Do you feel the urge to splurge every time you walk into a store? Whether you love home décor, clothing, or books, we’re all susceptible to the desire to buy something we may not actually need. Giving into this urge, however, can spell disaster for your budget. How can you stop that impulse spending? Try implementing this 30-day rule to get your spending under control. Read on to learn how it works.
Imagine you’re walking through a store, and you find a gorgeous lamp that would look great in your living room, even though you already have two perfectly good lamps there. Before you put the lamp in your cart, stop. If you’ve already put it in your car, take it out and return it to the shelf. Take a picture of it, the product info, and the price with your smartphone, and leave.
Start a record, either in a note on your phone or on a piece of paper at home, about the item you’re interested in. In this case, it would be the lamp. Your listing should include:
The price of the lamp
A written description or a photo of the item
The name of the store where you found it
Do not take any action on the impulse purchase you’re considering for 30 days. Instead, wait it out. You can look on websites of other stores or check online retailers to see if anyone has it cheaper and take time to read reviews of the item. You can also research future sales at the store where the item (in this case the lamp) is sold so you can gain an idea of when you may be able to purchase it at a discounted price.
Once you’ve had a month to ponder whether you actually need the item, it’s time to make your decision. If you still believe that lamp will be the perfect piece for your living room and you must have it, then go ahead and buy it, as long as you can afford to pay for it right away. If you no longer feel quite as excited about the item, then skip it.
You may find that you forget about the item entirely during the 30 days and have successfully prevented yourself from spending that money unnecessarily.
Of course, not every scenario will fit neatly into the 30-day rule parameters. Here are a few special circumstances in which you may choose not to follow these guidelines.
Sometimes the appeal of an impulse buy is the amount of money you’ll save if you buy the item on sale right now. Before you make the purchase, get all the information you can to make an informed decision. Ask a salesperson:
How long the sale will last.
How much of the item they have in stock.
What their return policy is for items purchased during the sale.
Continuing our lamp example, if the store still has plenty of the lamps in stock, then take at least a day to think about it. You can still follow the suggestion of taking a picture and looking at it the next day. Do some online research to see who else carries the item and at what price. You may be pleasantly surprised and find that a different store carries it for an even lower price.
If no one else has the lamp listed for a lower price, don’t rush in and buy it just yet. Take a walk and get out of the store for at least an hour. If you still want the item, go back to the store and buy it, as long as you can pay for it up front.
If the store has a low inventory of the item you want (in this example, the lamp), then you may need to skip the 30-day rule. Ask the salesperson to put the lamp on reserve for you for the next hour and give yourself some time to think about it.
If the store has a no-holds policy, but they do offer a return policy, you may want to go ahead and buy the lamp. Keep the receipt handy during the return period so you can get your money back if you change your mind about the purchase.
If your spending habits have gotten a little out of control, these additional tips can help you get them back on track.
Bring your most frugal friend along with you on your shopping trips. They can remind you that while you may find a moment’s pleasure in purchasing the gold leaf lion statue, that high will only last until you get it home and remember you don’t have any other furniture that goes with gold leaf.
Keep your credit cards at home and use a debit card or only carry cash. You can’t overspend if you don’t have any “extra” money available.
If you’re a PSECU member, take advantage of the lock and unlock feature on your debit or credit card(s). Then, before shopping, lock your card. When you do this, you’ll have to take the time to log into your account and unlock it before you can make a purchase. Slowing down in this way can make you really think about whether you want to make this purchase.
Implement the 30-day rule and watch your budget recover from those previous impulse buys. Get more money management tips on our blog.