Money & mind · Module 3 of 4
The gap between wanting and buying
Why we buy on impulse, how stores nudge you, and simple ways to buy only what you really want.
Key terms in The gap between wanting and buying
- Present bias
Present bias is the tendency to give extra weight to rewards and costs that arrive soon compared with those that arrive later. Economists model it with hyperbolic discounting, in which the drop in value is steep over short delays and gentler over long ones. It can make plans and later behavior diverge, since a choice that seems sensible for the future feels different when the moment arrives.
Source: Federal Reserve Board, Hyperbolic Discounting and Uniform Savings Floors (FEDS 2007-59)
- Surveillance pricing
Surveillance pricing is the practice of using personal data, such as location, demographics, or browsing history, to set targeted prices for products or services. Two shoppers may see different prices for the same item depending on how they are categorized. The Federal Trade Commission opened a study in 2024 of the intermediary companies that build the tools sellers use for this kind of individualized pricing.
- Cooling-off period
A cooling-off period is a set window after a purchase during which the buyer may cancel without giving a reason. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission's Cooling-Off Rule requires sellers of consumer goods or services above a small dollar threshold, when the sale happens at a home or another place that is not the seller's regular business location, to give buyers three business days to cancel.
Source: Federal Trade Commission, Cooling-off Period for Sales Made at Home or Other Locations
Every term on Lever is in the money glossary.
About this module
The gap between wanting and buying is part of Money & mind, one of 15 subjects in Lever. It’s a short run of 6 lessons, about 15 minutes in all, so you can finish it in one sitting.
Every lesson takes one idea at a time. You read it with the math worked out step by step, answer a question that puts it to use, then see why the right answer is right and why the others aren’t.
It’s for anyone who was never taught this, and you don’t need to know anything first. Every lesson is free. Lever works out what you already know, so you can start here or let your path bring you to it.
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1
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2
Money and the people around you
Talking money with a partner or family, when one saves and one spends, and saying no kindly.
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4
Passing it on
Beneficiaries, wills made simple, and giving to the causes you care about.
5 lessons
Try this module
It’s part of Money & mind. Lever will bring it to you when you’re ready, or you can go straight there.