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A quick trip down to the vending machine relieved me of two dollars this morning — for a little pack of mini-donuts. The donuts were actually $1, but at the last moment they got caught in the vending machine. They dangled there, held trapped by the very edge of the wrapper. I stood there, frustrated, staring at the little pack of donuts. It stared back at me. I wanted them. But behind them was…nothing! So if I put in another dollar, all I’d get (at most!) was my original pack of donuts. I debated, and then stuck in the other dollar. My $2 mini-donuts were gone in about 5 minutes.

And then I thought, wow, this is the perfect example of “the more you want it, the more you’ll pay”.

How many times do we over-pay for things because we happen to reallyreallyreally want it right this instant. Is overpaying worth it? Could spending a few extra minutes save us a significant sum? What about if we waited til the next day before buying something, to see if we still even wanted it at all?

(By the way, I should be getting my second dollar back in the next few days. I called to see if I could get a refund, and I could.)

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