I paid $150 for a chef’s knife last week.
A recent trip taught me what a good knife feels like. I knew what $150 would buy.
I could have bought fifteen of the $10 knives next to it. I picked the higher-quality one because I’ll use it every day for decades.
Cost per use drops with each meal. The $150 knife may last twenty years of daily use. The $10 knife I’d replace each year costs $200 over that same stretch. The cheap option costs more over time and comes with less satisfaction per use.
I call these Long-Haul Luxuries. Things you use daily or for long stretches that justify spending more.
More Long-Haul Luxuries:
- A jacket you wear each morning
- Earbuds you wear for hours each day
- A mattress you sleep on for a decade
- A backpack you carry across three continents
- A standing desk you use for eight hours a day
These are Long-Haul Luxuries.
The frame helps me make spending decisions.
Before you buy, ask: how often will I use this and for how long? If the answer is daily and for years, spend toward the ceiling.
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What daily habit would a better tool transform?
