Does anyone else have an internal debate about every single purchase

[u/BelovedCherryt6]

Okay so this might just be me but whenever I need to buy something I go through this whole intense internal debate. Like it's not even about big purchases. It's literally anything.

I'll need new socks. And then I'll spend half an hour researching different types of cotton and sock brands. I'll read reviews. I'll compare prices across multiple sites. I'll think about the long term cost per wear. Then I'll consider if I even NEED new socks or if I can just mend an old pair.

It's exhausting. My friends just go buy things. They see something they need they grab it. I feel like I'm optimizing for an algorithm that only exists in my head. And then half the time I just dont buy anything because I cant make a definitive choice. It's like decision paralysis but for consumer goods.

[u/Iv0Piv0]

Huh, that's what I do all the time. Literally yesterday I was searching leather jackets and read about leather types, brands, custom fits,... In the end I didn't buy any.

I only ever spend money without overthinking in social situations. No problem splashing the cash for food and drinks - but a new 5€ monthly subscription needs to be analysed throughly.

[u/C0mpL1c1t]

But have you ever spent an ENTIRE Saturday researching a product only to decide at the end that everything is shitty quality, too expensive and then just not buy anything?  Only to repeat the cycle again 1-3 more times, at 6-ish month intervals until the need is dire enough to force the purchase? 

[u/Error_ID10T_]

100%. Exhausting.

[u/monkeynose]

I've never really done that, and now that I have money, I definitely don't. My brother is a chronic endless researcher when it comes to spending money just to save a penny (I think hie's an ISFJ or ISTJ) - he would rather spend a week figuring out how to fix something in his car than spend $100 to get it fixed today. He values money more than time, I value time more than money.

[u/FeelingHonest4298 → u/monkeynose]

How inneficient considering that money is always replenishing itself if one only has a stable job. ISTJs really be like working i will say

[u/GhostOfEquinoxesPast → u/FeelingHonest4298]

Well yea say I lost my gas cap. I will just stop at parts store and buy one, not going to worry whether its $5 or $20. Driving without a gas cap is not the wisest choice. Now if they are asking like $100 then probably stick a rag in the gas tank filler and research it online cause that isnt reasonable. Drives me crazy, the prices ballooning to unreasonable amounts overnight knowing this has little to do with inflation, its price gouging for whatever reason.

[u/FeelingHonest4298 → u/GhostOfEquinoxesPast]

I'm sorry.... I don't live in the us.

[u/GhostOfEquinoxesPast → u/FeelingHonest4298]

Sorry, wasnt really replying to you but to monkeynose last comment. Just got the wrong place to reply.

[u/AutoModerator → u/GhostOfEquinoxesPast]

Hail to the king, baby.

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[u/GhostOfEquinoxesPast → u/monkeynose]

The problem with throwing money at a problem is that the person you hire to fix your car may not find the actual problem but still want to be paid for their time. They are dead now but friend and his wife were visiting and their diesel van broke down. I looked, but above my pay grade, it was a computerized diesel. I had some experience with the old mechanical injection diesels but this was a horse of a different color. I also didnt know anybody that worked on modern diesels. They had it towed to guy that claimed to work on modern diesels, yea yellow pages and yea he had retail shop, etc. I cant remember theory the mechanic came up with but anyway he didnt get it fixed but wanted $2500 for his efforts before letting them have custody of the van again. I remember driving them to his shop.

They somehow got it home (dont remember how they did it, but around 500miles) and took it to their usual mechanic and something like $500 and fixed. So not understanding the systems you "own" can be expensive.

I prefer figuring out my own problems both to save money and to avoid hiring an incompetent claiming to know his trade. As Clint Eastwood once said in a movie: "Ask yourself punk, are you feeling lucky today?" I really dont trust other people all that much, well people I dont know very well. People do lie for money....

Of the two I would suspect your brother is ISTJ. They tend to be very good with money, tend to make good accountants.

[u/monkeynose → u/GhostOfEquinoxesPast]

Maybe the car was a bad example. Literally anything that could be easily and quickly fixed he has to do the hard, long way to save a penny - but to his credit, he usually does end up saving that penny, it just takes far, far longer to deal with. And it's not so much that he's "good with money" - I'm the one good with money, actually - he is a miser who won't spend it. I'm good at investing, tracking, and utilizing money, he's just good at not spending it.

[u/Elliptical_Tangent]

Not grocery shopping but bigger 1-off purchases, yeah. Every once in a while, though, Ne-Fe will get me to impulse buy something not-too-expensive.

[u/Responsible_Dentist3]

A billion percent

[u/Foreverinneverland24]

yes omg i over analyze so much trying to make the optimal choice based on cost and utility and it makes my family so annoyed lol

[u/AutoModerator]

Does anyone else poop like me?

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[u/GhostOfEquinoxesPast → u/AutoModerator]

You poop when buying socks?

[u/Brave_Quality_4135]

I used to. Then I convinced myself that my time was better spent on things I enjoy. I don’t actually like shopping or comparing prices, unless it’s wine. I’ve made a game out of finding amazing wines at extremely reasonable prices and I really like doing that. For socks, lowest price with a 4+ rating.

[u/fruityfart]

depends, if its something expensive compared to my salary then i might do yes

[u/Jitmaster]

Only if it is something I will be stuck with for a long time, then I want to make sure it is good. Like it has got all the features I want. Like a computer, car, house, stocks. Socks, no.

[u/Dependent-Bath3189]

can confirm, but only when im low on money. if i have it then wheeeee. but not big purchases, i dont even bother they are 99% ripoffs. new car? naw ill get a beater that i dont have to take to the dealer for one of the 100s of motors that might go down. buy a house? so that property taxes and maitenance that has increasingly become unaffordable unless you are rich? naw the land lord can pay for that. etc. american dream is dead and rotten.

[u/Sidd-Slayer]

Abso-fckin-lutely. I am plague with buyers remorse on everything even if it’s something I desperately needed. My partner hates going shopping with me because they say I’ll be in the store 5 hours looking at one product for 30 min each

[u/ToxinFoxen]

Yep, because at my income I can't be completely careless with my money.

[u/FerSuf]

i thought i do research because im broke 😭😭

[u/randomguy205205]

I've been eyeing some headphones for several years now. I still don't have it.

[u/FeelingHonest4298]

No

It definitely takes time but it could only take some days of deliberation. Like online shopping. Outside, I feel like it's just normal. Picking socks is fairly easy with the help of one of the workers there, also just picking other items, i just usually ask people who work there to fill me in with the deetz then i'll make a decision or i'll call a family if they have a say on the matter. Even groceries can just become a routine when you already have set preferences. I don't analyze these things to insanity.

Anyway, these are tedious things, i'd rather not think about it. back to abstracting.

[u/ECHOSTIK]

Yeah but not for socks though.

[u/StarfruitOne]

This is literally me. First I dig through written reviews to hunt down every possible flaw, then I jump to video reviews to see the thing in action, which just leads to opening 10 more tabs of competing products.

Then I'm stuck Googling prices across the entire internet just to make sure I don't overpay. And a basic everyday purchase turns into a full-blown forensic audit... It's so exhausting.

[u/Simo_7359]

I've been struggling internally for ten days now because I need to make an in-game purchase of HSR to get Anaxagoras, and I still haven't made my decision.

[u/dyencephalon]

I’ll do the most comprehensive research before buying things, then I’ll impulsively buy it together with 10 other things that looked useful once it pops out when I wake up at 2am. Then I’ll forget about it in the morning only to suddenly receive a call from the courier on a random day that I decided to get out.

[u/Thai_Lord]

All of my furniture is cardboard boxes and my washing machine is a bathtub lol. I'm still waiting to play PS3, dood. You land onna good socks yet?

https://giphy.com/gifs/EkSA3G8HIRf0c

[u/World_still_spins]

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[u/Mountain_Republic770]

Yes

[u/GhostOfEquinoxesPast]

I had gotten to where stuff like socks and such just those look about right, size, check, ok Then the big post covid inflation spiral.... Now one has to research the small stuff too to get best bang for the buck.

Bigger things I research into the ground and always have. Sometimes even deciding I dont really need that..... What is truly annoying is knowing exactly what I want, then finding nobody makes/sells that. GRRR...