The best purchases are ones that lessen, remove, or resolve a pain point. We tend to assume - and consumerism depends upon us believing - that we need to buy more and more things that bring us pleasure and delight. But those feelings are fleeting. Pain addressed, though, is pain that needs nothing else.

That pain point could be an inconvenience, operational friction, or literal. Do you find yourself taking something, perhaps a heavy vacuum, up and down the stairs over and over? Could you buy one for each floor instead? Tired of late dinners because errands and work keep you away from the grocery store? How about scheduled deliveries? What about a sore back? How much better would you feel in an ergonomic chair? It’s not a frivolous purchase if it solves a real problem.

Make a list of as many pain points as you can think of. Look for the ones you can solve with simple purchases. You know you’ve made the right choices when you look back at that list and realize you haven’t thought about those annoyances, aggravations, or agonies since. The best purchases are the ones you don’t know how you lived without.