After your first job, everything has a price tag in hours. A forty-dollar hoodie becomes a whole Saturday shift.

Earning money converts prices into time, and time is the currency you actually feel. A number on a tag means very little until you can translate it into standing behind a counter from ten until six. That conversion is not there to stop you buying things, it just makes the trade visible before you agree to it.

Work out your hourly rate after tax and keep it in a note on your phone. Divide the next thing you want by that number, then buy it or skip it knowing exactly what it costs in Saturdays.