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Originally Posted by Willravel
It's not talking about the purchase, but the intended benefit. The physical benefit.
As Redlemon pointed out, even the dictionary demonstrates that "investment" does not always refer to a monetary investment. It's more about an intended beneficial outcome after spending or devoting something now. As such, it's entirely proper.
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Again, it's entirely proper....informally. The OED will tell you that specifically. The use of "investment" that you champion is a legitimate use of the word, but it is a poor choice if you were writing an essay, thesis, or business article in a prestigious magazine or journal.
What we are specifically debating here is the substitution of
invest with
buy. There are a few other uses of the word
invest, but here it is informal and should be avoided in formal writing. Don't write
invest when you really mean
buy. The reader might take this as the writer being pretentious, which is to be avoided. In your case, you can virtually discard the word
buy, as it can be argued that we buy things for an intended benefit pretty much every time we spend money. We wouldn't buy anything otherwise. (Of course, there are exceptions, depending on your spending habits.) This is why I consider this use of
invest to be informal. The problem with informal word usage is that it can confuse or otherwise sit awkwardly with the reader. Informal language degrades what would otherwise be good, solid writing.
I have a saying when it comes to word usage: "Why utilize
utilize when using
use will do?"