Playbook
Buy it for life: when paying more saves money
A thing that lasts decades can be the cheapest thing you ever buy, or an expensive way to own something you stop using in two years. How to tell which, before you pay the premium.
Playbooks
Playbooks
Step-by-step plans for buying less: waiting rules, no-buy months, one in one out and more, with what to do when they slip.
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Playbook
Cost per wear
Divide what a thing will cost you by the number of times you will really use it. The sum takes a minute. The honest wear count takes some nerve, and it decides almost everything.
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Playbook
How to stop impulse buying
Impulse buys are rarely random. They cluster around a few times, moods and prompts that you can learn to spot. Find yours, make buying slower at exactly those points, and have something else to do when the urge arrives.
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Playbook
Lifestyle creep after a raise
A raise tends to disappear in the first few months, a little at a time and mostly into costs that repeat. Decide where it goes before the first bigger paycheck arrives, and it stays where you put it.
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Playbook
One in, one out
For every new thing that comes home, one thing of the same kind leaves. A simple rule with three weak spots, and a stricter version for the drawers and shelves you want to shrink.
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Playbook
One room at a time
A new sofa makes the rug look wrong, then the room looks wrong, then the hallway does. Contain it. Fix one room for a stated purpose and a set budget, then stop for a season before you touch the next.
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Playbook
The 30-day rule
Write it down, wait a month, then decide. A waiting rule that takes the heat out of a purchase without taking the pleasure out of buying.
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Playbook
The complete-the-look trap
You came for a jacket and the page offers the trousers, the shoes and the bag it was photographed with. Here is how those suggestions are put together, why they work so well, and a short routine for leaving with only what you meant to buy.
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Playbook
The no-buy year
Twelve months of buying only what you use up or wear out, with every rule written before day one. How to set it up so it lasts past February, and what to do on the day you break it.
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Playbook
The no-spend month
Thirty days of paying only for what is on a short allowed list. The setup takes an hour, the hard part is the second week, and the honest savings figure is usually smaller and more useful than the one people post.
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Playbook
Why every high street looks the same
The same stores, the same windows, the same colors in every city. The sameness has causes you can name, from rent to supply chains, and it changes what looks normal to buy. Here is how to shop it without buying the whole season.