Call it my little psychological crutch.
I'm going to spend what I need to spend and I'll be OK with it but it can be a good, bad or neutral OK. It's probably an insecurity of mine but what I do in light of what others would do in my same situation has a bearing on how I'm going to end up feeling about it. For example, I really wanted a certain box set by jazz pianist Bill Evans. The going price for the box set online was around $80.00. I considered it but was reluctant to buy it at that price. If I did buy it at that price, I would be OK with it by virtue of springing for it at that price but it would have been a "bad OK". In talking about it with several people on a jazz chat board, several people purchased the set ranging from $60 to $75. If I bought it at this price, I would have been OK with it but it would have been a "neutral OK" because I would be doing about the same as many others out there. I waited it out for a while longer and ended up getting it new one on a one time only deal for $27!! In this case, it was a "good OK", ecstatic actually, because no one got it for that price. I don't know why I unnecessesarily torture myself in this way but so it is. I guess like many people, I want to feel good about what I end up doing.