From the archive

You paid for it. Now you're paying to keep it in your life

Somehow the price only includes what's on the tag. Then you discover delivery, storage, repairs, subscriptions, consumables, time spent choosing consumables, and several evenings reading forums about why it's broken again. Money, at least, can be counted. Time usually gets treated as a free accessory. But three hours on Saturday aren't free just because nobody issued an invoice. You were going to go somewhere, call someone, sit without obligations for a while. Instead you're maintaining another piece of evidence that you're doing well.