Start a list of all the items you’ve purchased in your past that you later realized were a waste of money. Keep this list handy and add to it whenever you remember another item.

Think about this list every time you’re considering a new purchase. If you’re like most people, ninety percent of your impulse buying is unnecessary.

If you’ve lived this long without something, you probably don’t need it now. If you think you really need it, take a 48-hour cooling off period – walk away for 2 full days. If you still think you need it, go ahead and buy it (if you can afford it, of course, and we’re not talking about racking up your debt here – we’re talking cash). You may still find it on your “waste of money” list – but it’s less likely.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 15th, 2010 at 9:25 am and is filed under Budget & Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.