Craig,

I remember when my parents planned a vacation when I was a kid, they put a little money aside until they had enough. Great advice, which I never could seem to follow! My take on things is to budget for it, either a certain amount each week, like maybe $5 for canned food when grocery shopping, or $5 per week for 5 weeks in order to buy a couple of Mora knives. I think the key is to have some kind of plan, and being able to stick to it. A twist on the old "pay yourself first" from the book The Wealthy Barber. Unless you have unlimited financial resources, you won't be able to do everything simultaneously.