Impulse buying is extremely difficult to conquer, with all the great deals, and fun items out there to have. However, if you are trying to live a frugal lifestyle, and save money and cut costs, it is probably one of the biggest money eaters there is.
With meal plans, budgeting, shopping lists and more, there is really no logical reason, why one would continue to impulse buy. For instance, if it is not on your grocery list, and you see it in the store, you didn’t need it anyway. It was not a part of your meal plan, it was not on your list, and while you could change things now, why? Wait until you have a coupon, or until your next meal plan. Then you can incorporate that into your meals.
Shopping for clothing can be the same way. For instance, say you are looking for a black shirt for work. You get to the store and you find one you love. But you also notice it comes in white, light blue and pink. It’s on sale, in fact, it’s on clearance. So what do you do? You decide to get all of them, or at least one more. What is that? It was an impulse purchase. Your original intention was to purchase one black shirt. You came home with a sack full.
If you belong to the deals boards here at Families, and are truly into coupon cutting, deal finding and stockpiling, then perhaps this won’t apply to you. Because typically those purchases are planned out and mapped so that the best deal can be had. But even these can go wrong. Do you really need 8 bottles of a shampoo that you have never tried before? Does it really matter if it was $2 for all 8? No, I suppose for some it does not matter that you only spent $2 and got eight bottles of shampoo, however is it necessary? What if you don’t like the shampoo? Then you are stuck with seven and a half bottles of shampoo you might never use. But you were only down $2 right? Yes, well that’s correct, except that the $2 adds up. If you do this frequently, and purchase items you really don’t need, no matter what the deal, you aren’t saving money at all.
Resisting the temptation to make impulse purchases, takes a lot of will-power and strength from within. However, if you truly want to save money, not spend on items you aren’t sure you really need, and see a true difference in your budgeting, you should always resist.
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