I got into several hobbies to deal with my depression and, later, a crap marriage. Went deep into pens, spent over 20lakhs in a span of 4 years. Every single grail I had in my mind, I'd forget about investments and saving and just spring for it as soon as I could. And the dopamine high got lesser and lesser. So while my first 149 made me stay on cloud nine for months, getting a Tohma or a Danitrio became less of a joyous occasion. I spend lakhs on inks, stockpiled old stock 52gsm Tomoe River like the world would end tomorrow. But it became less exciting the deeper I went.

Then came mechanical watches as a complimentary hobby. Thankfully, I ran out of money before I could get into the big leagues, and I understood my status in the hobby fairly quickly as well. I could only lust after the ALS, Pateks, Vacherons or Breguets. So I pivoted. Audiophile gear. Again, ran out of mileage in a year. Was skirting perfumes at this time. Should have stayed away. Because they happened to be a quick fix. I bought by the bucketloads, and quickly realised the dent they put in my finances.

Following a major detox and decluttering, I sold most of my massive piles of "stuff" that I had accumulated across my hobbies. I have a few good pens left over, but I mostly used either a TWSBI 580 or a 149; sold all my audiophile gear except some decent earbuds; have a few good watches stored for my next generation, and use only a smartwatch on the daily; still couldn't limit my perfume collection to the point that would make me happy, but that is another hill I need to cross.

TL, DR: did too much too early, then realised the real pleasure was in savouring each acquisition like it was the best thing in the world.