Don’t Be Trapped By Sunk Costs
More than 15 years ago my husband bought a TV for our bedroom. I remember clearly how frustrated I was with the price. It was one of the new flat screen TVs and it cost $2100. I know it cost that much because I was upset that he spent $100 per inch. Yes, it was a 21 inch TV for $2100!
I still have the TV. It hasn’t been turned on in many years, and before that was barely used. Yet, I can’t bring myself to get rid of it.
Now, I normally don’t have a problem disposing of items that no longer serve a purpose and will not serve a purpose in the future. For some reason, I’m stuck on this particular item.
It might have something to do with the sunk cost fallacy.
“The phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.”
The above definition applies to strategies or courses of action, but can easily be applied to objects as well. In my case, I am reluctant to abandon the TV because it was a large ‘investment’ (though investment hardly seems the most appropriate word for a TV purchase), despite it taking up valuable space in my home and no longer serving any purpose.
There’s no easy way to get past this other than ‘ripping off the bandaid’. I have weighed the cost of keeping it (mental burden, reminder of misspent money, and wasted space) against the benefit of letting it go (freedom from all those aforementioned costs) and can see no reason to keep it.
I suppose I’ve written this out as a way to convince myself that it’s time to let it go. I’m going to put it in my car now to take to donation (or recycling if the donation center says it’s too outdated).
Hopefully, reading this confession about my struggles with the TV will normalize what you go through when you’re trying to make decisions about your belongings and offer you a catalyst to let go of some strategy, course of action, or object that you’ve held onto because of the sunk cost.
