My father always gave me great advice when I was growing up. One thing I remember is that he said you should never settle for something you want now over something you really want in the long run. He meant that it was better to work hard for something big than to settle for little things now. I learned to save up for things that I really needed in my life instead of things I just wanted. Like when I was younger, I was proud when I was able to purchase a nice window A/C unit for myself. It was something I always wanted but it was out of my price range. I could have just spent my money on various toys and games, but instead I saved up for a nice A/C unit. It was a very energy efficient one so my parents didn’t freak out about an increase in the energy bill and I was able to keep nice and cool when I was coming up. I can’t tell you how much it helped me to study and keep comfortable when I had that awesome cooling machine in my room. I definitely believe that it improved my grades a great deal. These days I live the same way and recently I was able to get radiant heated floors in my home. Sure I could have gotten just a regular run of the mill HVAC system, but I wanted something better and more energy efficient! In the long run radiant heated floors are the better deal because of all the money I save on my energy bills!