drugs, says Dr. James Mitchell, chair of the department of neuroscience at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences and lead author of a study on cognitive behavior therapy for compulsive buying disorder.

It is far more complex than financial disorganization or irresponsibility. Compulsive buying disorder is a little-studied addiction that consumes the person's life.

"What we believe and have evidence for is that people have the same kind of surge in brain chemicals when they anticipate buying something as when (an alcoholic) anticipates drinking," says April Benson, a psychotherapist who specializes in compulsive shopping and the author of "I Shop, Therefore I Am: Compulsive Buying and the Search for Self." "It's the anticipation of pleasure that starts the brain rolling. You can see physical symptoms. People might sweat or their heart races."

Much more common among women than men, compulsive shopping often accompanies other mental health problems, including depression, alcoholism and eating disorders, says Mitchell. Sufferers tend to target certain items. For women, it's usually clothes or shoes; for men, it's often electronics or books. And like Barachie, sufferers tend not to use the things they buy.

"They store them, take them back or give them away," says Mitchell. One of the women he treated in group therapy bought so many baskets she had to rent a storage unit to keep all of them, "but she never spent any time with them."

The reasons for the behavior are varied, Benson says, but the essence of the problem stems from low self-esteem, insecurity and inadequacy. "There are also people who do these things because they don't know how to get what they need emotionally any other way," she says.

Are you a compulsive acquirer?


1. Do you buy things you want, whether or not you can afford them at the moment?
2. Do you have trouble saving money? If you have a little extra available to save or invest, do you tend to think of something you'd rather spend it on?
3. Do you buy things to cheer yourself up or to reward yourself?
4. Does more than a third of your income, not including rent or mortgage payments, go to pay bills?
5. Do you juggle bill paying because you always seem to be living on the edge, financially?
6. Do you tend to keep buying more of your favorite things even if you don't have a specific need for them?
7. If you have to deny yourself or put off buying something you really want, do you feel intensely deprived, angry or upset?

.

[JimInMO]

Well, I had about a 40 year layoff from music and probably spent too much trying catch up with the latest. Discovered that the only thing that had really changed was the marketing techniques. You've heard the saying that with age comes wisdom. I'm 68 and age seems to have come all by itself. My go to rig is now a Squire CVC telecaster and a Fender SuperChamp XD. Other, more expensive gear is collecting dust.

I do know people who golfed there way out of jobs, homes & marriages. Never caught that bug though.

[stevieboy]

Gear is a little different than the typical complusive shopper. If you make smart choices about what you buy, it would be pretty hard to actually ruin yourself financially because you still have the gear which would retain a lot of value, even if you lose some money. EXCEPT, the big issue is of course how you handle credit. If you're spending money you don't have and can't keep up with paying it off, you're going to get in trouble.

[hotraman]

I don't know anyone who would admit to GAS financial ruin. I think that in today's economy, some great deals are out there ( cash talks)
I see this problem with people buying expensive PA's for their bands, thinking they can flip them and get their money back ( if the band breaks up)

[RSRD]

Like Telocopter said, Ive had times over the past 10 years when I've realized I had put too much money into my guitar and amp collection. Fortunately, and what's great about the gear page, is that more often then not you can sell things and not lose much, if at all.

Though I'm much more careful these days. It's a pretty stingy used market atm

[pdks]

...the big issue is of course how you handle credit. If you're spending money you don't have and can't keep up with paying it off, you're going to get in trouble.


Never borrow to acquire a depreciating asset. Generally that is thought to mean you should only borrow to purchase:

http://inlinethumb04.webshots.com/46723/2696782020068276959S600x600Q85.jpg


...but then that nasty subprime crisis torpedoed the housing industry. So now you should only ever borrow to buy the likes of:

http://inlinethumb30.webshots.com/49629/2404722120068276959S600x600Q85.jpg

...or so I tell my wife. :aok

[supergenius365]

Yes. Yes I do.

[DustyRhodesJr]

There was a guy on this forum who posted a thread about how he bought over 200 (expensive) guitars in a years time. He said it was sort of an experiment so he could play these nice guitars, as he later ended up selling most of them. His thread was not met with positive thoughts by most of the forum. The guy is a good player, and even has a lessons website. Then, about a month later on HC someone had a thread about the economy. In that thread, the same guy said he had lost his business, wife, family, and home due to the economy. I have often wondered if "B" was actually a result of "A".

[Boris Bubbanov]

You've heard the saying that with age comes wisdom. I'm 68 and age seems to have come all by itself.

;)

Beautifully turned phrase there, Jim!

++

2 thoughts:

A) Guys who are genuinely good at getting bargains also know what they can stand to afford at any time. Guys who buy everything they crave, at any price, don't know when to stop, and have a lot less equity in their acquisitions than you think.

B) Sometimes too many guitars and amps lead to Divorce (or just coincide with it) and what was enough to pay for 1 household cannot begin to pay for 2 households. Looks like ruin to me.

[Cream]

TGP fuels GAS much more dangerously than any other forum because it's a skewed sample. The average TGP demographic is probably either:
(a) a retired, financially well-off, white male; OR
(b) a professional feeding his family, in part, by having a pleasing "tone." In other words, someone who makes "gear" his trade.

If you are not one of those two, TGP can be a whirlwind for GAS that could easily drive someone less-off into financial ruin. I know I've bought things I didn't need based on my abilities because I was only reading TGP. At the time, it seemed like "everybody had one of these if they played guitar." But, that isn't the case at all. The best cure for GAS is to read other forums like Fender Community, Strat-Talk, HC, etc. And you'll see just how well off you are.

Also, it helps to look at famous folks' pedalboards. That will give you an idea. While everyone on TGP has a Pedaltrain of some sort with a VooDoo Labs Pedal Power 2 stocked with boutique pedals, famous folks usually have a smattering of Boss pedals, some $2 patch cables laid out haphazardly on a crappy sheet of plywood or something. These are the folks selling out stadiums. It certainly puts it all into perspective.

[Mark Barna]

TGP fuels GAS much more dangerously than any other forum because it's a skewed sample. The average TGP demographic is probably either:
(a) a retired, financially well-off, white male; OR
(b) a professional feeding his family, in part, by having a pleasing "tone." In other words, someone who makes "gear" his trade.

If you are not one of those two, TGP can be a whirlwind for GAS that could easily drive someone less-off into financial ruin. I know I've bought things I didn't need based on my abilities because I was only reading TGP. At the time, it seemed like "everybody had one of these if they played guitar." But, that isn't the case at all. The best cure for GAS is to read other forums like Fender Community, Strat-Talk, HC, etc. And you'll see just how well off you are.

Also, it helps to look at famous folks' pedalboards. That will give you an idea. While everyone on TGP has a Pedaltrain of some sort with a VooDoo Labs Pedal Power 2 stocked with boutique pedals, famous folks usually have a smattering of Boss pedals, some $2 patch cables laid out haphazardly on a crappy sheet of plywood or something. These are the folks selling out stadiums. It certainly puts it all into perspective.

I agree with (a.). In (b.), not sure what you mean. If it's white males with families who make a great living and have cash to spend, I'd say there are tons of them here (but not me). In those cases, no harm done. It's people buying stuff on credit and paying off for months or years that get into trouble.

As to pros having cheap pedals, I've noticed that too. But those same guys (like Bonamassa and Paul Gilbert) also usually have above average amps they can crank at shows to their sweet spot. If you have that, any cheap booster its going to give up the goods for you. Anyway, no one's going to go broke buying $100 pedals.

I do think the article posted by the OP is dead on. This is at bottom compulsive shopping. And these boards are filled with enablers caught in the same merry-go-round. I bought a lot of gear from 2008 to 2010 as a reward for a bad year in 2007. It got me better educated about tone and it helped me become a better player with the gear I eventually kept. But I blew a lot of money, too.

[Cream]

I agree with (a.). In (b.), not sure what you mean. If it's white males with families who make a great living and have cash to spend, I'd say there are tons of them here (but not me). In those cases, no harm done. It's people buying stuff on credit and paying off for months or years that get into trouble.In (b) I was simply saying that there are people on TGP for whom music is not just a hobby but a means of providing for their family. In those cases, "gear" and "tone" isn't an obsession, it's a trade. But, for those of us hobbyists we shouldn't pretend like we *need* boutique quality stuff in the same way a professional would. If you've got the money, spend it however you want. But if you're on a tight budget, you don't have to have the most expensive boutique stuff to have great tone.