Written by North Carolina Treasurer Brad Briner
Like most people, when Angry Birds was everywhere, I had it on my phone. I got stuck on a level, and the game offered a power-up that promised to help me move on. For 99 cents, the Mighty Eagle would help me win the level and get back to whatever I was supposed to be doing.
I bought it, beat the level and promptly got stuck again. Another offer appeared. More expensive of course. Before long, I had spent more than I intended on a game I had downloaded to kill a few minutes. Within a week, I stopped playing.
It was not a major financial mistake. But it was a good lesson in how easy it is to make a purchase when the next step feels urgent and the price seems small.
That feeling is financial FOMO: fear of missing out. It gets especially loud this time of year. Black Friday ads promise the lowest price of the season. A countdown clock says the deal ends in minutes. A social media post shows a product everyone seems to own. Suddenly, the question is not “Do I need this?” but “Will I regret it if I don’t buy it?”
The same pressure that shows up in games, where an extra life or power-up can seem like pocket change, shows up in holiday shopping, where a “limited quantity” label urges us to hurry. In social media, we see a steady stream of people showing off what they bought. These influencers often earn money when followers purchase the products they recommend. That does not make every recommendation bad, but it is a reason to pause and consider whose interests the post serves.
Before you buy, ask yourself:
Was this already on my list before I saw the ad? Would I still want it without the countdown clock or the discount? Have I checked the price and the total cost elsewhere? Does it fit my budget after the other expenses I have planned?For an online purchase, try leaving it in your cart overnight. A real need will probably still be there tomorrow. If the deal disappears, you have lost a chance to buy something you may not have needed in the first place.
A sale can be a smart way to buy something you planned for. But a discount does not make an unplanned purchase a bargain. The money you keep can go toward paying down debt, building savings or covering the holiday expenses you already know are coming.
I still remember those Angry Birds power-ups better than I remember the level I was trying to beat. The game moved on and so did I. The lesson stuck: When a purchase feels urgent, a short pause can be worth more than the deal.
Brad Briner was elected North Carolina Treasurer in 2024 after working as the co-chief investment officer for Willett Advisors and has held positions at Morgan Creek Capital, the UNC Management Company, ArcLight Capital and Goldman Sachs. He started writing “Bottom Line with Brad” as a way to educate North Carolinians on complicated financial matters in the Department of State Treasurer’s monthly “Finance Fridays” newsletter. The column is published in partnership with Chapelboro and is not a sponsored series.
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