Maybe just a "I have prior commitments and I need to leave now"? As a freelancer, people need to eventually understand you have your own timetable that takes precedent over theirs.

That's fair. I don't blame you one bit. I might be in a similar boat later this year, we'll see if I splurge on new PC parts then.

I often think about upgrading, but to reasonably upgrade from my 3060 Ti to what I want would probably cost me over a 1000AUD, and then my 5800X would start to look old, and that would mean a new motherboard for a newer CPU and then new RAM... So I'll hold off another gen or so and do it all

Strange way to spell Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back