The purchase described as essential may be serving an expectation rather than a practical need.

The word essential does a lot of quiet work. Some things genuinely are: the boots for the job, the cot, the medicine. Others get the same label because not having them would be visible to other people, which is a real pressure and a different one from need. Confusing the two is how households end up short of money for the first category while fully equipped for the second.

Take the next thing you have described as necessary and finish the sentence honestly: necessary for what, and noticed by whom. If the answer is an audience, you have more choice than it felt like you had.