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Aug
26
Lead Me Not Into Shopping Temptation
Filed Under Saving Money
Greetings from New York City, the next (and next to last) stop on our sisters’ road trip. I spent today wandering the city and was consistently bombarded with buying messages until my head ached. Make it stop! I don’t want to spend money!
It occurred to me that there should be a list of tips, or questions to ask yourself, to nip that urge to buy impulsively right in the bud. So I asked a bunch of my frugalista friends how they cope with the desire to shop when they really should not. Here are some of their answers. Write them down on on an index card and, whenever you’re faced with the urge to splurge, take it out and ask yourself the following:
Why would I want to buy this thing when I am actively trying to save money?
What benefit would I get from buying this particular thing at this particular time?
Is this something that I need, that will go with other things in my home or closet, and that I will actually use?
Is this something that I cannot ever obtain anywhere else?
Is it a good buy?
Why do I want to deplete my cash (or run up my credit card bill) anyway? (This is the insightful, psychological question.)
By the time you get through these few thoughts, two things will happen:
1) You will have determined if you really want and need the item, and
2) You will have passed the crucial impulse-buying moment and you’ll be thinking more clearly.
At this point, you can choose — either you walk away, or you make your purchase, love it, and be clear of all guilt.
Either way, you will walk away happy with your choice.
Tomorrow, we head to upstate New York, the capital of fun, kitschy yard sale finds. I’ll be armed with cash, and searching for bargains that rival my best one ever, a vintage Louis Vuitton overnight bag I bought up there for $2.50!
Spending update — Having shelled out maybe another $50 for food and drink on Fire Island, (definitely easier if you’re not a drinker), and including a generous (if we do say so ourselves!) gift to our hostess, and gas and tolls to get to the city, we’re now up to about $800 for both of us, after more than two weeks. It’s good to have friends in high places.
For more how-to tips for drinking on a budget, click here.
Be back in few days from yard sale Heaven!
