How I use my Amazon wishlist to stop impulse purchases!

A post about how I’m using my Amazon wishlist to stop impulse purchases. I think we all know somebody (or many somebodies…) that when they “need” something they just go and buy it, which is all fine and dandy until you want to buy them a gift for their birthday or for Xmas! I’ve finally converted the majority of my family to the awesomeness of the Amazon wishlist but sometimes it feels like a job to get them to keep it updated. On the other hand I’ve become the easiest person on the planet to buy for because my wishlist is ALWAYS up to date and it has saved me from a ton of impulse purchases!

It is an extremely rare day when I purchase something that didn’t first spend at least a week or two in my Amazon wishlist. And that’s my secret to stop impulse purchases – making myself wait. I read a story once about a girl who had just been paid from her first summer job. She told her Grandma about a very specific (rather expensive) thing that she just couldn’t wait to buy. Her Grandma told her that she should wait a month and, by the time that month went by, that girl didn’t even want it any more. I never forgot it because, many times, if I wait a month I find I’ll even forget I wanted it to begin with! And, certainly, I’ve learned that I can totally live without it.

Of course not everything can wait but I’ve been surprised many times by first waiting to make sure. Sand paper for my orbital palm sander is a great example. I use my little sander ALL of the time so, when I ran out of sand paper last fall I damned near just bought some off of Amazon. But I stopped myself because right then I actually didn’t NEED it. So, I added it to my wishlist and planned to purchase it when I knew I would have a project soon where I would. Well I never did, at least not until after Xmas, and then a family member had bought it for me!

Time and time again I’ve found myself in that exact situation, I think I need something, I add it to my wishlist and find that I either never needed it or it makes a great practical gift for family to give me. Yeah, I know, I’m the weirdest chick ever who gets sand paper for Xmas! But it sure does beat my friends and family scrambling to find something they can get me instead of something real and practical they know I’ll not only use but REALLY appreciate!

Sometimes I’ll get the urge to go buy something (its usually a new top) which is totally weird for me because I really hate shopping. But I think it happens to all of us from time to time so I’ll go to the store and walk around and really waste some time just puttering and browsing and trying on etc. My rule when it comes to clothes (shoes, hats, bags… just about everything actually) is that there is no way I’m going to spend my hard earned money on something I don’t absolutely LOVE. Which usually ends my shopping spree without my buying anything because, let’s face it, how many tops do we really need and how many of them do we actually LOVE?

If that doesn’t work I compare the item to the price and think, “If someone offered me this shirt or the $24 in cash that I’m about to pay for it which one would I take?” Nine times out of ten I put the item back and the cash stays in my bank account! Now if that doesn’t work and its clear I love that shirt more then $24 in cash AND I truly just LOVE it, then I walk it around the store awhile, take a real good look at how long its going to take me to check out and deem whether the wait is worth it.

I am a psychopath when it comes to walking behind people or waiting in line – there’s really nothing worse for me. And then, almost every single time, I put the item back and leave without having to bare the wait. This happens two-three times a year and, almost always, I leave without buying anything. I think the majority of the time it’s not about actually wanting to buy something its about some time spent on me. Time not buying something for the house, for the projects, for the husband, for supper, for work, for anyone else but me because, let’s face it, as ladies our entire lives are based on everyone and everything else but ourselves.

I go to the store with a list, get what’s on the list and leave and that certainly is a big help to stop impulse purchases. From there, anything that’s not on the “need” list, goes in my Amazon wishlist until I absolutely have to buy it. And this goes for all of my house projects too, I had the gate hinges for my deck on there for over a month this past fall because I really didn’t know if I would get to that project this year anyway. But, by some kind of miracle, I did get to it!