The 3 Types of Purchases and Their Results

What’s the last big purchase you made? A home? A vacation? A car repair? Maybe a new phone or some furniture?

From my experience, purchases typically fall into three categories. Once you see them, you can’t unsee them. And it may just change the way you look at money…

Purchases That Lose Value

Some things start dropping in value the moment you buy them. For a lot of people, this is where most money is spent. Cars are the classic example, but the same can be said of clothes, gadgets, and a lot of impulse buys. Sometimes they even come with an added cost you may know as interest.

This makes sense when you consider the way our brains work and the marketing and cultural pressure around us. We’re trained to think short-term: “Can I afford the payment?” instead of long-term: “What will this cost by the end?”

Things that look and feel good now are often more exciting than things that quietly compound later. And when tough emotions hit, it’s easy to swipe for quick relief.

Purchases That Give Experiences

Then there are purchases that don’t necessarily hold financial value but give you something more: a memory, an experience, or a special moment. Family vacations, concerts, a dinner out with friends.

These things matter because they still enrich our lives, even if they don’t make us “financially” richer.

Purchases That Compound

Finally, there’s the rare third category: purchases that grow in value. These are investments that keep paying you back over time. Things like saving, investing, learning a new skill, or improving your health.

They don’t just stay the same, they multiply.

Where Does Coaching Fall?

Investing in financial coaching has less to do with budgeting or math and more to do with building skills and habits that stick with you for life.

• Pay off debt faster = thousands saved in interest and months of payments erased.

• Build consistent savings habits = increased confidence as your bank account grows.

• Learn to make more intentional spending choices and you free up money that was slipping through your fingers.

And those are just the tangible benefits. We haven’t even talked about lowering stress, sleeping better, and feeling more optimistic about the future.

Unlike many purchases we make, the value of coaching doesn’t fade. It compounds.

A Question to Ask Yourself

So, what kind of purchases do you want to make? Something that goes down in value, something that provides an unforgettable experience, or something that keeps paying you back?

My opinion is that you should do a mix of all three. However, the more often you can shift your money into the “compounding” category, the more secure, confident, and free you’ll feel over time.

If you’re curious about how to do that in your own life, coaching could be one of the smartest compounding purchases you’ll ever make.