My $100 trash can + why we buy the things we buy

Check out this beauty.

I just bought a $100 trash can.

Technically it was

What am I rich or somethin’?
(I say in my best Brooklyn accent.)

Here’s what’s happening

We’re putting the finishing touches on our 4-1/2 month kitchen renovation. Phew.

It was a dusty-dusty, strip-down to the sub-floor, Hey!-I-think-I-see-the-neighbors-downstairs, kind of remodel.

The kind of remodel where you have to move out.

The kind of remodel where you’re a little afraid to get the invoice from the cabinet guys — and the cabinet guys are your friends.

Come to think of it — that’s the problem. When the cabinet guys are your friends, they don’t bother to give you an estimate so you have no idea. Hmmfph

Back to the $100 trash can.

We moved back home last week and we’ve been working on setting everything up.

Our place is still a little (construction) dusty.

It’s chaotic.

And I can’t think straight.

Then, Saturday, I come across our old, small, lidless Target trash can, and in my head, I’m like:

• “We can’t possibly use this old, grimy, lidless thing now!

• We need something sleek to go with our new sleek kitchen.

• We’re sleek, sophisticated people now.

• I mean, we’ve got an in-freezer ice-maker, Bro!”

Sorry, I got crazy there — I don’t actually call myself “Bro.”

Back to my thoughts —
Can you see the theme there?

Sleek.

sophisticated.

I think that if I buy this $100 trash can... that I will feel more sleek or more sophisticated.

And there you have it.

The secret to life:

Everything we buy, we buy because of the way we think it will make us feel.

Think about it —
What’s the last thing you bought for yourself?

• the latest iPhone?

• your 275th coffee table book of fine art photography?

• the fancy 6-quart 7-in-1 duo Instant Pot?

• another New York Times bestselling cookbook, like Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat?

• sexy, slimming pants that make your butt look great?

• or, did you go big and buy that Indian FTR 1200 motorcycle?

Before you bought that thing, whatever it was, you had an urge to buy it.

And before that, you had a thought about buying that thing. That thought could have been as simple as, “I want that.” Or it could have been more complex like, “Having that thing will make me happy.”

“Having that thing will make me more...

[insert the feeling you’re craving...

smart, sophisticated, productive, healthy, sexy, cool].”

So, what was it? What’d you buy?

How’d you feel before you bought it? And what was the thought you had before that?

Next time you pull out your wallet to buy something, think about what’s behind it.

What are you feeling as you hit that Buy button? or hand over that credit card?

And, what are you thinking this thing is going to add to your life?

As for me, I think that slim trash can is going to make make me feel like an adult. Because adults have trash cans with lids on them. (She says emphatically.)

* * *

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