In light of a certain company creating some new products and preparing to unleash them to the hungry, coveting masses, it seems an especially good time to consider the high cost of owning nice things.
Let’s start off with this assumption: Nice things are nice.[footnote]It’s those insights that keep you reading here, no?[/footnote] I suppose that could go without saying, but one major reason we buy things that are better quality than the run-of-the-mill products is because we don’t want to be tempted to swear and chuck that piece of junk out the window when it doesn’t work, breaks, or dies in the middle of an important project.
Along with a higher price tag, which is pretty standard for nicer things, there are other costs worth considering.
Initial Price
“You get what you pay for,” is the catch phrase of those pursuing the American Dream. It’s the de facto slogan of rationalization, and it’s such a good justifier I hardly ever disagree with it.
There’s no doubt it contains truth. I hardly expect a cheap plastic spoon I bought for a nickel to last as long as a metal spoon that might last the rest of my life, if I don’t lose it in a move somewhere along the way.
But is a gold-plated spoon better? Is it necessary? Will paying $300 for a spoon actually serve me more effectively than a normal piece of silverware?
That’s where we have to stop and ask questions. I think it’s wise to buy things that don’t inherently invite death and destruction (a la Smart Cars getting hit by Hummers or semis on the highway) but “YGWYPF” only extends so far.
Insurance
Nicer, newer, more expensive things demand higher premiums for insurance if you want them replaced or fixed when they are damaged or stolen.
In short, you pay more to insure a Mercedes than a Kia.
Wedding rings, cars, homes, technology–when you’ve got all these things in the mix, the cost of insurance rises quickly. For a service you’ll hopefully never have to use, it hurts the wallet to invest in that kind of protection.
Injury
Well, I’d never say I injured my iPhone, but I’m a sucker for alliteration so it’s injury instead of accident.
When nice things meet the harsh reality of hard surfaces, negligence, and a fallen world, problems, mishaps, and chaos abound. The nice things you have will one day be broken, old, unusable, and outdated. They will need to be repaired or replaced. They won’t last forever, even if they have a killer, bumper-to-bumper warranty.
Don’t expect nice things to last for eternity. Prepare to pay to replace them.
Inconvenience
It’s no fun when you have to consider what would happen if your nice thing gets stolen. When we travel, I try to take as little technology as possible, because I don’t want to worry about it getting snatched.
If you can’t use the thing you bought, it wasn’t such a great “investment”.[footnote]A quick note on using the phrase, “I need to invest in a new (blank).” You can’t invest in a new pair of shoes unless you’re buying Nike stock. You can buy them, but you can’t get any financial return unless you’re Usain Bolt. So, no, you didn’t invest in a new iPhone. Christians love using this instead of saying, “buying” because it seems like that simple word exchange brings about automatic stewardship points. I’m totally guilty here too.[/footnote]
Idolatry
This is the part that hurts your soul, not your checkbook. I rarely sing praises to God when a new iPhone is released. I normally say, “I must have that!” or grumble about my contract that still has a year remaining.
Nice things pave a nice road to worshiping the wrong things. God has given us many good gifts that hardly anyone would argue are bad (central heating, indoor plumbing, electricity, transportation, etc.), but it’s possible for us to become consumed with the more-easily-covetable items like phones, watches, computers, and cars.
Isolation
In America, we’re so busy keeping up with the Joneses that we don’t have the time to be intimated by them, only jealous.
In moving to Europe and thinking about life in a different culture, I’ve heard people tell stories of the car they drive or house they live in keeping people who don’t have the same material wealth from feeling comfortable approaching them or developing a friendship.
What a sad day when we let our desire for some thing separate us from others. This can undoubtedly be a problem in the US too, and I’d say no material thing is worthy of isolating ourselves.
Wrapping Up
What makes these 6 I’s of nice things tricky is that they aren’t black and white. There is tons of room for wisdom, planning, and deep consideration. I need to constantly remind myself that the cost of ownership goes far beyond the numbers following a dollar sign on a tag.
Also, I confess to owning lots of things I consider quite nice, many of which I didn’t pause to really, deeply consider before purchasing (my wife does an amazing job of praying about things like that. I want to be like her when I grow up.)
Ultimately, how we use the resources we have will be judged by God. These are things to ponder, pray, and contemplate before we click “Buy Now.”