 It's that time of the year again where consumers across the world have to navigate all these juicy booby traps set by brands to get them to spend more and buy buy buy because they come out attractive discounts that are you know sometimes almost too good to be true. I myself fall victim to some of these things and hopefully this particular video can help you curb that acquisition syndrome that you may have and save yourself some money this holiday season. If you're a photographer or filmmaker like me before you make any purchase put it through this money saving checklist to see if it passes before you click buy and I have to say that yes you know it mainly applies to people like us filmmakers, photographers however this checklist can be used on any other thing that you may be tempted to purchase or get. Now it's not just Black Friday that's any other season where you know there are discounts being thrown at you left right center. So let's get to the first one first point on the checklist is it a need or a want that's the question. Now most people can't really tell the difference if you know especially that items on sale are so affordable. A want is not the same as a need. A want is something that you can actually do without at any particular moment but some way somehow it fulfills a desire or passion or thrill you know something that's most likely to die after a day of owning it and it just becomes one other thing that you own. That's a want. A need however it's much more weighty on the skill of should I buy it or not. If you need to buy it then it means that if that thing isn't available it makes achieving some goal very difficult or nearly impossible. So you own a microphone for vlogging for example but a newer version is out there the old one gives good quality sound but a new one is slightly better then that becomes a want not a need. A need is when you actually don't own a microphone but you need one for quality sound for your videos for example. If you can do without it you do not need it. Point number two can you afford it? Very essential. Affordability varies depending on where you find yourself in the world. You know I have come to realize that you know in some countries the credit system allows you to make certain purchases even when you don't have ready funds available for it. In Ghana and most African countries most things go against you in your purchase which makes it automatically easy to be very frugal in a way. Now we don't have a credit system and purchases here seldom come with payment plans so what are you going to do? Before you make any purchase you have to have the full funds already cast for it even if you're buying online it's direct debit. Going by this quote if you can't buy two of it then you can't afford it it's really important in this season. If you have saved purposely for this particular item and you're not digging into your emergency fund to buy it or make the purchase then that's absolutely fine but first make sure that it goes through the first step of asking yourself whether it's a want or a need. Now the third thing is accessibility or availability. This applies mostly to gear or you know things that we use for projects whatever that you want to purchase depending on how often you will be using it. Is it something that you can have access to without having to buy your own at a particular time? Like for example do you have to go and purchase your own C300 mark III for a client project now or you can rent it make the money and then save for yours later. Is it also readily available for rent and does it make sense to own yours if it doesn't then hey don't go and buy it which brings me to my next point the usability of the particular item. Usability is very important you know all these points tie into one another for example you're a youtuber and that's all you do predominantly you don't do any other thing you're not a filmmaker you're not a content creator with clients that have very specific needs which in my previous point maybe you can rent for for use let's just say you don't even have plans of going pro in filmmaking so for your daily or weekly vlog do you actually need something like the aperture for example 300d when the godos xl 60w would do the same job why go and buy something like you know black magic cinema pocket 6k when you seldom shoot 6k footage for yourself personally or because maybe you saw a pro you know review it and the pro's work was really nice if your need isn't up to what is being sold then get something within your user range it's very essential we are currently still you know consuming content in 1080 mostly so the most you have to get is a decent 4k camera like the m50 or something next point on the checklist is longevity all the things that exist will become obsolete or go out of fashion at some point we've seen it we're still seeing it the evolution of gadgets and where it's going every single week there's something new that is being thrown at us and if you must make a purchase try and get something that you know will stand the quality of time or some time get something that you can use between three and five years a long-term use item which you know is future proof that is something that you need to satisfy some work or some need for a very long time like i said in the previous point if you're not using the set thing every day to make your work easier and offer value that generates returns then you most likely don't need it why make that purchase so get something that will stand the test of time and make you more than its value in a space of say three to five years that is what you need so the last point on the checklist is the resale value of the item this mostly applies to gadgets or tech products you know it's what you're buying resellable in the future when you want to you know sell it off and replace it with another some things have very stable resale value like you know camera lenses a lot of new cameras are coming and going but a good glass is always gold so do your research on that particular item the brand the need for it the general need and of course there's the accessibility usability longevity resale value and see if it works for you before you fall victim to buying something or making some purchases that will leave you broke and unsatisfied so that's it from me for today enjoy the rest of your season make sure you're making the right decision when you're clicking buy and save yourself some money if you like this video click a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel if you already haven't done that my name is Kwame i'm a documentary filmmaker and photographer as well as a voiceover artist here in Accra Ghana and happy shopping or not