ra·tion·al·ize (verb): A defense mechanism involving the construction of a logical justification for seemingly illogical or unacceptable feelings or behaviors.

LET’S DO THIS!

#1. Remember how much your wife’s/fiancée’s engagement ring cost? Right.

#2. You’ve been meaning to sell a bunch of old stuff on ebay, this is just motivation to clean house… (even though all that selling will only partially fund the purchase of said overly expensive watch)

#3. Like your place of work is really gonna give you a gold watch when you retire? Hell no. And why bother? Like they’re not going to lay you off before then anyway…

#4. You gave up smoking!

#5. Hell, you never even STARTED smoking!

#6. You got a new suit for an upcoming big event, & all your old watches just don’t look “right” with it.

#7. It’s something you could pass down to your son one day! Even though you’ve only got daughters. And you just had a vasectomy.

#8. You just had a vasectomy!

#9. You recently paid off your student loans. And you’ve got a low APR credit card, so really, what’s wrong with paying it off over a few months now that you’re debt free? (Or is it now “were” debt free?)

#10. It’s almost Fall. What a better time to, I mean, that’s exciting! No?

#11. It was an impulse purchase, and you had every intent to return it. But, well… 

#12. You’ve been carrying a flip phone/other outdated device for years. Think of all that money you’ve saved by not breathlessly acquiring the new version of the iPhone that comes out every 6 months.

Prioritization in action.