In my problem solving class this week, the professor talked about how hard it was to make decisions consistently over a period of time, because all the problems that need to be solved don't come all at once. Because of this, it's hard to keep your reference point from problem to problem.

Take money, for instance. A survey of our class showed that most of us (80%) were willing to go out of our way to save $25 on a $125 watch. But only 30% of us were willing to go the same distance to save $25 on a $500 camera. Somewhere in between these two decisions, we lost our reference point on how much $25 was worth to us. (I fell into these respective categories, by the way.)

This lesson resonated well with me, because I often lose the value of money in my day-to-day life. It is easier to go to the gourmet grocery store down the street, and it was easier to buy the fun stuff for my apartment when I was already spending hundreds on needed stuff like furniture. But is it really worth my money in the long run?

My professor suggested always having a reference point to think about when making decisions. Monetarily, this means: how much is $50 worth to you? $100, $1,000? A nice dinner, an extra day on vacation?

I'm still working out what my reference points are, but I think this will be useful in my future purchasing decisions.