How to stop buying unnecessary things

The onset of the disease can be different, but the result is always the same: we wake up at home and look at the thing we just bought with surprise. The propensity for impulsive buying is inherent in everyone, without exception, although to varying degrees. Fighting this disease is difficult, but still possible. Here are some tips to help you build immunity to unnecessary purchases.

1. Identify your weaknesses

First of all, you should determine the weaknesses in your defense. Marketers have long identified and are actively using special psychological tricks that can catch almost any untrained buyer. Here they are:

Colour. Stores specifically highlight the goods that they want to stick in with bright colors. Be especially careful with red or orange, as these colors subconsciously nudge you into action, that is, to buy.
Layout tricks. There are winning spots on each shelf. Usually in these places are located not those goods that are of excellent quality or low price, but those that bring the maximum profit to the trade organization.
Tactile contact. A favorite technique of street vendors, who first of all try to give you an imposed thing in your hands. Psychologically, if we hold an item in our hands, then we are ready to buy it.
Smells and sounds. Specially selected music can make you feel relaxed. And delicious smells from different angles make you fill up a cart full of groceries, even if you don't need them.

2. Make a list of your belongings

Very often we buy unnecessary things simply because we don't even know what we really own. Jokes about fashionistas who have absolutely nothing to wear and at the same time nowhere to put things are absolutely true. Once you make a complete list of the properties you own, the urge to buy new ones will greatly diminish. At the same time, try to divide all your belongings into several categories:

Necessary. These are the most necessary things that you use every day and which you cannot do without.
Sometimes necessary. Things you use from time to time.
Necessary, but not necessary. This category includes those things that you could do without, but which bring you pleasure.
Trash. You don’t remember why you bought these things or when you last used them. They just take up space.

There are three simple questions to ask yourself whenever you are in doubt to help you work on this list. Here they are:

When was the last time I used this?
When will I use it again?
Does this thing bring me joy?

3. Estimate the value of your junk

After you have divided your property into several categories, you will immediately want to get rid of the junk. Wait, don't rush, first you need to do a little therapy.

Take and meticulously calculate the total cost of extra items. If it was a gift, put a dash; if the price has changed significantly since the moment of purchase, then deposit the amount that you paid at the time of purchase. I assure you that the final figure will greatly surprise you. Take a goodbye general picture of your trash, write on top of the amount that it cost you, and say goodbye to it forever. And put the picture in your wallet, somewhere close to money and credit cards.

4. Think of all the intangible things that make you happy

Now it's time to make another list. This time, try to remember and write down all those things that make you happy, but are not worth a dime. Remember the best moments of your life, dear people, friends, achievements, plans for the future. If you think well, you will agree with the notion that the best things in life are completely free. So is it worth spending your money on something that doesn't bring real happiness and end up going to the trash can anyway?

5. Spend some time away from your everyday life

A very effective way of dealing with your own consumerism is to temporarily detach yourself from the reality around you. Try to get out on a camping trip, to the village to see your grandmother, or on a long business trip. It is advisable that at this time you are shielded from the media and electronic gadgets. This will help you break out of the usual routine that drives you to constantly buy something. The new atmosphere will give you the opportunity to make a significant reassessment of values.

6. Develop your own criteria for assessing the need

The main purpose of advertising is to convince us of the absolute necessity of acquiring a thing that we did not even know existed a minute or two ago. And very often she succeeds.

In order not to be led by advertising every time, develop your own criteria for the need for an object to appear in your life. To do this, it is enough to ask yourself a few simple questions every time:

Is this a planned acquisition?
What happens if I buy this? And if not?
Will this thing soon be on the junk list?
Where will I place this item? How much will it cost to maintain and maintain?
How many days of my life did I spend to earn this thing?
Why am I actually making this purchase?

7. Learn to pause

A client prone to impulse buying is the most desirable for trading. It is for him that all these numerous promotions, sales and "happy hours" are arranged, when prices for goods are briefly reduced. A hurried, excited client will not ask the price for a long time, be interested in quality or characteristics.

Your task is to break this plan and learn how to always pause before buying. And the more expensive the thing, the longer this pause should be. You can even take this rule literally and work out for yourself a numerical coefficient of conversion of value at the time through which you acquire the desired thing. During this time, you can cool down, calm down and make sure that the purchase really meets the criteria of necessity, which we talked about just above.