Think about any significant purchases you have made that have required compromise on your part—perhaps a car, a house, a set of furniture, a new computer or other electronic device, or even your decision to pursue a college education. When you were considering your purchases, what trade-offs did you think about? In other words, what were the compromises or sacrifices you had to make in order to acquire the thing you wanted to purchase? How did the trade-offs influence your choices?

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Choose a recent purchase of yours to consider for your initial response to this Discussion prompt. Try to use an example in which the compromises were either clearly worth it—or clearly not worth it. Consider your reasons for making the purchase and how you weighed the pros and cons of your decision.
• Review the Academic Writing Expectations for 1000-Level Courses, provided in this week’s Learning Resources.

By Day 3

Post a 150- to 225-word (2- to 3-paragraph) explanation of what the opportunity costs of your purchase were. In the end, was it worth it? Why or why not? To support your response, be sure to reference at least one properly cited scholarly source.

Read some of your colleagues’ postings.

By Day 5

Respond with at least 75 words (1 paragraph) each to two or more of your colleagues’ postings by comparing or contrasting the consumption decision (i.e., the decision to make the purchase) you and your colleague described. For example, did you and your colleague face similar or different opportunity costs? How did factors such as income, family, and job situations affect opportunity costs and decision making?