Don’t buy Something New Unless It Answers a Real Need

Those who feel they’ve got to own the latest device or product are going to have a hard time making it in the twenty-first century. New products now appear almost daily and are often obsolete within a month—just look at the computer industry. Remember the previous rule and don’t buy something new unless it answers a real need. People didn’t need electronic personal organizers until they suddenly came on the market. Until then, inexpensive little notebooks were fine. No one cursed about how terrible those diaries were. No one was praying for an electronic replacement to come on the market…except the person selling them.

And even if you do “need” something new, I’d urge you to wait at least until the third generation of the product is on the market. By that time all the bugs should be cleared up and the price will have dropped from “fad” to “staple” level. Of course, at that point it will have been replaced by something else as the hot new product. This absurd consumption is a sucker’s game you can’t afford to play in the twenty-first century.