Saving up for something you really want teaches you exactly how much you want it.

Time between wanting and having is the only honest test of a want. Paying in instalments of weeks makes you keep choosing the thing over everything else the money could do, and a surprising number of desires quietly fail that test. The ones that survive it were worth the price long before you got there.

Put a figure and a date on something you want, and start setting money aside this week. Keep a note of what you gave up each time. If the wanting fades before the total arrives, you saved the money and learned something for free.