“Let it sink…”

This was painful. I paused and realized I couldn’t remember the last time I was truly bored. So, I stopped bringing my phone with AirPods on my daily walks - starting small.

Power moves

The Other Week, Something Unexpected Happened

But it was carefully considered.

I bought Lululemon pants.

The most expensive pair of cargo pants I’ve ever bought - by far. About $100 in total (thanks to a 15% discount as a fresh recruit to their community).

Why?

I’m making a bet - they’ll last.

Before this historic purchase, I’d been getting way cheaper cargo pants from Amazon for about $30 a pair. They lasted, on average, 1 to 1.5 years. Over the last four years, I’ve spent $90 on “disposable” pants.

So, if these Lululemon pants last at least five years, I break even.

Bonus: no more annual shopping headaches.

This pants “experiment” got me thinking, and I started recalling other stories.

The Monitor Story

I work remotely. When I joined my current company, they generously offered to reimburse my home-office setup.

Because of my eye condition, I can’t work on small screens for long. So, I requested a $680 monitor.

Finance shut that down and told me to stay within a $300 budget.

That wasn’t going to work, so we settled on $350. Plus, I got an $80 webcam for virtual meetings.

Out of my own pocket, I bought a pair of Creative speakers for $25, and a colleague generously lent me an external mic to reduce echo.

Little did I know (okay, I knew - just wanted to use this phrase) that you really do get what you pay for:

• The monitor took 10-15 seconds to wake up every time.

• The text was blurry.

• The webcam kept losing focus mid-meeting.

• The mic didn’t completely solve the sound quality issues.

Oddly enough, the $25 speakers exceeded expectations… I must really set up an expectation bar very low.

So I lived with this setup for a year and a half.

Then one day, Best Buy emailed me about a $350 discount on Apple Studio Displays. Still pricey, but it had built-in speakers and a camera.

My Thought Process:

• I spend at least 10 hours a day at my computer.

• I still love my eyes (especially the left one - unconditional love).

• I do not want to get annoyed by waiting for the display to light up.

• “It just works” ((c) S. Jobs)

• Worst case? I return it within two weeks. (One of the greatest retail perks I like to abuse every once in a while)

Results?

The employer-funded setup is now packed in boxes, collecting dust.

My only regret? Not getting the Studio Display sooner.

When Cheap Stuff Ends Up Costing More

I bet many of us have similar experiences.

Of course, this could just be one of those “we buy with emotions and justify with logic” things. Most likely, it is.

Which brings me to a framework I’d love to fully adopt one day.

I know a business coach who follows this razor:

“If I have to choose between a few options, I default to the most expensive one to avoid regret.”

What does that mean?

• Dining Out – Stuck between fish or steak? Go for the pricier one - it’s probably better quality.

• Hotels & Travel – The more expensive hotel usually means better comfort, service, and location.

• Event Tickets – Debating between nosebleed seats and premium? The better experience is almost always worth it.

As you can see, I’m almost there with my Lululemon pants.

Though if the choice is between economy class flight and a private jet… I’d probably still go economy.

(Probably.)

Overall, the horrible reality is - by getting stuff now, we’re taking away from our future selves.

So, at the moment of purchase, it’s worth asking: what exactly are we sacrificing?

• Joy. Think of it this way: spending money now is just delaying our retirement. Even small purchases compound into days, weeks, months - even years - that we could have lived off saved and invested micro-amounts. Which means that between a cheap option and a more expensive one, there’s often a third (and my default) option: not buying at all.

• Time. If the decision is made to buy, it’s always worth paying extra for the “buy it and forget it” option. That’s why I went with a self-cleaning oven—zero time wasted on maintenance.

• Health. “Value for money” calories now = chronic health conditions later. Cheap, processed food might seem like a win in the moment, but long term? It means more time and money spent on doctor visits and medications.

So, if you need to buy something, what unseen costs come with it?

Till next time.

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