10 Tips To Prevent Impulsive Buying

Impulse Buying is one of the leading causes of death for the American bank account and pocketbook. Impulse buying is simply defined as making an unplanned purchase. This can be an extra pack of cookies when grocery shopping or buying a car on a whim. Most of us are guilty of this at one time or another. Even though the term is simple, it probably accounts for the majority of money problems people have. Here are 10 tips to prevent this dreaded wallet sucker:

1. Understand wants versus needs. If your shoes are falling apart and held together with duct tape, you NEED new shoes. If you have 12 pairs of new shoes still in the box in your closet, you don’t NEED new shoes, you WANT new shoes. Ask yourself this question before making a purchase, “Do I really need this?”

2. Avoid stores or store departments where you may lose control. If shoes are your weakness, stay away from shoe stores. If you compulsively buy CDs and DVDs, stay out of that section at WalMart.

3. Pay cash for all of your purchases. It is much harder to hand over cash than to swipe a credit card. Once the cash is gone, it is gone.

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