True temptation

Costco has a winner for the holiday season this year.

Man, I was drooling. (Maybe I picked that up from my daughter, but no matter.) One hundred original classic arcade games in an upright arcade-style display. These are old-school games — blast from the past. Tempest. Qix. Millipede. Defender. Missile Command. Asteroids. SPACE INVADERS for goodness' sake! I used to play video games a lot.  Lots of time in the arcade.

Costco was smart. They fired one up. I went in twice this weekend, and there was a line. Not just young kids but older kids, like me, who grew up with these games. It was an excellent husband-sitter.

Price: $1,999. It was like a breath of fresh air compared with the last times I've found one of these classics in some random place. It really would be a good deal to be able to play Millipede on a console that was brand-new, with no burn-in on the screen and a trackball that didn't stick. (It didn't have Galaga, but I'll forgive them.)

I thought about it. I really thought about it. This would have been a huge impulse buy for me. I'm usually not tempted like this; I have no problem wandering a store all day and not spending anything. I was trying really hard to justify dropping two bills on it right there. I know it would get used a lot.

I didn't get it yet. Why not?

• My wife was there.  This isn't a slam.  She doesn't say no all the time, but having her there did help me to hold off.  Waiting is a good idea if you're feeling like you're going to make an impulse purchase.  Not just $2,000 but any amount.    
• That thing costs way more than $2,000 if I count up all of the time that I would spend playing it.  Probably thousands of hours.  How much is that time worth?  How much could it be worth?  A million points on Asteroids doesn't help me save for retirement.
• How long would I really enjoy it?  I had said that I know it would get used a lot, but would I?  I enjoy it now because I haven't played a lot of these games in a long time.  But would they continue to be fun?  Would the buttons wear out quickly?  A $2,000 purchase like this depreciates.  After a couple of years it may be worth $500.
• Is writing a check now the smartest way to pay for it, or would I feel better about it if I earned the money from a side business and then got it as a reward for myself?  Probably.  Then the purchase would be outside of the “regular budgeting” — which is where it should be.  It also gives me more time to think about the pros and cons of the purchase.

Anyone get blind-sided with an ohmigish-I-gotta-have-this purchase?