ra·tion·al·ize (verb): A defense mechanism involving the construction of a logical justification for seemingly illogical or unacceptable feelings or behaviors.

LET’S DO THIS!

#1. Remember how much your wife’s/fiancee’s engagement ring cost? Right.

#2. You’ve been meaning to sell a bunch of old stuff on ebay, this is just motivation to clean house… (even though all that selling will only partially fund the purchase of said overly expensive watch)

#3. Like your place of work is really gonna give you a gold watch when you retire? Hell no. And why bother? Like they’re not going to lay you off before then anyway…

#4. You gave up smoking!

#5. Hell, you never even STARTED smoking!

#6. You got a new suit for an upcoming big event, & all your old watches just don’t look “right” with it.

#7. It’s something you could pass down to your son one day! Even though you’ve only got daughters. And you just had a vasectomy.

#8. You just had a vasectomy!

#9. You recently paid off your student loans. And you’ve got a low APR credit card, so really, what’s wrong with paying it off over a few months now that you’re debt free? (Or is it now “were” debt free?)

#10. It’s almost Fall. What a better time to, I mean, that’s exciting! No?

#11. It was an impulse purchase, and you had every intent to return it. But, well…

#12. You’ve been carrying a flip phone/other outdated device for years. Think of all that money you’ve saved by not breathlessly acquiring the new version of the iPhone that comes out every 3.26 months.

Prioritization in action. A German-made Nomos. Not cheap. Might need all 12 of those rationalizations.

(meanwhile, just for the sake of balance.)