PSA If you have to ask if something is “worth it”, you can’t afford it

[Anonymous]

Speaking from personal experience. I used to post about whether a $200/month gym was “worth it” 5 years ago. Now I realize I just couldn’t comfortably afford it then and needed to justify the expenditure in my mind with some tangible or intangible return. If you can easily afford something, you don’t have to ask if it’s worth it, you won’t even consider the cheaper options.

This is also how I know I still can’t afford a summer house or night nurse.. I have to wonder if using it 4 months a year / the extra 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep will be “worth it”.

[Anonymous]

That's silly. I can easily afford to give a favorite (pricey) snack to the kids who come to my house, but they inevitably leave them half finished so it's not "worth it" and I dont. Under your theory I shouldn't buy those snacks, or perhaps shouldn't host.

I can afford to travel, but some trips are "worth it" to me and some are not. Under your theory I should not travel at all. Silly.

[Anonymous]

Even with modest purchases, if it’s something I don’t *need*, I ask myself whether I’d be happier in 6-12 months having the item or the money I would have spent on the item. Most of the time, I realize I’d rather have the money, so I don’t make the purchase. If I’m honestly not sure which I’d rather have, I usually decide to not to make the purchase at that time. When I decide I’d rather have the item than the money, I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty spending the money because I’ve already decided the purchase is “worth it.” I don’t squander money even though I have it. I like to be a good steward of all resources.

[Anonymous]

Any limited resource is about trade offs and I’m not independently wealthy so I still consider if something is worth it even if I can afford it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Speaking from personal experience. I used to post about whether a $200/month gym was “worth it” 5 years ago. Now I realize I just couldn’t comfortably afford it then and needed to justify the expenditure in my mind with some tangible or intangible return. If you can easily afford something, you don’t have to ask if it’s worth it, you won’t even consider the cheaper options.

This is also how I know I still can’t afford a summer house or night nurse.. I have to wonder if using it 4 months a year / the extra 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep will be “worth it”.

No. There are things we could easily afford, in cash, without doing without anything, that are absolutely not worth it to us. Two big examples: fancy car, renovated kitchen. Our investments alone make way more in a year. Still not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Speaking from personal experience. I used to post about whether a $200/month gym was “worth it” 5 years ago. Now I realize I just couldn’t comfortably afford it then and needed to justify the expenditure in my mind with some tangible or intangible return. If you can easily afford something, you don’t have to ask if it’s worth it, you won’t even consider the cheaper options.

This is also how I know I still can’t afford a summer house or night nurse.. I have to wonder if using it 4 months a year / the extra 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep will be “worth it”.

I think this might just be your personal experience. I can think of many examples to the contrary, i.e., is it worth it to get Botox? No, you can get better results by using the money to laser treatments. Here, the total spend is equivalent but the outcomes are different.

Is it worth it to spend $2k on this hotel? No, that hotel's service is bad. Here, the spend is irrelevant to the outcome.

Also, you should always be justifying any expense with an expected return. Are you just throwing your money into the garbage can?

[Anonymous]

Wow. You just came to this conclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Speaking from personal experience. I used to post about whether a $200/month gym was “worth it” 5 years ago. Now I realize I just couldn’t comfortably afford it then and needed to justify the expenditure in my mind with some tangible or intangible return. If you can easily afford something, you don’t have to ask if it’s worth it, you won’t even consider the cheaper options.

This is also how I know I still can’t afford a summer house or night nurse.. I have to wonder if using it 4 months a year / the extra 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep will be “worth it”.

This is an important dispatch from the Land Where Math Is Mysteriously Unavailable.

[Anonymous]

Completely disagree. Some of us are just thrifty, despite being financially sound. And sometimes we just want the reassurance to splurge, because we're used to saving and saving and saving.

[Anonymous]

This is the dumbest financial opinion I’ve ever heard.

[Anonymous]

This is blasphemous to my midwestern ears.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Speaking from personal experience. I used to post about whether a $200/month gym was “worth it” 5 years ago. Now I realize I just couldn’t comfortably afford it then and needed to justify the expenditure in my mind with some tangible or intangible return. If you can easily afford something, you don’t have to ask if it’s worth it, you won’t even consider the cheaper options.

This is also how I know I still can’t afford a summer house or night nurse.. I have to wonder if using it 4 months a year / the extra 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep will be “worth it”.

This is an important dispatch from the Land Where Math Is Mysteriously Unavailable.

Lol. +100

There is also this thing called “budgeting” where a person doesn’t have to make financial decisions based on gut feelings or internal dialogue.

[Anonymous]

You figured something out about yourself and think it applies to all of humanity. Fascinating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's silly. I can easily afford to give a favorite (pricey) snack to the kids who come to my house, but they inevitably leave them half finished so it's not "worth it" and I dont. Under your theory I shouldn't buy those snacks, or perhaps shouldn't host.

I can afford to travel, but some trips are "worth it" to me and some are not. Under your theory I should not travel at all. Silly.

Travel doesn't just cost money; it also costs time. That's not an apples to apples comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You figured something out about yourself and think it applies to all of humanity. Fascinating.