> If you need a new phone, buy a new phone. If you need a new laptop, buy a new laptop. If you need a new keyboard, buy a new keyboard.<p>> Not because it’s on sale. Because you need it.<p>What about things you don't need?<p>For instance, I didn't <i>need</i> an outdoor security system with motion triggered recording. But I was curious about what critters visit at night. A few days a year we get snow that stays around for two or three days and I see all kinds of tracks in it that I can't match to the usual suspects.<p>So I <i>wanted</i> such a system someday, but one that wasn't too expensive but good enough that I would not be frustrated with low quality recording or poorly designed hardware or software.<p>It went on my "get this when I come across a good deal" list. I saw a good deal on the next Prime Day and got something.<p>Another example. I've got a classical guitar and an electric guitar. For a while I've wanted a steel-string acoustic guitar but I don't <i>need</i> one. There are some songs and styles I'd like to learn that would be better on one, but I've still got so much left to learn of classical guitar its not like I'll run out of stuff to do if I don't get an acoustic immediately.<p>I made a list of a handful of acoustic guitars to keep an eye on. On Black Friday I checked the site of the manufacturer of one of them. They were having a Black Friday sale that actually made their next tier of guitars up from what I'd been looking at less expensive than the one I'd had my eye on normally goes for.