You didn't need a new phone.
Not at first.
Then the world started showing you one. Again. And again. Better camera. Better screen. Better battery. Better everything.
And before long your old phone started looking worse than it was.
Nothing changed. It still worked. The battery still lasted. The screen still turned on.
The only thing that changed was how you saw it.
It isn't only phones. Clothes. Cars. Watches. Gadgets. Things you weren't thinking about ten minutes ago start feeling urgent.
That's when I understood something about money. A purchase begins long before money leaves your account. It begins with attention.
The more attention something gets, the more important it starts to feel.
Which is why the world works so hard to get in front of your eyes. Advertisements. Notifications. Influencers. Emails. Recommendations.
Somebody is always trying to win your attention. And eventually your wallet.
There's nothing wrong with buying things you actually want. The trick is telling the difference between something you wanted and something you were persuaded to want.
That one question has saved me a surprising amount of money. Do I actually want this? Or have I just looked at it enough times to start wanting it?
Expensive purchases tend to happen fast. Good financial decisions tend to happen slowly. A pause. A day. A week. Enough distance to see it clearly again.
Because if you don't decide where your money goes, plenty of other people already have ideas for it.
And most of them are very good at getting your attention.