We’ve all done it. Seen that gadget in the window: the ice cream bar. The shirt or shoes we just had to have. Perhaps the latest movie or computer monitor at some price we just can’t pass up.
Then, a few hours or days later, we say to ourselves… Why? Why did I buy that. I didn’t want it, I didn’t need it… It was a waste of money.
When the inevitable pangs of guilt hit just as you dig your fingernails into the packaging around your latest gadget, you know you’ve probably made a rushed, financially unhealthy impulse purchase. One easy way around this is to implement a “$100 rule,” in which any purchase price is divided by that amount and considered for that many days—a $400 XBox 360 gets considered for four days, a $1,400 shiny new laptop is delayed for two weeks – time to be spent researching and looking for better deals.
Obviously, the scale of the item matters too. A chocolate bar divided into $100 gives you… About 20 minutes. You could do that during your grocery shopping – but the idea here is that you have to think about the guilty feelings before you buy the item!
If you have to, scale the rule down to $50. That will give you plenty of time to research better prices or deals before giving in and splurging.
Readers: What’s your method? Do you have a preferred system or habit to counteract the impulse buy? Share it in the comments!
