Continuing the series of
posts about how this reformed shopaholic manages money.
One of thing I try to do when I'm shopping is ask myself is
it "Worth the money?” Worth the cash I'm just about to
hand over or a shiny. If I'd learnt to ask that year's
ago, I wouldn't have needed DA. But I didn't. So it goes.
Now, I try and work though these questions:
Can I afford it?
Do I have the money to pay for this? Will buying this
mean incurring debt? If no, then onto the other questions. If yes, then
tough luck.
Do I need it?
No? Nothing spent. If yes, then onto the next
question.
Do I already have something like it?
If yes, then nothing spent. I'm trying not to be
a weapon of mass consumption. If no, then on to the next question 4.
Is it well made? Will it last a long time? Is it a
classic I won’t get fed up with? Does it go with other things I own?
Does it make me want to sing and dance because it could be mine?
If the answer to all of those questions is yes, then onto
the next. There are other things that could be considered here as well,
like, Is this a company I want to give money too? If
that’s a no, then nothing spent.
Can I get this cheaper elsewhere?
Is this something I can only get here or will it be cheaper
somewhere else? Variants of this are Can I get something
similar that's cheaper that'll do the same job? and Could
I borrow one?
The killer question is always Is it worth the money I need to earn to pay for this?
Do I want to spend the hours needed working to get
this? Is it worth what they are charging? If the answer is no, then
nothing spent. Finally …
Sleep on it.
If I still feel the same the next day, go through the
questions again. If the answer is still yes, then I'll go back buy it.
If things look different in the morning, that's that.
This works reasonably well. There are two exceptions:
- eBay.
I set a limit and stick to it.
- Shopping
somewhere that I can’t go back to the next day.
If you're a fellow impulse shopper, this process might help
you too. Much of my debt was built on impulses - "Ohhhh,
the shiny! Must have the shiny!".
It’s good to have something in place to help control the
thing that got me to in debt. It’s good to know there is another way.
There are some great Tips
to Stop You Spending Money on Money Saving Expert. The
DeMotivator is my favourite. It convinced me to give up my every work day
Latte. £2.10 a day is £525 a year or a £23,625 over a working life.
Gulp! A tin of coffee and a contribution to the department milk fund
is way cheaper!
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