We’ve all been there, shopping around for something when something else catches our eye. We find that although we have lived without it for a lifetime, we still need to have that thing and have it now. So it ends up in our hands or cart, and our money ends up out of our bank account.
Impulse buying can really rob you of your financial security, if it goes unchecked. All of those “little” purchases can certainly add up. It is best to avoid impulsing buying as much as you can. And so, I offer the following four ways to avoid impulse buying.
1) Recognize those items that most often become impulse buys. Avoid going down the aisles or sections where these items are kept, if possible. Or recognize that these items are impulse buys and not necessities. Some of these impulse buying items include:
Magazines
Snacks and drinks
Candy bars and gum
Videos
Books
2)Sate your hunger before you shop. This is a good idea whether you are going grocery shopping or retail shopping. Make sure you have a good meal before shopping for food, so you can avoid throwing things into your cart because they look good and you are hungry. Going to a bookstore? Stop at the library for the latest books before you go. Hitting the home improvement store? Try to schedule a garage, basement or tool clean-out so you can see how much you already have.
3) Stay out of the stores. If you never go into the stores, then you never will buy anything. Of course this isn’t always practical, but you can limit your shopping trips to once a week, once every two weeks or even once a month. You’ll have less opportunity to purchase things on impulse.
4) Don’t browse for entertainment. Going to the mall is not a sport. Avoid browsing through stores when you are bored. You’ll probably wind up buying something that you don’t need. Instead, call a friend and get together, go for a walk, etc.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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