Control impulse shopping

There’s nothing wrong with spending money—that’s what it’s for, after all. It’s easy to spend mindlessly, though. To get into the habit of spending with a purpose, ask yourself this question before you fork over the cash: how will the purchase improve your life?

As personal finance writer Trent Hamm points out, this is a really simple question to encourage spending according to your priorities. Hamm writes:

In other words, if you were to exchange an amount of money equal to the price of that item, does your life end up better than if you kept that money in your pocket?

It’s a question I use all the time when it comes to the non-essential purchases in my life, things from meals eaten at restaurants, gadgets, beverages, entertainment items, and so on, and using that question seriously is a valuable part of my financial arsenal...Needs almost make the question seem silly. Important wants make the question seem worthwhile but you begin to see how this item actually is important to you. Trivial wants – which is what most wants really are – begin to look terrible.

Of course, not all purchases are going to have a clear answer. A pack of gum isn’t necessarily going to make your life better, but you probably don’t want to spend too much time deliberating over a $2 purchase. When you’re truly wavering on and unsure about an item, though, this question puts you in the right frame of mind for more conscious spending. Check out the full post at the link below.

This one is hard for me because stuff actually makes me really happy, and not just in the buying part (which I’ve toned down a ton since I was at my spending worst) but it makes me really happy every time I see/use the item. I try to stick to items I’ll see often or use often like the Black Widow Lego keychain I just got. I used to have a wonderful Lego Xwing pilot/Luke but it has been years since he had any limbs and looks horrible. Since I see it frequently and it gives me joy to see my little black widow I finally gave in and got it the other day at downtown Disney. (Hub got spiderman.) Considering we spent the day saying no to way worse I’ll take it as a win.

I still need to be super careful about such urges,especially since San Diego Comic con is coming up and I have a fairly strict budget for it. But when talking non happy making items I'm pretty good these days at telling myself no and convincing myself by using a similar line of questioning.

Source http://twocents.lifehacker.com/control-impulse-spending-by-asking-how-a-purchase-impro-1783420951