Ask Yourself These Three Questions so You Won’t Regret Your Purchase

Whenever you buy something, you are already in a situation where someone is trying to sell it to you. They put in the effort to make it look really amazing and you start thinking of all the ways you can improve your life if you have one. This coat will make you look stylish. You will carry out all your tasks on this bike. You’ll be so glad you have an air fryer when you want to fry something. But wait! What about those other things you have to consider?

Because the moment you use an item is not the only time you will interact with it. How often do we buy a disposable kitchen appliance that is cumbersome to store and painful to clean? Or gym equipment that turns into a giant piece of garbage when you realize you don’t really want to use it like anyone else? To avoid such regrets, ask yourself these three questions before making a purchase.

Where will I store this item?

I have to admit that I didn’t have a good answer to this question before I bought the kayak. Finally I put it in the basement under the porch, and then the animals began to nest in it. I do not recommend. In addition to outdoor equipment such as kayaks and bicycles, storage issues can also arise for musical instruments (often large and fragile), kitchen appliances (you can’t keep everything on the counter all the time), and even clothing (it’s not your closet anymore). full)?

So before you buy a new thing, think about where it will live. Maybe the solution is as simple as buying a storage hook , or maybe you’d rather pass on a new purchase after all. If you live in a small space, you might even consider what you need to throw away, sell, or give away to make room for a new item.

How will I clean this thing?

Everything requires some care. A new chair may only need occasional dusting, but a new food processor may need to be taken apart and cleaned after each use.

So think about it: how much work would it take to clean or save a new thing? And, more importantly, are there enough problems that you rarely or never use it? (Clothes are dry-cleaned, I’m looking at you.)

What am I going to do with this thing when I’m done with it?

Everything comes to an end, and as you contemplate your own mortality, you might think about what will happen to your potential new purchase when it is no longer new and exciting. “Just a few dollars” is an easy way to rationalize buying something that you might not need in the long run, but in the end you should get rid of it anyway.

Take a flimsy plastic “greenhouse” I once bought for my garden. It was cheap, so I figured if I used it for a few weeks in the spring, it was worth the money. But after being blown around in a storm a few times, I was left with a pile of broken plastic that was too big to go in the bin and required a significant amount of work to take apart. Looking back, it’s not worth it.

On the other hand, when I bought an exercise bike, one of the deciding factors was how it might end its life. I was thinking about a cheap bike that I knew could break down after a year or two of heavy use – still good value considering. But then what should I do with it? I complained to my husband that I would buy a better bike, maybe a used Peloton, if they weren’t so expensive. “So pelotons have a good resale value?” he asked. He was right—a strong resale market meant I could sell a well-maintained used bike as easily as I bought it. It’s better to pay a little more to save yourself the trouble of figuring out how to dispose of your broken bike after two years.

Ultimately, these questions will help you think carefully about whether you really want to own this new thing that makes you drool, or you just want to use it. In the latter case, you might be more comfortable borrowing or renting the item, or forgetting about it altogether.