Should I buy that thing? A framework to help you decide

Life Kit

NPR

Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Business, Kids & Family

4.5 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 December 2024

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sometimes we buy things that we later regret spending on: a new sweater that's already falling apart, or a thrifted "vintage" vase that turns out to be a mass-produced dupe. In the moment, it's difficult to resist the temptation of making a purchase. But with a few pointed questions, you can make sure you've done your due diligence and buy something guilt-free. This episode, financial experts offer a framework to help you decide whether or not something is worth buying.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Oh, ho.
0:00.6	Oh, Santa here.
0:02.4	Coming to you from the North Pole,
0:03.9	where the elves in our podcast division of just completed work on this season's best gift for public radio lovers.
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0:16.6	all while supporting public media.
0:19.0	Learn more at plus.npr.org.
0:24.4	You're listening to LifeKit from NPR.
0:29.6	Hey everybody, it's Mariel.
0:32.4	I've been getting a lot of desperate-sounding emails lately.
0:36.0	Okay, some are desperate.
0:37.3	Some are demanding. Even vaguely threatening.
0:41.0	Here's a sampling of subject lines. Time is running out on the best deals of the year.
0:46.4	Our biggest sale ends tonight. Last day, $55 off. You deserve it. Take up to $23.43 off your next order. Our sale is still on.
1:00.4	Y'all, everybody wants my money and yours. The question is, what do I want? And what do you want?
1:07.9	How do we actually want to spend our money? There are so many moments of the day where retailers are going to try to sell you stuff.
1:14.3	And we at LifeKit thought it was worth coming up with a framework.
1:17.7	You know, should I buy this thing?
1:20.3	A list of questions to ask yourself and details to consider before you tap your credit card or click that buy now button.
1:27.3	In this episode, I'll lay out that framework with the help of our experts.
1:30.9	And hopefully, it'll help you tune out some of the noise.
	...

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