buy what I want

[Plain Old Petunia]

What are your goals and/or future plans? Are you making progress towards them? Ask yourself that if you are contemplating Jeans #11.

There is no right or wrong here, just choices. What do YOU want?

[Deleted]

Do not stop - the economy needs people to circulate money. We don't need it sitting in banks when banks are so tight to lend.

[dancinmama]

Jun 16, 2011 14:05:51 GMT -5 @tea4me said:

If there is something I want, and I can afford it, I buy it. I am mostly talking about clothing, kitchen items, or beauty supplies. Some may think it is no big deal since I am able to pay for. My issue is, some of these things I do not NEED.

If I see a shirt I like or a pair of jeans I like (and they fit good), I buy them. I am also a sucker for salon hair products.

How can I stop myself from buying things?

Is shopping a recreational activity/recreation for you. If you truly want to stop buying stuff that you don't need, don't go shopping and find something - a hobby or something to occupy your time. It's pretty much just that simple. When you do need something, go to the stores/shops that carry that item/product, buy it and don't go into the store next door or the one three doors down cuz you don't really NEED anything from those stores.

Hair products are expensive. Have you ever asked if they had samples of a product? Manufacturers usually put a toll-free number on their products. Call them and ask for a sample. If it is not possible to get a sample, ask what the return policy is. Tape the receipt to the product and keep it there until you've tried it and have decided that you want to keep it.

DH and I have the opposite problem. We both HATE to shop. Even going shopping for something WE WANT/NEED is a chore.

[tea4me]

Jun 16, 2011 15:45:50 GMT -5 lynnerself said:

OK, no more advice from me.
I just went home for lunch and counted.
I own 10 pair of jeans ( I was afraid it was more)
Skinny jeans, boot cut jeans, long jeans for heels, shorter jeans for tennis shoes, old ratty jeans for gardening and painting, a pair for when I am feeling fat, capri jeans and 2 pair I should get rid of because I will never be that skinny again.
I cant wear jeans to work, but here in the PNW I probably wear jeans almost every day.
The oldest are at least 15 years, the newest 1 month.
Cost between $20 and $75 each.
I do keep my jeans a long time, I probably buy a new pair every six months.

Thanks. That made me think. It's not like all of my jeans are new. Some are probably five years old. In 2011 I bought one pair of jeans and one pair of denim capris. Now I feel better.

[dividend]

If you can truly afford these purchases, why are you sweating it?
Although I suppose, if you're worried about them after the fact, maybe you can't really afford it?

I don't understand not being able to stop yourself, because there are so many non-passive choices you make in order to walk out of a store having made a purchase. You have to choose to go into the store in the first place, choose to try things on, then choose to spend the money to purchase them. At any of those decision points you can just decide to opt-out. Heck, you can even opt-out after the fact by returning whatever you bought. There's no magic bullet for this. You're essentially whining about having no self-control.

[tea4me]

"Heck, you can even opt-out after the fact by returning whatever you bought."

Ohhh . . . I do that a lot!!!

[Sum Dum Gai]

There's no magic bullet for this.

I don't know, I find it pretty hard to try on and buy clothes if I never go shopping or "just looking" in the first place. Then again, shopping for clothes has never been my thing. I do have this lunch habit that I find hard to break, and I'm sure people would say just start bringing a lunch with me. It sounds simple, hell it is simple, I just have a hard time actually doing it. We all have our little money vices.

[resolution]

Maybe you can join a no-spend month on the WIR board. They will give you lots of support and encouragement. You haven't said what your long term financial goals are but from your past posts you seem to want security and the freedom to leave your job. If you take the money you save from not shopping and invest it, that could help your sense of security and freedom.

[bring in the new year]

Tea4me,

My downfall is books.

Are you using either online banking or a Quickbooks?

The best solution I have is to put a new category in your spending categories - call them jeans, or hair products (or books) but break them out from clothing and groceries. Just allocate the spending as it comes in.

At the end of three months, look at the total. Now ask yourself what you could have spent that money on? Maybe you could have upped the EF or the IRA. Maybe you could have taken a cruise? Or a nice dinner out.

My guess is you have a feeling that this is wasting money - it's not a strong feeling because money's not tight. It's not something you want to give up completely because money's not tight. But if you know exactly how much you're spending compared to other amounts, you may decide you either can't live with that spending or it's in proportion to everything else you're doing.

If you decide it is too much, then the only solution I know is not to go into the store. Memorize the amount or write it down on a piece of paper so that if you do have to go into the store you can say to yourself. $xxx dollars would buy me a _______. Maybe look at as a percentage of your income.

And then ask yourself, if I had to cut expenses, would I cut them here or somewhere else?

Good luck either way.