Gadgets...

I'm usually not one for gadgets (preferring to spend my money on books/manga, DVDs and Uniqlo clothes), but recently my list of desired electric/electronic things has grown fairly large...

1) Electric Nabe (~3000-8000yen)
2) 5.5 cup Zojirushi IH Rice Cooker (~15,000-25,000yen)
3) Canon PowerShot SD1400IS (~$200 CAD +taxes)
4) Kobo eReader (~$150 CAD +taxes)

I suspect that I'll get the electric nabe (just need to figure out what'll give me the best value for my cooking needs/wants) sometime within the next month or two. And as a substitute for a better camera I'll probably get myself an 8GB memory card so at least I don't have to change cards and upload pictures so often.

But I'm actually rather surprised at my own restraint. Usually I don't think too much and just buy things within a short period of deciding that I want them, but with all of events I've had to budget for lately, I guess I've been trying to be more prudent than usual...

Incidentally, here's the list of big (re: somewhat expensive) recent and upcoming events:

1) Oct.: 4-day trip to Kanazawa/Shirawaka-Go/Takayama (totally worth every yen!!)
2) Oct.: Japanese Dance Performance (can you believe just the kimono rental fee is more than 30,000yen?! and with all the other fees, it's costing me nearly 50,000yen--and I'm not even the type who likes being in the spotlight!)
3) Nov.: taiko performance in Saitama (I'm going along as a helper)
4) Nov.: wedding (of a friend from taiko)
5) Dec.-Jan.: trip home
6) Jan.: wedding (back in Toronto)
7) Feb.: Sapporo Yuki Matsuri
8) Apr.-May: trip home (Golden Week!)

So yeah, with all this stuff on my plate, I'm having a hard time justifying buying the gadgets that I want but don't really need... Maybe I just really need to stop cut back on the manga/books/DVDs... Or maybe I need to set up another savings fund--I'll save up all my 100yen coins, and match 50% of what I spend on manga/books/DVDs. Hmm...The 100yen coins might actually be difficult since I need them to pay for school lunch, but the spending matching is definitely doable. Or maybe instead of matching manga/book/DVD purchases, I should match the money I spend on eating out?

(For my travel savings fund, I save 500yen coins and my mileage reimbursement money, and match 50% of what I spend on clothing/shoes/accessories--although recently I haven't been buying much clothing--so it actually accumulates fairly quickly.)

And of course there's still the sad fact that I have practically nothing saved up in terms of real savings and not just savings for spending... @_@;; *sigh* Looking at my financial situation is what always reminds me that I'm still far from being a mature, independent adult...