The True Cost of Ownership: But what if I NEEEED it one day?
And it's super expensive to replace...
We have an occasional series here at Your House Machine about hidden costs: The True Cost of Ownership. Humans have so many blind spots, so many cognitive biases, and are so skillfully marketed to in our Capitalist society. It’s a recipe for unintentional overconsumption. In the past we’ve covered the True Cost of Free Stuff and the True Cost of Luxury Items.
Let’s kick things off with a reader question.
Q: I moved into my house with great systems five years ago, and it’s time to review and tweak and declutter the inevitable slide. My question is about this question “yes but IF I do this thing again, this stuff will be vital”. I have a beautifully complete box of cake decorating supplies, and very occasionally make a spectacular layer cake, but definitely not often enough to warrant keeping the stuff. I have a CPAP machine I no longer need, but what if I need it again in the future? Those things are $5000! And on and on. I feel happy and relieved to move stuff on from the category “stuff from a chapter that is no longer current”, but what about the stuff where the chapter could return? And it would be expensive if it did? Or the stuff would make life way easier if it did? - Katie
Read on for my response...