A Practical Way To Avoid The Urge To Impulse Buy

Many people often fall into the trap of impulse buying: it could be in the form of attractive clothing that you have done without for a long time but think for the sake of nostalgia or brand name you should have. It might be something else for you, but what happens often is that impulse buying occurs because a perceived drop in the price of a particular object makes its value seem to outweigh the stress and expense it takes to acquire the item. For clothing, it might be on sale or have a huge discount, making it seem like you are buying more for less. 

There is often a rush to get items on sale, which often leads to a stressful and sometimes embarrassing scramble for items. However, impulse buying could also result from having excess money on you at a given shopping moment. But stressful situations also contribute immensely to why you make impulse purchases as Harvard Harvard Business Review has noted that our brains react differently in stressful situations like sales. Simply avoiding crowded shopping areas would be of benefit to your account. Also, remember you are not the only one who has to deal with impulse buying, but what can you do about it?

The solution to this problem lies in asking questions. Ask yourself, “Would I buy this in any other circumstance?” With this question, you can take a few seconds actually to process the response and think things through. A less critical but valuable question is, “Does this piece fit into my wardrobe?” This is product-dependent, but does it fit what you already have? Is it replacing something old? You should not make that purchase if your answer is no to both questions.