resist the urge to impulse buy?

[MrDawn]

Have you ever resisted the strong urge to impulse buy?

If yes, what are some methods that you use?

 

[Dee]

Having worked retail (store associate and management) for a decade, you learn how companies use marketing strategies to get people to buy shit they don't need. Knowing these things helps a lot. Also, I just don't have a huge urge to buy stuff willy nilly either. My biggest weakness is action figures and journals, pens, etc. I will still convince myself I don't need those things right away because I already have stuff at the moment and don't need more.

 

[Cam's iconCam]

I used to easily resist this urge, and I was all about saving every dime I could. I have a little bit of trouble with it now, at least when it comes to inexpensive purchases. I at least have the sense to research pricing on something and finding the best deal.

 

[MamaFrankie]

Yes, I can resist for 2 reasons.

1) I have to watch my budget.
2) I operate on the principle that if you think about the future rather than the present, you will always have money.

 

[ElegantAura]

I don’t have trouble resisting impulse buys. Even lately, when I’ve been getting things more easily without overthinking, it’s usually stuff I actually need.
If I don’t have much, I definitely won’t buy anything.
I don’t follow any specific method, it’s just how I’ve always been. Growing up without much taught me to be careful with spending.
Even when I do buy something, it’s only after covering all necessary expenses, and I never spend all my savings.
I always think ahead and make sure everything important is taken care of first.

 

[The Jason]

I try to make good alternatives. For instance, I used to make tasty meals at home. It discourages eating out too much.

 

[Dinoking]

Well, once you run out of money, the impulse to purchase more and more fades off. You must remember that if you want to save money, then you must stop buying impulsively. This is one of the most important thing you should remember. Many people might be suffering from shopping addiction.

 

[passenger]

Having a Mother that pounded' "Sleep on it!" (or give yourself time to think it over) into my head at an early age.
Whenever I have made very stupid impulse purchases......There's Mom in my head yelling at me.

 

[leadconvert]

Oh god, yes - constantly! I'm terrible with impulse buying, especially online shopping late at night when my willpower is basically nonexistent. Like I'll have a whole cart full of stuff I definitely don't need and somehow convince myself it's all "essential."

I've had to develop some tricks to save myself from my own bad decisions. The big one is the 24-48 hour rule - if I want something, I bookmark it or leave it in my cart and wait at least a day. Half the time I completely forget about it, which tells me I didn't actually need it lol.

I also started unsubscribing from all those promotional emails because those flash sales would get me every time. "30% off for the next 6 hours only!" Yeah right, there's always another sale next week.

Another thing that helps is looking at my bank account before buying anything non-essential. Sounds obvious but it's amazing how I can mentally ignore my actual financial situation when I really want something. Seeing those numbers usually snaps me back to reality pretty quick.

The nuclear option is deleting shopping apps from my phone entirely, which I've done a few times when things got really bad. Can't impulse buy if you have to go through the hassle of re-downloading and logging back in

 

[passenger]

The big one is the 24-48 hour rule - if I want something, I bookmark it or leave it in my cart and wait at least a day. Half the time I completely forget about it, which tells me I didn't actually need it lol.

That's a 'biggie'!
I have found that Amazon's "Wish List" is pretty much essential for me & a very useful tool.