The Sunk Cost Spiral: Why You Keep Throwing Good Money After Bad
“I’ve already spent this much… might as well finish it.”
The Fallacy You Can’t Escape
For more on how regret compounds, see Regret Inflation, False Frugality Trap, and I Should Have Known Better.
Humans hate waste. Your brain wants to “rescue” a bad decision by spending more to fix it.
This is the Sunk Cost Fallacy—one of the oldest tricks in regret psychology.
Common Sunk Cost Scenarios
- Keeping subscriptions because you “already paid for them.”
- Throwing repairs at an old car you should have ditched long ago.
- Staying in courses, jobs, or relationships because you’ve already “invested too much.”
The Exit Plan
The brutal truth:
Your past money is gone. You’re only deciding whether to lose more.
- Forget the past. Ask: “Would I spend on this today knowing what I know now?”
- Cut mercilessly. Stop throwing money at problems disguised as solutions.
- Document it. Keep a simple “Lost Cause List.” It helps stop future spirals.