Have you ever gone into a store with the intention of only buying one (1) item and you walked out with several bags full of stuff?
I can remember one time back in about 1990, I carried a cart load of groceries for a customer. Her husband and kids were waiting in the car. The first comment that was made when the door was opened was, "I was going to say, if you had to milk that cow." It is a comment I have heard my own dad say when I was younger to. I knew instantly, that she had said she was just going to grab a gallon of milk. Instead she did her weekly grocery shopping.
The key here is to have a list. Not a list in your head, but a physical list. So that you don't end up buying more then you expected.
The same is true for other shopping adventures as well. Grocery shopping is the obvious one, but you also need a list when shopping for clothes, toiletries, birthdays or even Christmas/Hanukkah. No need to stress this holiday season (or throughout the year) if you will follow the three examples below.
Let's be blunt here. You MUST write down the exact amount of cash that you can spend on gifts, clothes, groceries or whatever. Nothing is magical about it; every family/individual is different. Whatever the REALISTIC amount is for you , is the limit you MUST stick with. It's pretty stupid to go shopping (anywhere) without a plan.
Without a physical list, you are opening yourself up to the risk of overspending. By writing down a list of exactly what you want to buy you are reducing that risk. Once you have a list (especially your Christmas list) look over it multiple times so that you know exactly what you are buying and what for. Doing this will help you avoid all the shinny new toys in the stores.
Once you have your list, the next thing to do is to get in your car, and stop at the ATM (or your financial institution) and withdraw the amount of cash you have alloted yourself for that particular shopping trip. In the case of Christmas shopping, when the cash is the gone, your shopping is finished. NEVER pull out the plastic.
As Dave Ramsey says,
When you pay with cash, don't be afraid to ask for a deal. Most people don't get deals when they're shopping because they either don't pay with cash or are too afraid to ask! What's the worse thing that could happen? They might say no. Big deal. At least you tried! Sometimes I like to go into stores and just flash a handful of cold, hard cash. The store employees sure do pay attention to me!
Whoever said you had to buy tons and tons of presents for people anyway?! Enjoying gifts and shopping is all fine and dandy, as long as you stay within your own personal financial boundaries. Make a point to not put gifts and pleasing others above more important things in your life - spending time with loved ones, being in control of your money, and getting out of debt
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