Longest you've saved up for something? what was it?

[bsfins]

Nice back story,Long one though....sorry

My boss and I were walking into out meeting,his phone rings,He suddenly walks away from me.I stopped and waited for him,When he finally walked back to me,he looked stressed,like the call was bad news.....I asked if he was ok,he said fine...We're close enough,I don't ask, he normally just says who called...

Awkward silence,He's very laid back,and after that call he's nervous,jittery,stressed... My mind is racing,and it's going from benign,to the world is going to end...

5ft before we walk through the door of the meeting...He's back...He says "I'm fine.Let's do this..." His smile is back...

So the whole meeting I'm thinking...OOh shit,I'm getting fired,they just called him to tell him...He needs to tell me I'm fired...Bring me back to the office,They're letting me go...Something along those lines...

Meeting was fine, meeting ends,walking back to his SUV...He says we need to make a couple of stops,still a little awkward the way he said it...I said fine...

He stops at a bank,that's not his bank,and tells me stay here...He's in the bank for like 20 minutes,then comes jogging out,and to the SUV....

So now about to give myself a heart attack stressing out,seriously needing to squirt...I confront him...(Jokingly) Ever since that phone call you're acting strange,you're not being black mailed,and you just robbed that bank did you? They're gonna fire me for being your accomplice...fuck it they are gonna fire me aren't they...

He starts laughing...His 10th wedding anniversary is next month,he's been saving for about 2 years to buy this dream ring for his wife.He was going to renew their vows,and do another wedding thing.He told me some story about the ring,and why she loved it...The call was the ring was in,and we were like 2 blocks away from the place.He'd opened a separate bank account to save the money for this ring for 2 years...He was nervous about getting the ring,paying for it,and didn't want to flaunt it in my face...

Side bar at the jewelry store...
There was a young kid that bought something,and the sales lady was like here you go,rang him up and have a nice day...The old man brings out my boss' ring (kid is just to my right).He brings out a little red bag,with gold trim on it,and starts describing all the little things about it...It's 14 carat gold,7 red rubies,etc,etc..He opens the box and gives a Price is right...A new car! type of wave over it...and does all this with gusto..

I felt SOoo bad for that kid like...All I got was this crummy T-shirt feeling...

So what is the longest you've saved to buy something?  What was it?


My take...
While an awesome gesture to his wife,spending what I paid for my used truck in 2006,on a rock to wear on your figure is dumb,stupid..I don't get it moment...

I usually don't go I want that,and put back $10 a week till I can buy it...I've never really saved for a long period for something,I've sacrificed,gave up on it,or the money has gone somewhere where it was needed more...I've tried to find it used,a cheaper version,or just said screw it...I don't need it...

So my answer would be 2nd Blu-ray player....I bought it with my rolled change that I saved up.It was on sale for like $175,2 years ago?..(The first one died after like 60 days,and was the cheapest NO Feature P.O.S. I could find)

Modified to add,Thinking about what I said... I've always got an emergency fund,that I'm building for emergencies,and things that arise..I also save from my tax return to pay for my NFL Sunday ticket.

[masterfins]

The only thing I have ever really directly saved for is my retirement which I have been working on for about 25 yrs, with another 20 yrs to go.  Growing up relatively poor I've always worked hard to pay for whatever I needed, or could afford.  After college I just became a regular saver so I built up an emergency fund, so I have money to buy things that I really want or need.  Although I'm not much into "material" things.

[Spider-Dan]

Technically, the longest thing I saved for was buying a house.  But honestly, I don't feel like that counts, because I was looking at houses (and putting in various offers) for over a year.  So the 16 months I was "saving" wasn't really financial restraint because I was actively trying to spend it.

My other big savings stories are from my childhood, but I don't think they really count either.  At 16, I socked away part of my weekly allowance because my mom made me, and ended up spending it (after a year or so) on an Atari Jaguar CD system.  A week after my 18th birthday, I took about $2000 that my mom had made my save (from my first job) and bought my first car.

But the one thing that sticks in my mind... the one thing that I honestly wanted and worked for and saved and scrounged for:

In early '92, I went on a car-washing, lawn-mowing, NES-cartridge selling frenzy to acquire money for an Atari Lynx.  A friend had recently bought an open-box Lynx at a local electronics store, so that was my target; I think it was something like $90 after tax.  Anyway, I saved and scrounged, and I finally got enough to go buy it... only to arrive and find out that they had no more open box Lynxes (I didn't really understand the concept of how "open box" stock worked at the time).  I imagine I had the most defeated, crushed look of all time on my face (and was probably near tears), so my mom ended up giving me the difference to buy a new one.

Good times.

[Buddhagirl]

I'm always saving up for something since I try not to buy stuff unless I can truly afford it. Right now I'm saving up for a new laptop/gaming rig since my Mac is NOT cutting it. (The Mac is great for working on though since I do web stuff and graphics.)

The last major thing I saved up for was in '07. I saved every penny from my second job and went on what I called Pandacon. I went to San Diego for a week to see the baby pandas and to run one of the most famous half marathons in the country, America's Finest City Half. (I also fell in LOVE with the city.) Then I flew to  Washington DC for a week to see their pandas and to run the Marine Corp Marathon.

I'm actually sort of saving to do the same thing next year since their is a new baby panda in San Diego. Except I'll likely run the Rock N Roll marathon. Boom!

[Landshark]

My boat.  I saved up for it for quite a while and cut back in several other areas of my life.  But the beauty is, I paid for it outright, no financing. 

[Dave Gray]

I can think of three things:

1) Dolphins Season Tickets
Back when I had seats in the upper corner that were $350 for the year, it was a big deal for me to shell out that kind of cash in college.  So, I had an envelope in my closet that I would stash money throughout the summer to pay for it.  It's one of the few things I can remember actually planning to save for.

2) iPad
I was the winner of several forms of betting -- fantasty football and a football pool, specifically, as well as some sports betting.  I didn't want to just add that couple of hundred to my bank to use on groceries.  I wanted to buy something special with my winnings.  I didn't have all that I needed, but I was able to save a little extra to get it.

3) Vacations
I go to Vegas once a year.  I save throughout the year.