Using up some annual leave from work today, before the year ended and I lost it, I decided to clean out "The Box Cupboard". You know, that one cupboard you have, where the boxes go when you buy things, because it might come in handy/the thing might break/some other reason.

Apart from realising that I have more USB HDDs that is probably sensible, through looking at the invoices neatly folded and kept in side the boxes, I've also discovered that not only am I probably more than a little OCD (or CDO, to arrange the letters in the correct order ;-p ), but when buying USB HDDs, I appear to have something of a mental block on the price of them.

Over time, when buying the external HDDs, I've accumulated various capacities, and also form factors, between 3.5 inch desktop USB HDDs which require a power supply, and 2.5 inch portable USB HDDs, which are powered over USB. Looking at the invoices, I've realised that despite varying disposable incomes, through various jobs, and with varying requirements (not including the obvious 'get the biggest capacity available' angle), it seems that I have something of a sweet spot, where I'll spend a certain amount of money, and get the biggest drive available at that cost.

Maybe it's just me avoiding the "latest and greatest" largest size, knowing very well that there will be a decent premium for picking up the only recently released X TB drive, but thinking about the various USB keys I've purchased over the years, I also have a (different) cost limit that I'll spend on these, which seems completely disconnected from my actual need, and any sort of budgeting in a "you only need a USB key half that size, so save a tenner and buy the smaller one".

There must be a name for this this sort of "buying based on perceived [cost|value], not related to actual need or budget" behaviour. And if not, there should be.