[tedmiston]

I built the same habit in childhood. What's interesting is even as an adult with a comfortable salary, I still apply the same framework. It's easy to overlook that part of the cost of buying something you don't like is frustration plus time to return it to the store and then do more research too along with the opportunity cost of waiting on trying the next alternative. Sometimes I just buy my top 3 options and return the 2 I like least to speed that up. I'd also consider myself a minimalist, so I think "Do I really want to own, store, and maintain this product for years to come? And can I spend a bit more now to find a BIFL version in the same category?"