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THE AGE-OLD DEBATE about not borrowing to buy depreciating assets came up again in a recent HumbleDollar article. Despite being a big proponent of debt-free living, I could relate to the story of borrowing to buy a car. In fact, I’m guilty of having gone deeply into debt in my younger days to feed my passion for music—and I don’t regret it.
I grew up listening to Indian music of various genres, but it wasn’t until my college days that I came to really appreciate the sound quality and texture of music. Our dorm had a high-fidelity stereo, plus a decent collection of vinyl records and audio cassettes. I’d spend hours in the common room, listening to classic rock or favorite Bollywood film scores.
My newfound love of music, alas, came to an end after I left college and moved back home to Kolkata. We had a portable radio and cassette player in our house, but it didn’t satisfy my craving for quality sound. My life felt so incomplete without a good audio system that I decided to buy one once my paychecks started coming in.
I grabbed a coworker named Natesh, who shared my love for music, and we visited an upscale audio showroom near our office. Luckily, the store stocked a nearly identical sound system to the one in my dorm.
It was a top-of-the-line modular audio system named Uranus 2 by Sonodyne, one of the most innovative stereo makers in India. I instantly fell in love with the set and wanted to take it home.
There was just one small problem. I couldn’t afford it.
In the late 1980s, premium audio products weren’t cheap in India. The model I wanted would cost almost a year of my take-home pay. That helped explain why the salesperson didn’t take us youngsters to be serious buyers when we browsed the audio store.
Watching our reaction to the price tag, he politely suggested other, more affordable brands. I wasn’t interested. After all, what’s the point of grinding through years of schooling if I couldn’t afford a music player of my liking?
The next day, I was sharing my disappointment with my other coworkers. Natesh pulled me aside for a quick chat. Apparently, he’d been saving for a couple of years but didn’t have any immediate spending goal. He wanted to lend me the money, interest-free, so I could buy the stereo.
I was surprised by his unbelievable generosity, but his reasoning was simple. He’d be genuinely happy if his savings could make a difference to a close friend. In our early 20s, mutual trust and support between friends was a given. I gladly took him up on his offer.
A day or two later, we proudly walked back into the showroom with crisp 100-rupee notes, which Natesh had withdrawn from his bank earlier that morning. We hurriedly purchased the stereo and loaded up the boxes in a cab. Natesh accompanied me home to help set it up. My small room soon filled with the sound of Pink Floyd, and my goosebumps came back.
That music system remained my most prized possession till the day I left India for overseas work. I not only enjoyed waking up to the songs of the Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel, but I also felt joyful whenever my music buddies dropped by to listen to our favorite songs together. I started dubbing song collections on blank cassettes to give away as gifts.
My parents, on the other hand, weren’t exactly thrilled with my purchase. The set was bulky and loud—clearly a misfit in our modest two-bedroom apartment in a middle-class neighborhood. My dad, who was only used to mono sound, suggested that I get rid of one of the speakers to declutter my room. My mom reminded me of the perils of extravagant and irresponsible spending. Extravagant? Without a doubt. Irresponsible? I’m not so sure.
To be clear, behind all my excitement, I was feeling slightly guilty. I wondered if I’d been too selfish in buying something that no one else in my family seemed to enjoy. My parents took pride in living within their means. Borrowing money for lifestyle improvement was, in our family, seen as almost immoral. My purchase felt like I had committed financial infidelity.
But was it really such a sin? I had no debt or serious financial obligations. As a 22-year-old living in his parents’ home, my only immediate financial goal was to save money for an inverter power generator to deal with the frequent electricity blackouts. Since Natesh, my godsend lender, said he didn’t need his money back anytime soon, I could save up to buy the generator in a few months, as I’d originally planned, and have the sound system as well. It came down to a choice between buying the stereo system now with borrowed money versus waiting for a couple of years and saving up the cash. Thanks to a steady income and the offer of an interest-free loan, I chose to borrow money to buy the sound system.
A surprise awaited me later that year. Employees of our company were overdue for a pay increase, but it was stuck in bureaucratic red tape. After a long wait, the powers that be approved our pay hike with retroactive effect. I received a nice salary bump, plus a lump sum bonus to cover the arrears. I paid Natesh off much sooner than I’d expected. Life took us to different parts of the world and we lost touch, but I’m forever indebted for his unconditional generosity and friendship.
Fast forward 33 years. I can now easily afford a premium home audio system, thanks to the declining price of electronics and my improved financial condition. But I don’t feel the same urge anymore. It isn’t because I lost my passion for music. Rather, it’s because my hearing has degraded over the years.
Hi-fi music isn’t quite the same through hearing aids. I miss the joy of listening to crisp, quality music so much that I’m glad I indulged myself long ago—and violated the personal finance mantra about never going into debt to buy a depreciating asset.
Sanjib Saha is a software engineer by profession, but he’s now transitioning to early retirement. Self-taught in investments, he passed the Series 65 licensing exam as a non-industry candidate. Sanjib is passionate about raising financial literacy and enjoys helping others with their finances. Check out his earlier articles.
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I for one, am proud of listening to music (Floyd, Beatles) on that Sonodyne system in 1990, and still cannot forget the first “Tower” speaker experience, with 24 channel equalizer and what not. I came back to the dorm (RK) and spoke to everyone about it.
I sincerely wish you can find Natesh. In the overly connected world, I hope you can.
Listening to music isn’t always about fidelity. I equally enjoyed listening to Binaca geetmala in my growing years with the crackling noise of a radio, or the matka speakers in the said dorm, as much as I enjoy listening to them in current hifi sytem.
I owe a lot of music in my personal life to you, and sincerely hope that we can meet sometime soon and jam on good old Floyd or Beatles.
Thank you, Satyajit. I too hope we can do music together some day. With some luck, I was able to finally connect with Natesh and we spoke two weeks ago after some 30+ years.
Beautiful column. You should reach out to Natesh and share this with him. Things like this make a difference in our lives.
Thank you, Helpful Neighbor. I’ve been trying to get in touch with Natesh for a few years, but without luck :(. I shared this piece with some of my coworkers from that period with the hope that someone would forward it to him.
Hi Helpful Neighbor, I was finally able to connect with Natesh and we spoke two weeks ago after some 30+ years. We plan to meet up in my next east-coast trip.
To have and enjoy such a friendship you have with Natesh is priceless. That is the big takeaway for me. As a youngster I had similar big desires, but I did not have a Natesh to rely on so it was off to the bank to finance my shiny red sportscar…and, like you Sanjib, without regret.
Thank you, Chazooo. I’ve been blessed with a few such friends in every stage of my life, but I did a poor job in keeping track and staying in touch with some of them.
Glad to hear that you were able to fulfill your desire without regret.
Grateful Debt – clever. Most of my music listening time is during the gym workouts. Couldn’t do it without music. But my real music enjoyment comes from live concerts rather than recordings. Never was a “Dept Head” in music or life.
:). Thanks, Bob G.
Thanks for sharing a personal experience. Interesting, my wife and I now feel the same about most travel. I see all these retirement blogs, where people dream of whiling away their retirement years in airports, big hotels, and tourist beaches. I guess I just can’t relate; but maybe it’s because my wife and I did some travel when we were younger, and we absolutely loved it. As a younger person, the beaches were fabulous, airports were tolerable, and my body was more cooperative when placed in situations that were less than ideal. As I grew older, I find my body is less accommodating (I’m being kind here!), destinations are super-crowded, and airports are an absolute nightmare. Travel overall just don’t hold the thrill for us that it once did, and I’m glad we did more of it while we were younger.
Like you, I consider it one of the best investments we’ve ever made, though that might sound contradictory to some. But if you’ve ever been there, you’ll understand.
Thanks, wtfwjtd for sharing your thoughts. We love to travel as well, and it’s the only thing that we avoid scrimping. But my bucket list is evolving with age.
Nice article. As a former loud music listener who developed tinnitus 10 years ago I can’t help but wonder about a possible relationship between your love of hifi music and your hearing loss.
Thanks, parkslope. It was my question too. Apparently, my hearing loss is inherited and is one of the most common types.
Sanjib, what a refreshing story about an expenditure that helped define and enhance an early life stage. It invites a prudent reader to suspend rigid judgment. Of course, following delayed gratification can provide financial benefits. But as you point out, this particular spending later in life would not have duplicated your musical experience, and you had no pending obligations.
Your big stereo purchase seems to have provided lasting memories for you and your friends. What rounds out your pleasurable story is that this type of “go for it” spending sounds like a youthful exception that worked for you.
Thank you, Rand Spero.