How do you justify big purchases, especially when you’re getting out of debt? And what does it mean to justify a purchase, anyway? The answers might surprises you. Two ways to look at justifying big purchases One of the definitions of justify is “to show a satisfactory reason or excuse for something done.” — which […] The post How Do You Justify Big Purchases? appeared first on JackieBeck.com.
How do you justify big purchases, especially when you’re getting out of debt? And what does it mean to justify a purchase, anyway? The answers might surprises you.
Two ways to look at justifying big purchases
One of the definitions of justify is “to show a satisfactory reason or excuse for something done.” — which means there are two main ways to look at the idea of justifying a purchase.
A satisfactory reason
On the one hand, I think it’s good to at least make sure you’ve got good reason for buying the things you buy. That reason could be anything from deciding to replace a worn out item that’s used regularly, to just plain old buying something (or spending money on something) because you think you’ll enjoy it.
And I don’t think that the amount of money you have available, or how good you are at money management ought to play into whether or not you take the time to think about a purchase rationally.
To me, making sure to justify a purchase in that manner is just common sense. After all, why buy things that won’t suit your needs, that will just clutter up your house, or that you’ll regret?
Maybe it’s just that I hear my mom saying “Where will you put it?” and “What will you wear it with?” in my head many times, but I do think it makes sense to make sure what you’re spending your money on is likely to be worthwhile.
When you rationalize your potential purchase instead
The flip side of that though, is when you justify a purchase to yourself or to someone else by rationalizing.
Basically, in that case, you want what you want and are determined to get it no matter what. But instead of just saying “hey, I want it!” you list out all kinds of “reasons” why doing what you intend to do anyway is the best decision. It’s coming up with excuses, instead of actually thinking about what’s best for your situation — and what might not be.
This is where you can get into trouble when you’re paying off debt, because it’s easy to spend money you don’t have if you can convince yourself that a want is really a need.
How do you tell the difference between justifying and rationalizing?
Do the reasons you come up with to justify a big purchase all point to “yes”? Chances are you’re making excuses or rationalizing a purchase instead. This often comes into play when you “need” something expensive that you can’t quite afford.
You might tell yourself that you need to buy a new SUV, because you’ve got a baby on the way and you’ll need the room. Also, you want the baby to be safe, and sometimes you like to take your dog with you or go to garage sales. You won’t be able to do that with the baby in your current, smaller car. Even though it would carry you and the baby OR the dog just fine.
Because naturally you couldn’t:
- leave the baby or dog home with the other parent or a friend,
- rent a truck for those garage sales,
- buy a used SUV instead of a new one,
- or try doing without it for awhile to see just how much trouble it really is with your current car
Could you?
You may not always like the alternatives, but they are there. If you’re not considering them, chances are you’re just making excuses to do what you want.
The critical difference
The critical difference comes when you justify big purchases for the right reasons.
Checking to see how (and if!) it actually fits in with your life, money and goals makes sense. You’ll be more satisfied with the purchases you do decide to go ahead with. You’ll also waste less money on things that aren’t really that important to you.
When you justify a purchase by coming up with reason after reason why it’s the right decision, you’re just trying to fool yourself. The resulting purchases never feel as good.
I know this, of course, because I’ve done some of both.
So make sure to justify big purchases for the right reasons. Doing so can keep you out of debt, or help you get out faster.
What about you? Have there been purchases you rationalized and then regretted? Maybe they didn’t work out, or because their purchase caused you to struggle financially? And ones you thought through and were really happy with?
The post How Do You Justify Big Purchases? appeared first on JackieBeck.com.
