We live in a world where you can buy almost anything at any time with the click of a button.
I have succumbed to this so often that, sometimes, a package would arrive that I had no recollection of buying. I’m like, “Who ordered this?!?”
Then, it hits me that after a couple glasses of the vino, I thought it was the best idea ever to order an at-home laser hair removal device or a speed-reading course. Oh, the time I will save! I will be so productive!
However, when it arrived on my doorstep, it just didn’t seem like the best idea ever. Hmmmm.
Thank goodness 99% of things are returnable.
There is a simple, yet shockingly effective strategy to alleviate this problem and save tons of money!
Pause.
Specifically 24 hours.
Go ahead and put that item in your online cart, get excited about the thought of owning it, then wait.
This is going to feel a bit uncomfortable in our world of instant gratification.
You may feel like throwing a tantrum ala Veruca Salt in Charlie and the Chocolate factory, “But, daddy, I WANT IT NOW!”
That’s ok.
There is power in pausing.
When you tell yourself you can’t have something, you feel deprived.
This strategy creates a loophole in the system. You still get the hit of dopamine from the thrill of the hunt, but none of the remorse associated with an impulse purchase.
You can still have the item if you want, but pausing gives your prefrontal cortex (the sophisticated, planning part of your brain) a chance to weigh in on the decision instead of allowing your primitive brain (the survival, instant gratification part) to take over and purchase that Instapot. (Side note: Go ahead and buy the Instapot. It’s awesome.)
After 24 hours, if you still want the item, then buy it and enjoy!
The goal is not to deprive yourself of things you desire.
The goal is to allow yourself time to make a conscious decision.
The beauty of this trick is that, more often than not, you will find you don’t really want the item. After the initial urge passes, you won’t think about it again. And, if you do, it is because you are glad you didn’t buy it.
And you’ve just saved yourself a huge chunk of change.
The excitement of most material items is in the hunt, not in the ownership.
Once you acquire the item, it quickly loses its allure and then you are onto the next shiny thing!
It’s amazing how many things I’ve deleted from my Amazon cart after the initial dopamine rush wore off. At the time, I felt I must have the item or my life wouldn’t be complete. The next day, I was like, “Meh.” And, I was pretty darn satisfied with myself that I didn’t give into the impulse and buy it. As I deleted it from my cart, I got excited about how much less stuff I would have to store in my home.
Saving money is as easy as not spending money on mindless purchases.
But, you have to short circuit the system with an interruption in order to create a new habit.
So, pause.
TAKE ACTION: There will likely be an opportunity today or tomorrow or in the next fifteen minutes to buy something. Don’t. Just pause and see what happens!