What is mindless spending?

Mindless spending refers to making purchases without fully considering their necessity or value, leading to unnecessary expenses and potentially financial strain. Brad Barrett highlights the issue of spending more money to derive satisfaction or justify decisions, yet not gaining extra value from such expenditures. For example, buying a $1900 treadmill when a $900 one would serve the same purpose can be seen as mindless spending because it doesn't provide additional utility 1.

Cait Flanders adds an example from her life, describing how she would impulsively buy books online without considering when she would actually read them. This habit led to owning many unread books and unnecessary spending. She emphasizes the importance of pausing and questioning the necessity and timing of purchases to avoid mindless buying 2.