Hey, want a freebie? Sure!

Do you like waiting in line at the grocery store or elsewhere? For most, the answer is no. Yet, long lines for a free doughnut, a cup of coffee or food samples are common.  Freebies are irresistible to us. I have been known to wait in line for a free ice cream – as an adult. Never mind that ice creams are not expensive, and I could buy one if I wanted to. I have christened that time ‘Before’. Before I started considering the hidden costs of every ‘freebie.’ any times, we get something for free and end up buying something anyway.

“I love this coffee.”

“Glad you are enjoying your free cup. We are selling this flavor at a 25 percent discount for the festive season. Would you like to try it?”

“Wow, sure!”

Online freebies rule the roost this year. Virtual marketing is full of ‘free’ stuff. Apps are free but the ‘premium version’ has a cost. Businesses lure us in, hoping we will buy the premium version. Retail marketing revels in ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ or BOGO. It gives us a high and it gets our attention. BOGO might seem like a bargain but it is just another hard-core business decision to generate more sales. These impulsive buys rarely provide the long-term value or satisfaction of considered purchases.

“Sooner or later there will always be a cost for “Free Stuff” – Will Leamon

Why do we love freebies so much? Somehow, it seems like the benefits of a freebie expand exponentially in our mind only because it is free. That free food sample seems to somehow taste better. We even go out of our way or spend hours to score a freebie. Even if it is a crummy product. Even if there is a higher-value product at a marginally higher, affordable price. We feel warm and temporarily satisfied because we seem to be getting something valuable for nothing. It defies logic. It is irrational. And the cycle keeps repeating itself. How does one break out of the freebie mania?

The key is understanding the bottom line: No one gets something for nothing in a world driven by capitalism, profits, and markets. Waiting in line means you spend something that is invaluable: your time. Hours of waiting in line outweighs any financial benefit you might accrue by drinking that cup of free coffee. How do you feel when someone gives you a gift? You like them and you want to reciprocate. When something is offered for free, you remember that brand and reciprocate by buying more of their products. Every freebie requires some sort of personal investment. Consider a free streaming service deal for a year. Seems like a once-in-a-lifetime deal. However, will spending countless hours staring at a screen help you move forward with purpose? Will it help further your plans of, say, developing a hobby or a side hustle?

Do you even remember all the freebies you have ever grabbed? They are usually discarded or forgotten. Worse, they occupy precious space, gathering dust in our dwellings. Physical clutter increases mental clutter too, diminishing your ability to focus on what you need most to live a better life.

The next time you are tempted by a freebie, ask yourself these questions:

Do I need it? Do I really, really need it? What am I going to do with this ……..? Does it improve the quality of my life? If not, why am I spending time and effort on it? Let it go and move on. Accept that you are human, prone to making impulsive decisions. Practicing conscious awareness helps you consume only what you need, spend less, conserve your time, and improves the quality of your life.

Are we allowed freebies at all?  As emotional beings, we are allowed the rare, useful freebie which makes our brains light up with a good memory for years afterwards. Those, we can all agree, are few, if any, and far between.

“Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing.” – Albert Einstein

This post was inspired by Dan Ariely’s books and his TED talk: Are we in control of our own decisions?