An Impulse Buy Is Never A Good Buy

The following is a guest post from Lynn Truong at Wise Bread.

There are a lot of ways to save money in all aspects of our lives. Whether it's groceries (buy generic, buy in season), around the home (insulate, use energy-efficient-whatever), or anything else you have to purchase (buy used, double coupons, reward credit cards), there are always a list of tips to cut those costs and save money.

But usually those aren't the things that got people into a financial mess in the first place. Those are great tips for people who are living a frugal lifestyle and want to improve on what they're already doing well. The thing that gets people in trouble are the impulse buys.

Impulse buys come in a variety of forms. I'm not talking about buying that trashy magazine every week while standing in line for $4.95 when you could subscribe and get it for $1. I'm talking about clicking through to a "big sale" from a newsletter or ad. I'm talking about "window shopping" and seeing a pair of boots you have to have. I'm talking about seeing your neighbor bring home the biggest and latest 3D TV and you jumping online to see if you can afford one too. This also happens when you go car shopping and are sold on extra bells and whistles, house hunting and convinced to bid on a slightly bigger and pricier home, wedding planning and allowed to go over budget in every line item because...it's your special day.

When you give into an impulse buy, you are sacrificing your long term goals. You are taking money that you had reserved for the future (because you weren't planning to spend that money any time soon), and spending it on a momentary (and fleeting) desire. A "deal" is no justification to spend the money. It's never a good deal if you hadn't planned on spending that in the first place. It's never a good deal when you hadn't given yourself the opportunity to consider whether you need it, decide on the appropriate budget for it, and prepare for the cash outflow.

Not surprisingly, the biggest deterrent to impulse spending is simply time. If you can insert some time between the impulse and the buying, you will most likely lose interest. Here are some ways to do that.

1. Create an obstacle to your payment method.

Freeze your credit card in a block of ice. Put it in a hard to reach place (I once had a piggy bank that required a screwdriver to open). Switch to using cash instead of credit cards. And never keep your payment info stored in your online accounts, so that you can just click "buy" without even getting a credit card from your wallet!

2. Make yourself do a chore you hate first.

Vacuum every room in the house. Get on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Clean the refrigerator. If you have to jump through a few hoops in order to buy this thing, you may find that it's really not worth the effort. If it's not worth the effort, it's definitely not worth the unplanned cash outlay.

3. Run a timer.

The sale will still be there in an hour. Make yourself wait a specific amount of time. Don't leave the page up on the computer. Close it. Set the timer. Do something else. You probably won't even remember what those boots look like when the timer goes off. Remember, you weren't thinking about them just 20 minutes ago. 20 minutes later, you'll easily forget about them, too.

4. Justify it in writing.

Keep an impulse buy notebook. Write down the item and cost, and why you should buy this thing right now (or why it's okay to break your established budget by spending more on it than you had anticipated). Explain in detail how it's going to make your life better and why what you currently have (or what the lower cost version) can't satisfy your need. Then, read through the last five impulse buy pages and ask yourself is those purchases were worth it.

It's hard to fight that impulse. It's a very strong emotion and we hate delayed gratification. But practice creates habit and over time, the impulse buy will become less alluring and before you know it, it won't even occur to you to buy something so spontaneously.

Comments

[Nick]

I like avoiding everything within 10 feet of the register.... It's a silly rule, but it helps with some impulse shopping.

[Matt]

Major and minor purchases require though and research of which I try my best to do as much as I can.

When I don't I am disappointed.

Enough said.

[Nate]

Good list of advice! I especially like the “do a chore you hate first” option; I use that one all the time :0) Another good option is asking the advice of someone in your life who is financially responsible what they would do. My best friend and I have been “financial accountability partners” for about 3 years now (ever since we took the Dave Ramsey course together). He calls me all the time and asks me if an impulse purchase is a good idea. Many times he tries to justify the purchase HAHA! It is really funny when I listed for 3 minutes and then tell him (with love), “that purchase is a dumb idea – WALK AWAY. Don’t you remember you want to build a house for your family in a couple years?”. He of course has done the same thing for me on many occasions as well :-)

Great article thanks. Cheer!!

[Kolton @FMT]

I used to fall victim to impulsive spending all the time. Just the other week I was shopping with my girl and I loved a dress up shirt for work. I fell in love with it as soon as I laid eyes on it, but it turns out that it was an $80 dollar shirt!! That is crazy. But, I still managed to take it off the rack and stood in line with the shirt in hand. I ended up putting it back because I knew I would be purchasing off impulsive emotions. We came back to the same store about a week or so later and the exact shirt was on sale for $40 50% off! I thought WOW I am so glad I waited to buy this shirt. So I stood there in line with the shirt in hand. But then again it hit me that I was buying from excitement and if they put the shirt on sale once, it will probably go on clearance by the beginning of the summer. That's what I think it is all about is being patient. Eventually things don't sell because no one wants to spend $80 on a shirt, and it eventually goes down to it's lowest price possible!

[CLM in ND]

Oh, I don't know. If it's under $1.00 every now and then, no big deal. Many a time I've bought an Oh Henry! candy bar at the grocery store check out & later when I eat it, I'm glad I bought it.

[CLM in ND]

Sorry; I just reread to first part of the article. Nevermind!

[JP]

I've heard that a good way to curb this is to wait 1 day for every $100 the purchase costs.

So, if you wanted a $300 PS3, you should consider the purchase for a minimum of 3 days once you have the impulse to buy it.

[texashaze]

Good read, but who has time to make an "impulse notebook"? That's a bit on the neurotic side of things if you ask me.

[Jonathan]

texashaze, I actually think that's a great idea - not just to avoid needless purchases but to gain a greater understanding of yourself. I think there would be a lot of value in being able to "catalog" the emotions of the moment drawing me to a purchase, and then later on to review those thoughts with the advantage of hindsight. Did that purchase (if you made it) live up to the value you thought it might at the time? If you didn't, do you wish you had purchased it? This seems like it would be especially helpful for someone with a spending problem to kick that habit once they see a pattern develop.

[Arimack]

Great advice for people who don't already read your blog! This is for those without financial discipline (again we are not talking about buy breath mints or candy while in line at the groccery store.) These are all "tricks" for those who lack self control. Most of us, your readers, spend our time figuring out ways to save on all of our large purchases and most of our smaller ones. I do not think many of us suffer from this problem.

[Azra Panjwani]

I think these are all great suggestions and more often than not, I've found that when I wait at least a week before making any big purchase 'impulse' decision, I find that more often than not my craving for that item is gone. As far as the little psychological tricks such as freezing your cards in a block of ice go….we've got these handy stickers that we offer to our users. They covers up your credit card number and the scanning strip to help you curb your spending.

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