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This is the first part of a 4-part series on trying to “master” what I consider the key components of frugal living. They are delaying gratification, developing self-sufficiency, reducing waste, and simple living and avoiding consumerism.
As I discussed previously in my post about Mastering Frugality, delaying gratification can be an important component of developing frugal habits.
Everything is instant these days. You can talk to anyone around the world from anywhere on a cell phone or over the internet, you can shop 24/7 from your computer, and can get a gourmet meal to go on your way home from work. No one really likes to wait for things these days, and I know I am guilty of this quite often myself. In this day and age of instant gratification, learning how to delay purchases for a while and avoiding impulse buys can really help improve your bottom line and reduce your overall spending. Here are some tips for delaying gratification and avoiding impulse buys.
Avoid temptation- Sometimes, being in the wrong place at the wrong time (like an electronics store like Best Buy if you are into tech gadgets, for example) makes it hard to keep from making impulse purchases. Avoiding these situations, and avoiding “window shopping” or shopping without a real purpose can keep you from making spur of the moment purchases you really shouldn’t be making.
Establish a waiting period- Want to buy something new that you really have to have? Set a waiting period before you buy it. It could be a few days, a week, or even a month or more, depending on the size of the purchase. You can do whatever works for you, but I often find the longer I wait, like a month or more, the more likely I will not be interested in buying that item any longer by the time the waiting period is up, because I have lost interest.
Establish a spending limit- Setting a spending limit on yourself, either per day, per week, or for a certain item, like clothing, food, or shoes, can help you keep from overspending over any time period. Using an allowance system for yourself, or for both you and your spouse if you are married, can help in this department as well. If you don’t have the money, you have to save up to buy it.
Ask yourself if you can live without it- Are you buying something you really need and can’t do without, or can you get buy without it. You can tie this one in with the waiting period, and you will sometimes find if you can live without an item for a month or longer, you may realize you really don’t need it.
Future topics in the Mastering Frugality series:
- Reducing Waste
- Developing Self-Sufficiency
- Simple Living and Avoiding Consumerism
Make sure not to miss the rest of the posts in this series by subscribing to the Think Your Way To Wealth RSS feed, or via email to get all of the latest posts and updates free.
Similar Posts:
- Mastering Frugality Series- Reducing Waste
- Mastering Frugality- The Art and Science of Saving Money
- Lies We Tell Ourselves While Spending Money
- Mastering Frugal Living- Living a Simpler Life and Avoiding Consumerism
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Setting these constraints on one’s own expenditures and time spent serves to add value to their day. Establishing a waiting period to buy something only separates the product from the individual for a few more days, but it can have a large impact on how the product is received, or whether the product will even be purchased at all.
@Armen- I think it can have a big impact, speaking from my own life. I often become interested in things that I want to purchase right away, and find if I delay the purchase long enough, I end up losing interest.