As someone who earns a living on the Internet, you might think I’m the type of person who always buys the latest gadgets. However, I’m the exact opposite and just wanted to see if I’m somewhat of an exception or if others also share my reluctance to spend money on technology-related stuff.

My laptop is ridiculously old but the thing is, it works just fine and I don’t really need anything else. I don’t do resource intensive video editing or anything of that nature and therefore, the incentive to upgrade my laptop just isn’t there. Now sure, it would be okay-ish to move on to something better but the cheap bastard in me just doesn’t see enough benefits.

The same principle is valid when it comes to smartphones but in this case, unlike the laptop situation, I was wrong and now realize this. I used to be under the impression that as long as I have a smartphone with Internet access, it was enough. Therefore, I was never one to splurge on the latest fancy smartphone when I thought mine was good enough.

However, one day, my bank organized a contest that I wasn’t even aware of and I won without even knowing that I participated in the first place. I won an iPhone 5, the type of phone I would have never bought. The cheap bastard in me would have simply bought a Samsung or something cheaper that gives you just as many resources at a lower price.

Well, anyway, I won the phone and ended up realizing that my old one was actually limiting me. For example, apps such as the Dragon Dictation one enable me to write posts like this one while I am stuck in traffic. This fact alone saves me lots and lots of time and made me realize that even if I would’ve bought the phone, it would have paid for itself by now.

In fact, the post you are reading now, just like many others, has actually been written or should I say dictated using the smartphone app I mentioned and actually reviewed a while back. In fact, I’d say that seven out of 10 posts are dictated nowadays rather than written.

This is an example of a situation which made me realize that my cheapness, at least as far as smartphones are concerned, inhibited my progress. It made me at the very least think that in the future, I should be more open to the idea of upgrading my hardware. After launching my book, I am thinking about starting to do a series of catchy YouTube whiteboard videos about economics, through which I explain the basics and give some practical tips. When that happens, I think I will finally decide to also get a cutting-edge laptop. For now, I just wanted to vent through today’s post and make it clear that being a cheap bastard is not always the best thing to do. Sometimes, as is the case with the smartphone, the right gadget purchased for the right reasons can help you increase your productivity and ultimately make way more money than you spent on it.

What about you guys? Are you technology fanboys (I own Fanboys.com by the way) or are you cheap bastards like myself who have to fight your urge to save money whenever it’s time to upgrade hardware?