The phycology of consumerism, advertisement, social acceptance, and emotional fulfilments play an important role in people’s buying decision. We often buy stuffs falling for these traps. Don’t worry, its normal, these are targeted only for it. So how do we make a smart purchase decision? What are the factors we consider before buying some fancy item like an Apple iPad and so on?

So here are the some of the questions that The Minimalists taught me through their podcast.

• Can I afford/maintain it (the actual cost of owning)?

This is the first question you should ask. There can be a million hidden costs of owning a thing. We tend to consider only the initial cost of buying it. Also affording it doesn’t mean that you can’t buy on credit, but it should be within your pocket and not end you up in debt.

• Will it add value to life?

The value can be joy or purpose or both. Owning an Apple Airpods is a matter of joy and purpose for me. It helps me to listen to music while at gym. So how can you find out if it is going to add value to your life? If it’s something which has a trial period, say for example a mobile app, trying it for a few days can help us finding the real value, if it’s an Apple Airpod as in my case, you can borrow from your friend to find out if it’s worth spending the money.

• Is there anything alternative you could be doing with that money?

It is one of the considerations in business before spending money towards an area. What is the opportunity cost? Its deals with understanding/analysing where we should be spending the money at present than this thing.

• How often do you use?

Again, this is a personal thing. In my case, a thing which I may use on day-to-day basics, I don’t mind spending a couple extra money, say for example, the Apple Magic Keyboard, MX Master 3 mouse or even the prescription eyeglasses. These are the things I may use on every day. So, considering this factor can avoid spending heaps of money on things like a tent which you may only use once in a year.

• Can I wait for another 30 days?

Delay your purchase decision. So that it’s not an impulsive purchase decision. The Minimalists says puts a rule called, ’30-30 rule’, by which one should wait for another 30 hours before buying an item which is less than $30 and 30 days if its greater than 30 days.

There can be exceptions, as each one of us are unique. But filtering our urge to buy a new materialist thing through these questions can prevent us from owning stuffs which don’t add value to our life.