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

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

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[quote=Anonymous]I think if you're honest with yourself, then you can determine if you can afford something before considering the purchase.

But whether something is worth its cost is another calculation that comes after deciding your budget. For example, when choosing seats to a Broadway show, I generally buy the best seats I can find in the second or third most expensive tier. I just can't bring myself to pay so much more for the best seats, knowing that I could see two shows in the cheaper seats for the price of one in the front row. While I could afford the more expensive seats, it's money that I would be spending unnecessarily. I don't feel the value is there for the price.

Same thing with luggage. I've been replacing some old suitcases, and I'm determined only to buy things with good warranties. I bought a couple of Briggs and Riley pieces, and they're awesome, but then I realized that Travelpro is almost as good quality, and has a really good warranty as well (though not a lifetime warranty like B&R). I can get a Travelpro suitcase for about 30% the cost of a B&R. The B&R wouldn't make me twice as happy, so therefore it's not "worth it."

This is something you can teach your kids by putting them in charge of their own debit card. They'll ask for something, you'll check how much money they have, and they'll just sort of instinctively know if it's worth using up that much of their finite spending money on it.

So all this is to say that I don't really agree with your thesis. You should always determine if you can afford something first. But after that, you can still make value for money determinations. Even if you can afford first class or the front row or the luxury brand, there's an opportunity cost to that purchase . . . the money could have been put in savings or spent on a different bucket. So you should still determine whether it's worth it to you.[/quote]

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