Every dollar you spend to impress someone is a vote for their opinion over your future.

Money spent on being seen a certain way buys about a week of attention and then it is gone. The shoes, the meal ordered for the photo, the thing bought because somebody at school would notice: each one hands a piece of your future to another person’s opinion of you. Nobody is immune to that pull, and wanting to belong is not a character flaw.

Before the next purchase like that, ask who you are picturing when you imagine having it. If a specific face comes up, wait a week. Whatever you still want after seven days is usually actually yours.