So many tempting offers are coming my way: on-line sales, catalogs from the few places where I've bought things over the last year, and so on.
The FRUGALISTA'S MANTRA
In SEVEN WEEKS IT WILL ALL BE ON SALE
THAT's around 50 DAYS
EVEN IF IT'S GONE, YOU PROBABLY WON'T WANT IT
OR THERE WILL BE SOMETHING ELSE
EVEN BETTER
OMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
How do you keep yourself from succumbing to temptation?
Custom Search
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
I try to remind myself that, until I saw the catalog/offer/whatever, I didn't WANT the object in question because I didn't even know it existed! If I've lived this long without something, I feel fairly confident that I can make it through the rest of my life without it...
I too have noticed the flood of promotions. Ask myself, "What do I have that is not being worn/used when I am using this?" 90% of time I have a similar item.
Maybe a decade ago, had a somewhat costly eBay habit. Started putting stuff on watch list but not bidding. Surprised at how little I actually wanted item once time had lapsed. Might spend $45/yr on eBay now.
Much as I love clothes, catalogs and promotions don't tempt me. I think that even the sales clothes are overpriced, I already have plenty of clothing, many of the styles wouldn't suit me anyhow, no matter how good the look on the models.
What tempts me is books: sewing books, history and fashion books, novels set in the 20s and 30s, books on organisation and uncluttering (ha!), loads of books. Like Duchesse, I put them on my Amazon wishlist and am surprised at how many I no longer care about when I go back later. I have to carefully clear out those lists before Christmas shopping season to make sure someone doesn't buy me something I don't want that much (and I always make it clear I prefer second hand books).
I play the catalog game. I go through my favorite catalogs (J. Crew, Anthropologie, Boden, King Arthur, to name a few) and allow myself to pick out absolutely everything I want. Then I total the amount all the items would cost, which is usually well over $1000. Then I subtract items from the list and recalculate the total until it reaches an amount that's more or less in my budget. Then I put the catalogs away. In the end, I usually buy nothing. Sometimes I'll tell myself I can place an order after the date when my credit card balance is calculated, and often by that time I either no longer want the item, it's on sale, or it's sold out.
Stay out of stores.
Catalogs used to be the death of my budget. But lately fewer catalogs seem to be showing up in the junk mail. Those that do just go directly into the blue recycling bin.
Post a Comment