Curb your inner child when you are out shopping, or you could spend more than you should.
Even as a mature, frugal living adult, I confess that there are some times when my inner child wants to sabotage our budget. This happened just the other day when we did some shopping at our local warehouse store. Although there are some great bargains to be found there (click here to learn about the top frugal picks), there are also many temptations.
When we first walked in to the store, the first thing we are presented with is not groceries, but electronics and entertainment. Now usually, we can window browse without a problem, but on this particular day, I was feeling snubbed by my library which cancelled a request I had for a DVD. There was no explanation for the request, although perhaps the DVD went lost or something such as that. So, when I headed over to the movie section, I thought “Hmm, I could just buy it here and have it!” The price was the best one I had seen on this particular DVD. Ah, justification. My pouty little inner child kept saying “I want it! I want it!” This was followed by “Everyone else has it!” (Someone came up while I was contemplating and happened to snap a copy off of the shelf) and “Don’t I deserve a reward?”
Now so you don’t get too frightened, I have to let you know that this dialogue was on entirely in my head and occurred in about five seconds flat. I wasn’t shouting back and forth to myself in the aisle, else my husband would have carted me off to the funny farm for sure.
But, I thought more about what was going on in my head. If my own real children were to throw such a temper tantrum, would I give in? Probably not. So why should my inner child get away with such an act? It didn’t.
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t treat yourself, but make sure it is done for the right reasons, or all of those purchases could add up quickly. Be ware of your inner child when you are out shopping.
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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