I don't think I would ever reach 1500 posts on an Ammy forum!
Hey look at that, I just made 1500! Could that be why I wrote this post in the first place??
No matter how lame the comments are, you have to love the prices over there, really. But have you noticed like one in five CD's comes with the plastic jewel case cracked? I have complained over and over, but replacements are so cheap I can't get too worked up over it, except for SACDs (don't have any extras of that type).
As for the spending money and charity argument, we've been through that before here. It is all a question of "percent of income" (or "percent of wealth"). Anyone who does not give something to charity every year but buys expensive consumer goods is not IMHO a good person. My wife and I just budget by percents: x% to charity, y% on vacations, z% on consumer electronics (including my headphones), etc. We do allow "borrowing" against future years, or from another account (I bought a deep discount Orpehus, way below the going price, but still had to agree to drive my 2002 junker Camry "forever"). And when a natural disaster occurs, like New Orleans or Haiti, it makes sense to increase your charity % for that year. If you do that, and the percent is in line with societal norms, then you should not feel guilty about your other (luxury perhaps) expenditures.
