Buyer's guide for my occasional break from thrift

I'm not quite ascetic. By birth and by religious conviction, I'm thrifty, at best. And once in a while, I even buy an extra product or service I don't need but that makes life easier. That's what this post is about: how I buy the extras.

When I succumb to this bit of self-spoiling (assuming I get through the subsequent and always-accompanying spell of buyer's remorse), I still like to know that both 1) my purchased good and 2) the act of obtaining it were necessary and intelligent. Let me explain.

1) A purchased good
By necessary, I mean that the purchased good ought to provide a service to me, perhaps practical, perhaps just pleasurable. Either way, it can't do nothing for me. By intelligent, I mean that the product must inspire and not insult my imagination, my aesthetic leanings, my logic and intellect, etc.

2) A good purchase
I also like to know that the purchasing itself was necessary and intelligent. Here, necessary means that even though the product may have been an extra, I "needed" to buy it. It was the right time, the right place, and so on (Same goes for spur-of-the-moment purchases, which are simply faster slow decisions). Intelligent means I made the decision for the right reason.

Examples that wouldn't make the cut
At first glance, the following two magazine ad products may appear to meet my "necessary and intelligent" qualifications. But they don't. One clue in each is to blame for my disinterest and disqualification: a visual clue in the first and a written clue in the second. Click on each image for a larger view and take a guess why. My reasons may be easy to spot, surprising to you or even disappointing, but guess anyway and I'll let you know in the next post.

Further questions to ponder: Do you have a buyer's guide? If so, how much is it informed by your faith? By your upbringing? Personality? Amount of disposable income?