I had been adding my purchases up in my mind, while I shopped down one aisle after one another, trying to stick to my budget. With joy in my heart, I piled my carefully chosen items on the check out belt. After the last item -- a head of lettuce-- is safely on the belt, a Diet Coke catches my eye. I am thirsty, I suddenly realize. And the Diet Coke is cold. I give in a buy 20 ounces of soda for $1.39. I could have bought four times the Diet Coke -- for much for less -- if I had gone back to buy the 2 liter.
My daughter heads to Kohl's to buy a new pair of jeans and comes home with a pair of jeans, a belt, and three shirts. "There was a great sale!" she explains to her confused father.
"I picked up this home repair book on the way out of Lowe's," my husband says later with delight. We already had a similar book in our home library, but he seemed to have forgotten.
We all make impulsive purchases. Usually they is always something on sale or something near the check-out lane. My husband had a lawn business during his seminary years. After a long day, he was hot and thirsty and stopped every afternoon at 7-11 for a Gatorade. This added up quickly to more than our budget could handle. Solution? We bought Gatorade powder at Sam's Club and he took it in a thermos, saving us lots of money in return.
Figure out what tempts you to spend impulsively. Once you find this out, it will keep you spending responsibly.
Avoid Temptation
My daughter heads to Kohl's to buy a new pair of jeans and comes home with a pair of jeans, a belt, and three shirts. "There was a great sale!" she explains to her confused father.
"I picked up this home repair book on the way out of Lowe's," my husband says later with delight. We already had a similar book in our home library, but he seemed to have forgotten.
We all make impulsive purchases. Usually they is always something on sale or something near the check-out lane. My husband had a lawn business during his seminary years. After a long day, he was hot and thirsty and stopped every afternoon at 7-11 for a Gatorade. This added up quickly to more than our budget could handle. Solution? We bought Gatorade powder at Sam's Club and he took it in a thermos, saving us lots of money in return.
Figure out what tempts you to spend impulsively. Once you find this out, it will keep you spending responsibly.
Avoid Temptation
Avoid situations where you are prone to spend impulsively. For me, that means avoiding the mall because I see all kinds of clothing and accessories that I want to buy. For Mary, it means packing a bag lunch when she takes her children on a field trip so she is not tempted to drive through at a fast food restaurant. For Brad, it means not browsing through the music catalog that comes in the mail. For Don, it means avoiding that cool Skycraft store.
Make Shopping Lists
Shopping with a list will help you to avoid impulsive spending, but only if you are careful to stick to your list. Making a list can change your financial life. You can make a list and then edit it before you even get to the store. Remember that the opposite of being impulsive is to be planned and purposeful. Decide what you need before you are face to face with the temptation to buy something you don't really need.
Use Cash Rather than Credit or Debit Cards
Impulsive spending can lead to debt, especially if we pull out our credit cards when we decide at the last minute to make a purchase.
Shop for Everything at Once
This is my best weapon to avoid impulsive spending. I try to take care of as much as possible in a single shot. The other day, I went to Khol's to get Hunter a birthday present, so I decided to buy all the birthday presents I needed for the month of August. I came home with several clearance sale items for friends and family members. I had planned to shop for all the birthdays at once, keeping me too busy to even notice something that I could buy for myself.
Okay, I actually did find three shirts, but I put them back. After all, learning to stop impulsive spending is a process. We work at it, fall down, and get back up and try again. Don't give up the fight against this bad habit. Together we can do it!
Merey (Meredith Ludwig Curtis)
Make Shopping Lists
Shopping with a list will help you to avoid impulsive spending, but only if you are careful to stick to your list. Making a list can change your financial life. You can make a list and then edit it before you even get to the store. Remember that the opposite of being impulsive is to be planned and purposeful. Decide what you need before you are face to face with the temptation to buy something you don't really need.
Use Cash Rather than Credit or Debit Cards
Impulsive spending can lead to debt, especially if we pull out our credit cards when we decide at the last minute to make a purchase.
Shop for Everything at Once
This is my best weapon to avoid impulsive spending. I try to take care of as much as possible in a single shot. The other day, I went to Khol's to get Hunter a birthday present, so I decided to buy all the birthday presents I needed for the month of August. I came home with several clearance sale items for friends and family members. I had planned to shop for all the birthdays at once, keeping me too busy to even notice something that I could buy for myself.
Okay, I actually did find three shirts, but I put them back. After all, learning to stop impulsive spending is a process. We work at it, fall down, and get back up and try again. Don't give up the fight against this bad habit. Together we can do it!
Merey (Meredith Ludwig Curtis)
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