Some words trigger you — they excite you to the extent that you want to spend, right now, eagerly, whatever is in your pocket, or your credit card.
In his book, Brainfluence, Roger Dooley, mentions the magical power of some words on our brain. I could also say I recently discovered one word that works like magic. Read on to find out.
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Impulse buying can be triggered by many things, but one of the most prominent reasons is to feel good, as in retail therapy. On the flip side though, when you don’t have the money and still make the purchase let’s say on credit, you end up feeling worse, you feel the “buyer’s remorse”, regretting what you just bought - later when you go home.
Impulse buying has left so many people in debt, making them buy things they don’t need, and sometimes not use it altogether. With today’s buying on credit availability, if you are not careful, impulse buying could lead to serious repercussions of not only debt but also your psychological well-being.
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The moment you start getting your first paycheck and setting up your bank account, you find yourself bombarded with credit card salesmen trying to make you sign-up for one.
For the most part, they are free, so you say, “why not?”
But then again, you find yourself approached by some other banks who want you to sign-up for their credit cards as well.
“With our credit card, you get miles, you get free access to airport lounges, you get special discounts and offers, you get to pay now for specific merchants and install the payment in 6 months with 0% interest rate, you get, you get… and then you get some more.”
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Just to be clear, I love ice-cream, chocolate and honey.
– Ice-cream makes a good day beautiful
– Chocolate is practically an addiction to me
– … And I use honey either for my avocado smoothie or my morning oatmeal
That doesn’t negate the fact that I have bought those items when I didn’t need them at the time.
Sometimes it’s just about maintaining a healthy diet and staying slim.
In an earlier blog post when I started the #savingmode journey, I spoke about how I bought ice-cream even though I didn’t want to. Well, I wanted the red-velvet ice-cream, but it wasn’t there. I just bought ice-cream because I was given so many samples to try. It wasn’t a calorie justified decision.
I didn’t know why though I bought the ice-cream anyway.
But now I do.
I also didn’t know why I bought the peanut milk chocolate at the supermarket, even though I promised myself to only get dark chocolate to stay, well, “healthy”.
I didn’t know why did I buy two jars of honey while I was on a tour in Georgia. I mean I am not having any home-made breakfast while I am on vacation.
Why did I make those purchases even though at the time I didn’t really want to?
I just found out.
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I broke one of my necklaces, so I had to go to the mall to fix it.
I was somewhat dreading that trip - as simple as it was. I dropped it off and left.
On my pursuit of spending less, I try as much as I can to avoid the mall visit… I ignore the sale text messages and pretend I have never received them.
Ring, ring. I get a phone call. My necklace is ready for collection. I once again went to the mall. This time though I didn’t leave right away. I thought, well, let me have a look. That’s what we do right? Some of us at least.
Wandering around and checking all those sale signs, trying to not get influenced, by the buy 2 get the 3rd for free promotions, I stumbled upon ladies representing one of the make-up brands, Gosh. They try to talk to me and I think they are trying to sell me something. Perhaps even let me try something for free… of course, so I can buy it once I like it. I tell them I am not looking for something.
They look at me and give me a bag… and tell me “This is yours.” I say, “What?” They tell me, “This is yours.” I am confused…
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While I intend to do the “spring cleaning” and do the occasional cleanup, I don’t get rid of as much stuff as I should.
Any messy person like me, who made the attempt to try to be more “organized”, and did a little Googling, will find Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic Of Tidying. Although I had a pretty failed attempt on following her footsteps, as I mentioned in I couldn’t be a minimalist and here is why, I did come up with the conclusion of having, keeping and buying only the stuff that I fall in love with. Stuff that makes me feel beautiful. Stuff that makes me happy.
I can’t help but notice though that I do have many many things that I keep for a special occasion. That dress that was on a special sale I bought 4 years ago and never “had” the chance to wear it. The silver heels that I bought for that special occasion and only have worn it once at that special occasion. The candle lights that I will light up when I want to pamper myself at home. The jewelry that will only be suitable for that special occasion… that by the way, doesn’t happen that often.
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Three years ago I moved from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. It was such a thrilling change. Even though it was only a 2-hour drive, it dramatically changed my life.
City girl. What can I say?
In both cities, I rented a place… and in both cities, I paid a deposit for my electricity and water bill. When we move-in, we incur a lot of expenses, and we somehow swallow the money we spend on the deposit because it is refundable once you move out.
Funny thing is though many people move out and even leave the country without refunding their deposits…
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Someone recently asked, “What’s the biggest lesson you learned in your travels?”
I didn’t have to think twice. The first thing that popped into my mind was…
Do not buy pre-arranged travel packages. Period.
Some of the beautiful ladies from The Solo Female Traveler Network mentioned, 50 Travel Tips on Spending Less, that one of their ways to make sure they stay on budget is to purchase everything in advance - that way, you know what you are getting yourself into.
I would agree if that was done by me as an organizer, using booking.com, Expedia or Airbnb.
I, however, have fallen into the trap that was fed by my urge to make an impulse decision - to book a last minute ticket through a travel agency, Holiday Factory. Apologies to myself for making this decision, and here is why I apologize to myself - and promise her to not ever fall into that trap ever again.
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Building on my impulse decision I mentioned in my earlier post, Do impulse decisions screwup your finances?, I can’t help reflect on my possessions - or to be more precise, the number of possessions I have.
I know. It’s completely out of the blue. Some might think, it’s random, but it’s not.
You know how we work hard to get an apartment, then get a bigger apartment, then perhaps a deluxe… and all the way up to a house or villa?
That is reflected in our innate need for more.
I guess what I am trying to say is, that no matter what you currently have, you will always want something bigger.
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Let’s talk about impulse decisions because I definitely fall victim of those ones. Not to say that I don’t enjoy those decisions. In fact, most of the time I actually do very much enjoy them, and perhaps that’s the reason why I keep on embarking on those impulse decisions. One… right after the other.
And if that wouldn’t impact my financial situation, I guess it wouldn’t bother me that much, or let’s say, it wouldn’t trigger me to think about it in the meantime… but it is.
You see, while reading, researching and trying to understand why we buy the things we do, and what triggers us to do it, I completely wiped out the impact of which generation you are part of. Each generation has different triggers and that is because they have grown up in specific atmospheres that impact their spending behaviors.
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