Impulse Buying - stop it!

Stop impulse buying - this should be a no-brainer, but it isn't for many of us. Have a grocery list and stick with it.

It's a basic rule of shopping - do so deliberately. I know it takes a bit of the fun out of it, but the alternative is taking more money out of your wallet.

Impulse purchasing means you spend money on things you don't really need. You let the whim of the moment overtake you. You see a great offer, and then you buy some item even though you don't need it.

Perhaps you can't even imagine when you would use it, but you buy it on impulse.

You can't save money on groceries on a whim. It takes deliberate action and decision making. Remember, the grocery store is simply following concepts #2, #3 and #4 of the money game - they've figured out that you have money, they want it, and they're going to use attractive displays and other inducements to get it from you.

The many ways a grocery store can get your money include:

• little red flashing diodes that beckon you to investigate what's on that shelf over there
• bins filled with stuff and placed right in your way so you can't help but look at what it is you're having to push your cart around
• fish laid out on ice to convince you that it's fresh - it's the same fish they have wrapped up in styrofoam and food film sitting right next to it on the shelves
• hand written signs that promise "farm fresh" and "just arrived" as if the store is a farm and other food items that aren't marked as such are left in the back until they age a bit before they put them out for sale

Impulse buying affects all of us (that's why they bait us), and it is up to us to resist it if we want to save money on groceries and other items at the grocery store.

Look, this is important! To save money on groceries, or anything else for that matter, you can't just look for great deals. That's only part of it. You must be painfully aware of how the sellers try to convince us to buy. Only when you are aware can you practice avoidance.

Impulse buying avoidance tip; if you feel compelled to look at it, then just keep right on walking.

Done with Impulse Buying, back to Frugal Shopping