Every year, a new phone comes out. Every year, the Gulf professional finds a reason why their current phone – which works perfectly – is no longer adequate. 120 rials a month for 24 months. For a phone replaced in 12 months.

The phone isn't really the point. It's a visible signal of where you are in life. The upgrade is about keeping up.

A phone is a tool. Replace it when it stops working – not when a newer version is released. Keep it 3–4 years, not 1.

Our fifth mistake is the smallest one financially. But it might be the most revealing one psychologically.

The annual phone upgrade.

[The Mistake]

Every year a new phone comes out. And every year the Gulf professional finds a reason why their current phone — which is working perfectly — is no longer adequate.

The camera is slightly worse. The processor is slightly slower. The software is one version behind.

So they sign up for installments. One hundred and twenty rials a month for twenty four months for a phone that will be replaced in twelve months.

[The Recognition]

The phone is not really the point.

The phone is a visible signal of where you are in life. The upgrade is not about the camera. It is about the feeling of keeping up.

The problem is that feeling costs money every month. And next year there will be a newer phone and the cycle begins again.

[The Lesson]

A phone is a tool. Tools should be replaced when they stop working — not when a newer version is released.

Keep your phone until it genuinely cannot do what you need. On average that is three to four years — not one.

More importantly — ask yourself honestly what the upgrade is really about. If the answer is not the phone — address that thing directly instead.

[Close]

Next week — Gulf professionals and their relationship with wasta.

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