Folks always talk about how to spend less; it's never how to spend more.
But how can we spend money without squandering it? How can we spend more money in ways we'd repeat in a heartbeat?
Beyond taking care of your needs and "turning your $25 to $250", money is well spent when we get more value out of a purchase than we put in.
What if you could buy something that instantly made you healthy, wealthy or the hardest at your craft?
Tough news, family, no such thing!
While you should avoid snake oil and silver bullets, I want to sell you the next best thing: good habits.
Good habits can lead to good outcomes. However, they're hard to start and harder to maintain. Exercising, reading, and regularly drinking water are a few habits that are simple but, at the same time, hard to start up and even harder to keep up.
That's where smart spending comes into play. With all due respect to the work behind these promising outcomes, you can sometimes buy your way into good habits and the results that come with them.
This seems simple, but the cards are stacked against us whenever we buy things. It's tough to spend money on stuff that benefits you because the folks selling it to you don't care about you. Those brothers are trying to make a buck off you! Companies sell products to help them and their people, not you or yours.
Although you start out fighting an uphill battle, it's possible to come out on top of these transactions. Beyond "getting a deal," it's possible to get 10x what you put down on the sticker price.
Whether it's because they're more fun or efficient than the alternative, some products & services can unlock desirable behavior or experiences.
Here are my five best purchases for behavior change and habit development. I focus on physical and digital goods, not experiences.
Having a Kindle is the only reason I got back into the reading game. I read in the years leading up to 7th/8th grade, but good ol' middle school eliminated my desire to read for pleasure.
In 2018, this great man, Kev Bryson, gave me his old Kindle, and I started reading that joint straight out of the box. It had several pre-loaded books, and I didn't even bother making an account or connecting it to the internet.
I cut it on to get a few pages in before bed one day; from there, it was routine.
The numbers are undeniable. In 2019 I read 4 books; in 2020, that number grew to 26; last year, when I hit my stride, I put up 42.
Getting a Kindle enabled me to read at the one time in the day I was always free: bedtime. The Kindle has a backlight that I cut down to the lowest setting and read until I can't keep my eyes up.
Products/services that allow you to habit stack or take advantage of already-established routines are likely winners.
On a particularly brick day in January last year, I flew to the Bronx with a few layers of sweatshirts and a good attitude. I picked up the bike from the dude I copped it from off Facebook Marketplace–thank goodness that brother didn't scam me–and rode a couple of miles back to Harlem.
While that was easily the hardest ride I've done, it was just as easily one of the best purchases I've made.
When I lived in New York, I used the bike mainly for exercise and sometimes a combination of exercise and sightseeing. Since I've been in DC, I've used it to "commute" and run errands.
The bike unlocked exercise for me because of how it makes me feel; it feels like fun, not work, and I feel like a freak riding that joint.
Products/services that make doing the desired behavior feel good are likely winners.
Out of these five, the water bottle is the item that is most responsible for habit development and also the purchase that is hardest for me to justify.
How could I justify buying a $30 water bottle when I could drink water for free in so many other ways?
The answer was simple: the numbers showed I don't drink enough water without the water bottle.
I cannot remember a day when I drank an appropriate amount of water before I got one of these sippy-cup Camelbak water bottles.
My first one was a Morehouse-branded bottle I copped from the bookstore before my first year. Including the one I use now, I've been through three of these expensive joints.
I carry the bottle almost everywhere I go and drink out of it. Simple.
The secret for me is the straw. I feel like it reduces the already small effort it takes to drink to a point where I can mindlessly and effortlessly get through my daily intake.
Products/services that reduce the friction to do something you already want are likely winners.
During my sophomore year summer, and after spending some time in Brazil, I became interested (again) in my health.
In my quest to get beefy (again), I copped a little ninja to make protein shakes off Amazon. I ended up making shakes for the next couple of years.
When I was a (real) monster, I would use the blender to make a shake at night, exercise and drink the shake in the morning, and repeat.
The Ninja enabled me to get appropriate nutrition when I was bulking and became the foundation of my morning routine for years.
I found the blender made far better shakes than blender bottles; having a tasty, liquid way to get calories in did it for me. From childhood, I was never big on eating in the morning. Drinking in the morning, however, was easy!
Products/services that do something way better than the next alternative are more likely to be winners.
During my first year at Morehouse, it seemed like everyone was a photographer. Arrogantly, I thought I could easily take better photos than them if I had a camera.
I foolishly bought my first system, a Canon t7i with the kit lens, off Amazon. I figured out the game when I transitioned into the mirrorless world and got a Fuji XT30 & 35mm F2 off eBay.
I use cameras daily to photograph what I see on walks, rides, or where ever I'm moving through at that time. I've recently extended to more intentional documentation for clients and my artistic work.
Getting these camera systems unlocked a creative outlet for me at two levels. First, the Canon gave me a more powerful tool to document my travels. The jump in quality made me more confident and satisfied with my results and compelled me to continue. Next, the Fuji unlocked everyday creation. It's cuter and smaller than the Canon, so it was easier to throw in any bag I took out and easier to take out when I wanted to get a shot.
Products/services that make you more comfortable with how you look doing the desired behavior are more likely to be winners.
First, I beg you, do not buy things you're not going to use. Especially when times are tough, do not buy things you don't need.
Next, don't forget that lower-cost alternatives can often help you achieve the same outcome. I got the latest & greatest Canon camera when I would have gotten the same results with an older version.
Lastly, don't automatically think an item will work for you just because it worked for someone else. You might not be that guy!
Think about the change(s) you want to make; then think about if it's worth investing in a product that will help you change that behavior.
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