Let me tell you a story. In June of 2023, fresh off a brilliant Broad Street Run, I was due to purchase new running shorts. For over a decade I’d primarily run in Eastbay shorts. In fact, I have an Eastbay receipt from 2014 where I spent $7.99 per pair. But this was different. I was in my 30s, I had more money, and I was fast. I thought about ordering the same old cheap shorts, but decided to check out Tracksmith instead – a premium running brand.
Scrolling through their site made me feel good; like it was something I wanted to be a part of. I looked at their running shorts – Holy shit, $70 for ONE pair of shorts?! But it was too late, I bought three pairs of shorts for $202.
Let me tell you another story. 10 years ago I made my then-girlfriend cry because she wanted to buy $125 jeans. I said she was a victim of modern day marketing and the $30 jeans at 7/11 would be just as good (this was 2015 and $125 converted to like 10 BTC so you understand my outrage). I also told her that wanting a diamond engagement ring was shallow and that buying diamonds are for suckers. We broke up.
People can change.
Those stories show a transformation. As a young twenty-something I was a know-it-all whose general philosophy was:
If option A is $100 and option B is $50, I bet option B is 90% as good, so why buy the nice one?
That Tracksmith purchase changed my life. The shorts are incredible and I still wear them for every run. They were so good in fact that I later purchased a $108 pair of sweatpants and a $128 pair of racing warmups. The quality is excellent and they make me feel good. How do you put a price on that?
This was a glaring real life example that challenged my above belief. I realized:
- Expensive things are often more expensive for a reason
- I can afford more expensive things if I choose
Based on this, I had to reconsider a lot of aspects of life.
Maybe I shouldn’t buy the $25 futon off Craigslist. Maybe the $15 toaster actually sucks. Maybe the high thread count sheets actually ARE more comfortable. All of a sudden there’s a full re-evaluation going on.
Since then, I’ve weighed strongly what’s worth spending money on and what’s not, with a strong bias towards spending if I think it’s worth it. That’s why, for me, a $5,500 treadmill isn’t crazy. It makes me excited. If it extends my running career and lasts a 15 years to where even Harrison is running on it, it’s worth it. Everyone comes to their own happy balance.
To counter it, I’ve also realized things I don’t find value in. A fancy tasting menu, for example, is probably not good value for me if I’m longing for a Shake Shack double with fries as I gnaw on my seaweed burger. But that’s the whole point – spend money on what YOU find value in.
The final part of this is the privilege of having money to spend. At 34 with a good job and a wife who also has a good job, it’s much easier to justify spending money. I don’t have much insight to offer other than just acknowledging that not everyone has this luxury.
Do I wish I learned this sooner? No, it is a lesson that should be learned through experience. But for anyone looking to justify a big purchase, I’d lean towards yes if it’s something that excites you and something you find value in.
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