Beating that Impulse

"Oh Lord, get thee behind me and push!" my Mom used to say. I have very little furniture really. I tossed and sold several things and now I am planning my next purchases.

NOOOOO!

I "need" a little table to hold my tea while I read. A fold-up table for the phone and router. A thin shelf for my WC. A shelf-system for my broom closet. ETC.!

I really need to resist the urge to buy. I probably could improvise some things that work. Or use what a have to an advantage. My basement is so wonderfully EMPTY! I can walk into it and even walk around in it.

It might be great to do IKEA out of a sale for a change. What, if instead of buying some cheaply made stuff that everyone else has, I would wait and look around for a beautiful piece of furniture that would be a pleasure to gaze upon. I have one large nook that is just waiting for a lovely piece made of massive, polished wood. Ummmm...

If I sit on my "couch landscape", I can place a small tray next to me which holds my teacup. Maybe I don't need to drink anything while sitting in the recliner. And the router is fine on the floor in the dark corner next to the piano.

But I might buy a light fixture for the hall. At the moment the lighting consists of a light bulb hanging out of the ceiling the way you'd probably only see in Germany.

Resist the Urge to Splurge

Ask yourself some questions. Will I use this every day or at least often? Will I use it enough for it to be worth buying? How many hours did I have to work to pay for this?

Employ the 3-month forecast. Ask yourself if you'll still be using the product regularly in 3 months. If you have lived this long without it, do you really need it?

If you move frequently, contemplate whether this purchase is really worth hauling around each time you move. If you don't, ask yourself if it's worth sacrificing some of your precious living space to own it. And care for it.

One way to avoid unnecessary spending is to tax yourself. Every time you make a purchase over $10 (or $50 or whatever limit you choose), take 10% of the price and put it into your savings or your investments. This way, you discourage yourself from buying something just because the item is "marked down" or "a bargain" and boost your financial security every time you make a significant purchase. If you use a debit card or a credit card, try using one that has a savings program, American Express offers a card with a savings account and Bank of America offers their "Keep The Change" program to automatically transfer money into your savings account.

• If you use a credit union for your banking needs, keep your money in your "Share" savings account until the day your bills are due. Not only will you gain a little interest on it but you'll also have the satisfaction of knowing it's invested locally in other members' homes, cars and businesses.
• Debit cards don't charge interest. Credit card debt does. It's easier to avoid debt using a debit card and save your line of credit for major emergencies like medical co-payments. Buy down your debt as fast as you can, that's as good as savings and puts that emergency resource back in your hands.

Think back to all the things I wanted to buy … and didn’t. 

By now, I'll bet you have a list of things you really wanted to buy but didn’t. Some of them look silly by now, some were quite reasonable but the timing was wrong. Every time you get the urge to buy something, look back to your  experience, and think, “Will it be like the time I wanted to buy ….. and didn’t? (Or maybe I did!) Will it look silly (or will I feel silly) after a while as well?”

In O. Henry's classic Christmas story The Gift of the Magi, Della Young sells her most prized possession, her long, beautiful hair, in order to buy her husband, Jim, a Christmas present. The present she chooses is a chain for Jim's heirloom pocket watch, the only valuable thing he owns. When she presents her gift to Jim, she discovers that he has sold his watch in order to buy a set of ornate combs for her beautiful hair. The moral of the story is that you don't have to buy anything to be happy.

I have some friends coming today and they are going to use the drill to hang up some heavy pictures and a mirror. That is a lovely way to show friendship!

That makes me happy!