You meant to buy a single apple and you came out with a new 4K TV. How did this happen? Impulse buying. We all get the impulse to buy things. If you want to curb the habit, don’t even go in the store until you know exactly what you’re getting.
Photo by Jake Stimpson.
As personal finance site Money Ning explains, impulse shopping isn’t a habit that’s easily fixed with willpower alone. Sure, you might be able to pore over those fancy gadgets or browse the racks without buying something. If impulse buying is a weakness for you, though, the longer you’re exposed to store shelves without a plan, the more likely it is you’ll spend money you didn’t plan to spend. Rather than trust your future self’s judgment in the face of temptation, simply avoid going into the store without a plan for what you’re going to buy:
Curbing the impulse, then, is often about avoiding places where you are more likely to break down and give in to the impulse of the moment. Pay attention to where you are when you make most of your impulse purchases, and be on your guard. Shopping with a list, and adhering strictly to it can also help you reduce your impulse buys.
If you can’t create a list before you go into a store, then give yourself an impulse budget. Ask yourself how much you can spend without breaking your bank. Once you know that number, stick to it. Don’t decide how much you can “afford” while you’ve got that tempting deal in front of you. Plan ahead before you walk in the door.
How Do You Manage Your Impulse Buys? [Money Ning]
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One response to “Don’t Go Into The Store If You Don’t Know What You’re Buying”
* Create a list before you go into a store.
* Ask yourself how much you can spend without breaking your bank. Once you know that number, stick to it. Don’t decide how much you can “afford” while you’ve got that tempting deal in front of you.
* Plan ahead before you walk in the door.
I agree with your points above … These malls, supermarkets, companies have spend sooo much money to trick us to spend more.
We keep emptying our small wallets to be poured into their much deeper and bigger wallets.
My tricks are:
1. Have a solid unchangeable decision to not spend money. I know my burning desire (my deepest goal) to not spend money, so I am not tempted in any way to spend and/or over spend.
2. Know their tricks (like supermarket layouts, their selling/advertisement strategies) that will make you spend more. Arm yourself with this, so you won’t fall into their tricks.
3. Simplest way = carry just enough to buy what you need and what you plan for, do not carry credit card with you. You won’t overspend, simply coz you don’t have the $$.
I did that for many months, until I simply got into the habit of sticking to my budget, and not over spending.
I manage to save 75% of my income consistently for 3 years. Check out my new blog, it’s a work in progress, but it will give honest and tested tricks that help me to save 75% of my income.
Thank you.