The Financial Decision Flowchart
During one insomnia-filled night, the blogger behind No Credit Needed decided to make this flowchart to illustrate how they make their financial decisions. Pretty neat. I think there should be an extra step before the Make Purchase that says, "Am I Sure I Still Need And/Or Want This Item?" Large version inside.
[via No Credit Needed]
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Comments:
@aka_bigred: Disagree. If you're researching how much to save up, researching prices is invaluable. Otherwise, you're saving money in the hopes that you can spend it later, and that's where impulse purchases get you in trouble.
@PinkBox: I suppose its for those of us who think in binary and process everything in terms of consumerism. Hmm there's a chewed up pencil for sale at this garage sale, Do I Want or Need it?
@Franklin Comes Alive!: People make second posts correcting minor errors all the time. I think they are afraid of appearing ignorant but the reality is that a minor typo like you made isn't even noticed by most people--our brains correct the error without us being conscious of it--or else they notice and don't care. Of course, edit buttons should be mandatory for all websites that allow comments, even if it is only available for a few minutes after posting.
@PinkBox: Because you didn't really consider it. Have you really never bought something and then been like "I don't even want that, why did I buy it?".
If not, good for you. Sometimes people need to really pause and think, do you want this item, or do you just want to buy something, anything?
@Franklin Comes Alive!: Corny. Extremely corny. Funny. But corny as hell. Couldn't get past the first 45 seconds.
Suit: "Sounds confusing."
*facepalm*
@Bahnburner: Yes and I that after reasearching and or delaying it should go backup to the top to see if you need it or want it anymore.
@BeeBoo:
Word. I *want* a 70" Sony Bravia LCD ([www.sonystyle.com]), and could theoretically afford it. Don't think I'll be buying one anytime soon though :-)
Yeah, there definitely needs to be "Delay Purchase" then a "Am I sure I still really need/want" box after the "Do I have the money?" one.
I can't think of how many times I've wanted something, had the money to buy it but put off buying it only to find out I really didn't want it as much as I originally thought.
Another alternative would be a "Could I use this money to go towards something else that I'm saving up for that'll get me that much closer to the purchase price?" box, but that's pretty wordy.
@RandomHookup: You're joking but in our house it replaces "do I need this item?" since almost all purchases are wants. Unless you count video games as "needs".
I wanted to point out, wow, what an obvious, non-worthy flowchart. But, I'm not saying that. In fact, it would be valuable to stupid people with a minor change:
Instead of, "Do I Have Money to Buy?" (which I understand to mean, "with which to buy," since you're not buying money but spending it), change it to, "Do I have money with which to buy that isn't required for some more important purpose?"
Most people always have money to buy something with; the trick is not to spend it merely because you have it.
@hi: I second that.
I always thought this fell into the common sense category and that everyone just knew this stuff, but witnessing the housing market crash and everything else crash makes me realize just how many people actually DO need this chart. That's just sad.
@BeeBoo: That's where you're messing up: if you can't afford it, eventually the gubment will help you out!
Let us be thankful we have commerce. Buy more. Buy more now. Buy. And be happy.
@mwwilk: The soon-to-be-Mrs wanted a clothing budget. I argued that clothes are just as important as video games, so we now have a clothing and video game budget.
This flowchart doesn't state any more than the following:
Question 1: "Do I want or need this?"
Question 2: "Can I pay in cash?"
If yes to both, "Purchase Item".
I'd prefer to see a flowchart that focuses on the merits of making a purchase and truly understanding the differences between want and need. This flowchart doesn't help me convince my wife not to spend $400 on a new Coach purse.
@LoveNoelG: My mum has moments like that, "why did I buy that?" ones. I take the items and eBay em hehe.
exactly what I ask myself when faced with yet another pair of shoes I clearly don't need but technically have the cash for. I found that looking at real estate on my last trip to NYC made shoes and clothes far less tempting than usual.
@Scoobatz: If anything, this flowchart encourages your wife to spend $400 on a Coach purse.
After all, the charts says she followed a rational thought process to come to the decision.
Read more carefully. First you have to make sure that you're paying the lowest price for something you don't need.
The "No" from "Do I need this item?" should go directly to "Do not make purchase" and the "Yes" should go to "Really?" about 5 or 6 times before it goes on to price checking.























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