AVOID IMPULSE BUYING
It’s impossible to ignore the impressive array of random candies, magazine, and other junk that line every store checkout lane. These items are strategically placed here to catch your attention while you’re waiting to pay. These “impulse” items are still around because they work.
We as a culture just flat out buy too much shit. With Amazon on our phones and every store in every town, it’s too easy to buy whatever pops into our head and have it in our hands within hours or shipped to us overnight. When you had to travel long distances or wait weeks or months to buy a thing, it was much easier to practice self-control. Now, it’s up to us to curb our own purchasing habits.
So how do we make this a habit? Anytime you feel the urge to buy an item that isn’t a component of sustaining your life such as groceries, fuel, or utilities, start a 30-day timer.
If, after 30 days, you still feel like you need this item, go for it. Buy it with the knowledge that you spent a month deciding if this item was going to make your life better and then make sure it has every opportunity to do so. If you bought a new camera, schedule time to go out and take pictures. Better yet, start a Project 365 and never leave home without your camera.
Assuming you can afford that item without affecting your lifestyle, making yourself wait 30 days is one of the best ways to limit unnecessary crap that just ends up living in your closet or otherwise unused. Any free iPhone or Android “countdown app” (which usually count up as well) will track how many days it’s been since you felt the urge to buy a particular item.
Avoid buying things because you have a sudden urge to own it. It’ll pass. Use that money on things that actually make us happy like experiences and tools to be creative in whatever passions you keep.
No single item will be the source of our happiness in the big picture and in cases where you buy something and never use it, that thing may end up making you even more discontent. You can buy ten things on a whim, or skip the junk and buy better versions of the things that make your life better. Your call.
Download a free PDF copy of “The Essential Guide to Good F*cking Habits” at goodfuckinghabits.com/guide
