Have you controlled your urges?

[Outdoorsygal]

I'm tyring to stomp the urge to get an Oculus Rift VR headset or HTC Vive. My friend was visiting from CA and brought his HTC with him. First time I was able to try it. INCREDIBLE. I was so blown away I went home (10 min away) and grabbed my two oldest kids (9 and 10) and let them try. It was so much fun. But it's hard to swallow spending 700-800$, even used on ebay, plus needing to spend another 200$ for a PC video card good enough to run it. I'm thinking this might be next years Christmas gift.

It does seem like something your entire family can enjoy. 5 days ago I stopped buying a chocolate bar every morning and not drinking a second cup of coffee on weekends.
I feel GREAT. Much more focused. Got in that horrible habit a few months ago. All bought at the gas station.
I think we save about an extra $10 week this way. Just an idea

[FLA]

I liked to hit the clearances after Christmas when the kids were younger and I needed work clothes. But over the past 5-10 yrs or so, I've grown to detest shopping. I live 5 miles from one of those destination malls with a bowling alley and lots of high end stores and I only go there a few times a year at most.

I try to get my clothes on Lands End when they are 40% off including off of clearance items. The clothes are not as high quality as they used to be but they seem better than the average retailer, they last a long time.

other stuff, I compare the price to Amazon and Amazon usually is close enough or even better when you factor in time and gas.

[feh]

No urges here. Haven't seen any stores or sales. I guess ignorance is bliss.

+1

Advertisements fly right past me; I don't even notice them.

[scfr]

Nope. My husband & I will go to the Dillard's New Year's Day sale. It's become an annual tradition since we learned about it a couple years after moving to Texas. We will be waiting outside before the doors open. Everything already on clearance an additional 50% off. The main thing we buy is gifts for DH's business customers, but I will also look for work clothes, shoes, and pajamas.

You know what, the more I think about it, the more I think that YES we have controlled our urges even though we are going to post-holiday clearance sale later today. My work wardrobe is woefully thin (got a 2nd job this year that requires a slightly more formal style of dress than my other job) but I've been delaying buying anything new because I've been waiting for this particular sale. I even pre-purchased gift cards at a discount that we'll be using. And DH buys business gifts every year at this sale that he'll use on business trips later in the year.

So while we'll be spending money at a post-clearance sale, and we don't know exactly what we'll be buying until we get there (for example I'll look for shirts that fit and are a great deal rather than looking for a specific brand or style), a fair bit of advance planning has gone in to it.

[disneysteve]

You know what, the more I think about it, the more I think that YES we have controlled our urges even though we are going to post-holiday clearance sale later today.

I don't think "controlling your urges" means never shopping again. Obviously, we all need to shop. We need to buy clothes. We need to buy shoes. We need things for our homes.

Controlling the urges, to me, means not shopping just to shop. Every two or three years, I go clothes shopping. I'll go out with the intent of replacing some things and updating my wardrobe. I'll start by checking what I need. Which pants are getting worn out? What color shirts am I lacking? Then I'll head to the store (typically the Van Heusen outlet personally) and pick up what I need. I'll spend $200-300 and I'll be done. I won't browse the outlet mall. I won't even browse within the one store. I'll only look at the racks of the things I went there for and get what I need.

[Nutria]

Controlling the urges, to me, means not shopping just to shop. Every two or three years, I go clothes shopping. I'll go out with the intent of replacing some things and updating my wardrobe. I'll start by checking what I need. Which pants are getting worn out? What color shirts am I lacking? Then I'll head to the store (typically the Van Heusen outlet personally) and pick up what I need. I'll spend $200-300 and I'll be done. I won't browse the outlet mall. I won't even browse within the one store. I'll only look at the racks of the things I went there for and get what I need.

You're a hunter, not a gatherer of fresh berries...