Ending January

The first month in my quest is finishing and it's going quite smoothly! I have just spent money on:

• Essential things for our new house (lamps and some kitchen hardware)
• Four lunches and three breakfasts (I shared my lunches with friends, so it's well-spent money)

I am enjoying some of my planned activities a lot:

• Rehearsals with my band are being extremely productive. I get so many good vibes playing music! It's very refreshing for me because I spend so many hours doing music alone... Getting involved in a common production feels awesome.
• My homebrew Game Boy game has officially started its development. I'm still thinking about the details, but there are many things that I can start coding.
• Work is going fine. I have been feeling a bit unfocused and kind of sad for some days, but I'm sure that it will be fine.
• I'm listening to records I already have: Khruangbin's "Con Todo el Mundo" is being an amazing inspiration. I've also been listening to Age of Impact by Explorer's Club and the original soundtrack for the Narcissus game series.

I would like to turn my dead-brain-mobile-times in my commute into reading moments. I'll get to that soon!

That is all by the moment. I hope I can keep my vision next month!

Humble Bundle - Computer Music Bundle

Everybody loves Humble Bundle. It is one of those websites that everybody likes. It offers a great selection of products at discounted prices. You can buy games and many other things such as books, comics, software, etc. The best thing is that you can choose what percentage of the money you pay will go to a charitable organization.

But beyond all these good things, there's a huge problem: it's a place where you spend money on things that you don't need. The mental mechanism is "perhaps I will need this in the future... It's really cheap now, so I'd better buy it".

Lots of friends of mine have a huge amount of unredeemed codes in their accounts and, of course, I also have bought some bundles with products I have never used, and that's like giving away my money: games I won't ever play, software I won't ever use and books I won't ever read.

This week there's a special bundle with audio-related books that looks very interesting, but after thinking about it a little, I decided not to buy it. I already have many unread books on the topic, and I would like to enjoy what I have. I want to finish some books I began some time ago!

Item price: 13,20€
Total savings: 705,82€

Analogue Super NT

The Super NT is a very cool gadget: an FPGA emulated Super NES. The design is really nifty and it offers really nice and modern features: digital output for video and audio, region free, options for scanlines, original accessories compatibility, etc.

It's a bit pricey, but that's because it's not a cheap one-chip-console clone. The basic pack, which includes a wireless controller plus a receiver, is 249,99USD, plus 49,99USD shipping to Spain. It would be wonderful to have it as a usable and collectible item on my shelf.

I thought that I could play all those games with my current setup: a hacked Nintendo Wii plus classic controllers (the best controller Nintendo has ever made). I can run every ROM with that, something that can't be achieved by the moment with this device because you need the original cartridges. I'll stick to that!

Item price: 249,99USD + 49,99USD (shipping) = 262,37€
Total savings: 692,62€

Cheeto's Magazine - Amazingous

I discovered this band today and I love them! This tune is really fun, interesting and well written. I like how happy they look playing their music, it's really inspirational.

I'm always happy to buy art from brilliant people, but I still have a lot of records to listen to so this one will have to wait.

By the way, yesterday I listened to this album while I was going back home. I have it since long ago, and I had never given it the opportunity of a full playback.


Item price: 25€ + 5,25€ (shipping)
Total savings: 430,25€

Kurzweil PC3Le

My initial idea was that it would be great to buy it as a backup keyboard for my rehearsals, but then I thought about how bulky and heavy these instruments are.

I'll stick to my Roland Fantom X6 for the moment, which has been with me for more than 10 years. There are lots of options in it that I don't even know about after all this time! 

I'm sure I'll enjoy learning more and more things about the instruments I already have.

Item price: 400€ (used)
Total savings: 400€

Welcome Message

Hi there! I'm Sergio, from Spain, and I work as a music composer and sound designer for media (games mostly).

Christmas is a moment when I usually stop and notice how much stuff I have. This always has a negative impact on me: I feel overwhelmed and kind of 'empty', purposeless. I've been thinking often how much we all try to be happy just by buying things. You start a new hobby, and very soon, you find yourself buying things related to that hobby, even if you don't find the time to enjoy it.

I've been reading a little bit about minimalism and came with the simple idea of buying nothing for myself in 2019 and trying to enjoy what I already have. I talked about it with a friend and she linked me the posts about "Depth Year" by David. I was happy to read that an increasing number of people has similar thoughts and feelings!

I've set a limited number of rules to my resolution:

• Not buying anything for myself (excluding food, drinks, hygiene goods and that kind of basic stuff). No clothing, no books, no films, no games, no instruments, no software, etc. No new material things, with a focus on what I already have.
• It's ok buying things for others (presents).
• Making a list about all the stuff I'm 'tempted' to buy and note the price.

As making a simple text list could be a bit boring, I thought about blogging every item I feel tempted to buy, so I can keep a nice archive of this experience and share it with everyone out there.

I hope that all of this can happen naturally without too much trouble! I would like to find more peace and joy in what I love doing and delete the impulse to seek happiness in consumerism. 

Best of wishes for all of you!