Buying Things You Never Use — A Mildly Accurate Explanation

Buying things you never use usually starts at 11:43 p.m., when a stranger with calm hands slices an avocado into flawless green crescents and you think: yes, this is what's missing. Not sleep. Not a clean kitchen. An avocado slicer. This video takes a mildly accurate inventory of the things we buy for our imaginary selves: the kitchen gadget with one very specific job, the treadmill that becomes a clothing rack with a speed setting, the guitar that knows the first twelve seconds of "Wonderwall," and the planner with two beautiful weeks of handwriting. It also covers an economics study suggesting gym members pay for the person they were definitely going to become. IN THIS VIDEO The drawer where useful objects go when they've lost the argument Paying about $17 a visit for a gym you were definitely going to start going to The box that sits on the counter for three days because opening it makes everything real "Just for now," one of the most powerful phrases in the English language A more honest product catalog CHAPTERS 00:00 The comforting lie 01:40 The kitchen gadget 02:52 The drawer 03:56 Exercise equipment 04:51 Paying not to go 05:36 A clothing rack with a speed setting 06:19 Hobby supplies 08:14 The planner 09:36 The order confirmation 10:05 The box you haven't opened 12:41 Three days on the counter 13:54 Just for now 14:34 Unused stuff settles in 15:21 Defending the object 16:59 The replacement 18:42 The honest catalog 19:48 What unused things say 20:35 One terrible sound 22:24 The real danger 23:09 One quiet question Subscribe. It's free, it ships instantly, and you'll actually use it. SOURCES • DellaVigna, S. & Malmendier, U., "Paying Not to Go to the Gym," American Economic Review, 2006 Mildly Accurate: science, relationships, and everyday life. Researched just enough to be dangerous. Explained mildly accurately. This video is comedy and satire. Facts presented as real are sourced above; everything else is mildly accurate at best. Not financial advice. #ImpulseBuying #Shopping #MoneyHabits