Do You Buy Cheap or Do You Buy Well?
I was having dinner with Aliyah and a far-off cousin of hers whom I was meeting for the first time. Chris seemed like a regular, nice guy. But I noticed something. He was wearing a few things that looked expensive. Not flashy. Not showy. Just… good. And, if I'm being honest, I was curious. He didn't seem to have the kind of professional profile that would immediately explain it. So, halfway through dinner, I asked him as diplomatically as I could: “Chris, how do you afford all these expensive things?” He didn't hesitate. “Bob, I don't buy cheap things,” he said. “I buy good things cheaply.” I liked that, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized he wasn't really talking about shopping. He was talking about a way of thinking. Chris knew what he wanted. He had standards. And, importantly, he was willing to wait. If something he considered worth owning was too expensive today, he didn't automatically buy a cheaper version. He waited for the right opportunity, a sale, a discount, the right time. He wasn't trying to spend less, his intention is to get more from every dollar he spent. And that got me thinking about how strangely we sometimes treat our money. We can spend years working hard to earn it. Negotiating salaries, working overtime, building businesses, saving, investing, and worrying constantly about expenses. Now, when the moment comes to actually spend that hard-earned money, something curious happens. We often stop thinking about return on investment. All we think about, is the price. “What's the cheapest one?” Of course, sometimes that's exactly the right instinct. But sometimes the cheaper choice isn't really cheap. For instance, a pair of shoes that doesn’t last, a mattress that leaves you sleeping badly, an average meal, or a holiday chosen entirely around price. Even tools or services that consume your precious time can turn out to be the real cost of choosing cheap. The cheap purchase can quietly be paid back in inconvenience, replacement costs, disappointment, or simply a little less enjoyment. Chris had, perhaps unknowingly, created his own little philosophy: Don't lower your standards just because something costs more today. Know what is worth having. Then wait for the moment when you can have it at a price that makes sense. Since buying has become so easy, thinking about buying has become surprisingly difficult. Maybe that's the real cost of convenience. We don't always buy what we value most. Sometimes we buy what is easiest to buy right now, which can quietly affect the quality of our lives. Not dramatically, and it doesn’t happen suddenly. A slightly worse chair, a less savoury meal, a cheap holiday or a journey that wears you down more can alter your experience. None of these decisions seems important by itself, yet quality of life is determined by thousands of such decisions. So, maybe the next time we spend on something, perhaps we should ask ourselves: What is the return I'm getting on the money I'm spending? Until tomorrow, Bob.
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