Temptation

[skives]

How do you guys/gals avoid temptation to buy things? Small or big things.

[scfr]

How do you guys/gals avoid temptation to buy things? Small or big things.

Revisit the desired purchase in a week or two, to see if you still really want it or if it was just a passing fancy.

[ua_guy]

How do you guys/gals avoid temptation to buy things? Small or big things.

It's a discipline that takes practice. You basically trust yourself that you don't truly need it, or that you're better off letting more and more time pass before purchasing. Change how you are thinking, and sometimes the desire to purchase just vanishes. It's not always easy to do, or to change your frame of mind.

I'm working on this myself and I have a myriad of things going on in my personal life right now, so the temptation to make a big purchase is looming/threatening off in the distance, as history has proven itself time and time again. "Retail therapy." Usually it's a car. This time I'm hoping I can rise above it.

[disneysteve]

How do you guys/gals avoid temptation to buy things? Small or big things.

#1: Don't go shopping. I find that if you stay out of the stores and malls, you are much less likely to buy things you don't need. I very rarely go into a store when I'm not on a mission to find something particular. When I do go, I don't spend a lot of time browsing around. I head to the department I need, get what I came for, and leave. It drives my wife crazy .

#2: Don't watch too much TV and when you do, ignore the commercials.

#3: If you read the paper, ignore the ads. Don't browse through store flyers in the Sunday paper unless you are actually shopping for something particular. In our house, the store flyers go straight into the recycling bin unread.

#4: Don't hang out with folks who live to shop. If all your friends talk about is what they've purchased recently and who has what sale this week and stuff like that, you're going to get sucked into it.

#5: Always remind yourself that it isn't a good deal if you don't need it. Even getting something for free is a waste if it's something you didn't actually want in the first place.

[bjl584]

A cooling off period always helps. Don't buy impulsively. Sit and think on a purchase for a few days or weeks. More often than not you will discover that you probably really don't need or want what it is you were thinking of buying.

[Fishindude77]

I grew up with a few kids who were smart with their money from very early on, but most of us were pretty stupid about it for a period, made some dumb moves and smartened up over time. Heck, I bought a brand new car right out of high school, and leased a few vehicles too. Never owned them, just rented them and paid a bunch of interest and high priced insurance.

Started getting smart about things after marriage and kids. Everything is cash & carry now. If we can't pay for it, we don't get it. About the only thing I might consider borrowing any money for now would be some investment real estate.

[MonkeyMama]

Stay out of the stores in the first place. I think that is a biggie, along with avoiding advertisements if you are susceptible to them.

We pay cash for everything. I think planning and saving prevents the vast majority of impulse buys. It's an automatic cooling off period. I guess also helps you to prioritize. By the time we get around to the things lower on our priority list or that take longer to save up for, often we forget about those things or no longer want to buy them.

[snafu]

You might find reading one of financial gurus Dave Ramsey's books helpful. In his opinion “We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like.” In my experience, impulse purchases are nearly always disappointing, we get so much more from items that were 'on the list', researched so that it delivered what was needed/expected for the best price .

I believe as adults we are able to delay gratification a bit to check out choices. You can start by asking yourself...'is this a need or a want?' 'What is the worst thing that would happen if I didn't have this item?' Just add the item to a list on your cell phone. After you've checked it out, as good for it's group, best price etc, decide what you'll give up in planned purchases and most important what existing, similar item you'll immediately relinquish to follow the 'new item in, old item out' philosophy to keep the volume of stuff equal.

[JoeP]

Avoid situations that trigger temptation, just like someone who has an addiction would.

Ask yourself if the money you spend on it is actually worth it. "Worth" mean different things to different people, so there is no right answer.

Example:
Some people spend $600+ a month on car payments, just to drive an expensive import. Not judging, for them it might be worth the money. Personally, after a month of driving, I can't fathom ANY car that I'm willing to drop $600 compared with my $0....and continue that payment for years.

Also, as an aside, there is nothing I want at this point in my life, besides the ongoing small necessities: clothing refresh, a few yard tools, maybe a few small things from the hardware store to help me organize my garage and basement.

[Drake3287]

Easy, make yourself a budget and put a certain amount aside each paycheck for all your needs and projected costs. Anything left over is free money to spend on toys or what ever. It's worked well for me for many years. People make fun of how I do it but I get the last laugh with always having money to spend and money in the bank.

Out of each paycheck I have a cheat sheet that I put a dollar amount on, X amount for mortgage, X amount for car loan, X amount for savings, X amount for car insurance etc.......Anything I have left over or isn't used during a pay period goes into my "extra" column for just plan stuff.

[Nutria]

#1: Don't go shopping. I find that if you stay out of the stores and malls, you are much less likely to buy things you don't need. I very rarely go into a store
[snip]
#5: Always remind yourself that it isn't a good deal if you don't need it. Even getting something for free is a waste if it's something you didn't actually want in the first place.

There are very wise points.

(To avoid TV, subscribe to Netflix or buy TV series a season at a time on DVD. For example, my kids love WKRP In Cincinatti, and each episode only cost 85 cents. They also like McHale's Navy, Gilligan's Island, Mork & Mindy, Happy Days, etc. Sometimes I bomb, though: they aren't too enthused with I Dream Of Jeannie.)

[marvholly]

I keep a multi-list shopping list: groceries, household wants & needs, clothes……….

If it is not on the list I cannot buy it. I can add it to the list and buy it in a week or 2.

[ktmarvels]

Another thing that helps is to have clear priorities/goals. I didn't really understand that one until a couple of months ago when I realized my 2-3 major life goals are to 1. Become financially independent (or retire, but hubby doesn't like that word), 2. Travel the world, and 3. Raise a child.

A friend happens to have the same bedroom set as us was talking about how he was going to buy a new one. I realized that ours is nearly 10 years old and quickly began to fantisize about how good it would look and how much fun it would be to redecorate the whole bedroom. Then I realized that we have a perfectly good bedroom set and spending that money wouldn't get me any closer to our goals. Oddly enough this has even helped quell smaller purchases such as clothing when I have a whole closet full.

On the flip side this has been a very expensive month for travel as we have trips to Australia, Maui and Oregon planned in the next 3 months. But since it works towards my goals (and we have the money saved in a travel account), I'm not batting an eye.

[disneysteve]

this has even helped quell smaller purchases such as clothing when I have a whole closet full.

I'm the same way, which is why so many of my clothes are 10 or 15 or 20 years old. For me to buy something new, it needs to really appeal to me. Many times, even when I go out specifically looking to buy a certain item, I come home with nothing because I just don't find anything that I like enough to spend the money.