Have you ever gone into a store and said to yourself “I’m only here for one thing”, then you get jumped at by an advert?
You resist the urge and go back to what you were doing, suddenly your eyes get sucked with an even better advert.
You can no longer resist the temptation and you whip out your cash (or card) and are ready to pay.
However, at this very last moment, you have the mental dialogue telling you “Do I really need this?”
Then you try and rationalize with yourself about all the practical reasons as to why you should buy what you’re getting, and before you know it you’ve already bought it.
Your product comes in the post, and you’re extremely excited, however, after a while, it feels like an everyday object.
And after a while, you start to regret why you even bought this thing in the first place, then the guilt starts to slip in.
How about this scenario… you have a school reunion, prom, or party, and it’s days, weeks if not months away from the actual day.
But everyone is still looking at the things they’re going to buy, people are leaning over each other’s shoulders talking about what they should or shouldn’t wear, what’s even scarier is the price tags of some of the things that want.
You see a ring, or watch, you would love to have with your outfit, and just when you were about to buy it, this thought creeps into your head.
“What if others don’t like it?” This makes you question your entire outfit, which then leads you to go back and look at more and more costly clothes and accessories all while the thought of, “What would they think?” Is ringing in your ears.
After your extensive research, you almost have a heart attack at the price, you think to yourself maybe this isn’t a good idea.
But the little devil comes on your shoulder and says how you would be embarrassed if others saw the way you were previously going to dress.
You sigh to yourself and know that you’re going to be a little overdraft on your credit card, but, you tell yourself that you can pay for it later.
Both these stories reveal the biggest reason why people are broke.
They keep spending, because they have the urge of wanting something now, in connection to having mental doubts, that if they don’t have certain possessions that people will look at them in a diminishing way.
Here is a short clip by Grant Cardone, that explains this terrible issue.
PLEASE ADVENTAGO HOW DO I STOP Buying Crap I Don’t Need?
- You can set yourself a very strict limit on how much you can spend, this helps you know where your money is going and, you know you aren’t digging into other savings.
It’s also a great way to stay motivated, here is a little game you can play with yourself, the more money you make the more your allowance can slightly increase.
- Take off advertising, if you can’t handle all the evil temptations on the internet then go into your settings and take off advertisements and get adblocking software.
However, if you still want adverts you should take off the setting “Personalized ads”, these are ads that track your activity and give you advertisements on things that you have done on the internet.
(That’s why you keep seeing Pandora every time you go on YouTube, even though you searched it on Amazon).
- Say reasons, why you don’t need what you’re buying, the human brain reacts a lot more to negativity than positivity.
You can use this in your favor, say all the reasons why you should absolutely not buy this product.
- Wait 24 hours, a lot of the time we want to buy something at the moment, so we get all hyped up and ready to purchase, but if you bleed out the process until tomorrow you may be thankful that you didn’t buy.
Secret Tip: If you wait more than 4 days, you may receive special discounts from the company to try and grab your attention.
- GROW A PAIR!!! There isn’t much I can say here, it’s your money, if you’re seriously telling me that other people can influence you to spend your money all the time.
Then you seriously need a boost in self-confidence, if you feel like you must use possessions to win over people, and that’s your strategy of feeling worthy in life, then you will never be happy since it’s an endless journey.
As entrepreneurs, we can’t buy into what people think we should do with our money, or we will never be successful.
I know it’s hard since most people are being sold on the idea that if you’re an entrepreneur you must be flying in private jets, with bottle service, 10 Lamborghinis in your garage, a huge mansion, and girls in bikinis everywhere.
But that’s nowhere near the truth, so please stop trying to live up to that fake lifestyle.
This video is from Alex Becker talking about how entrepreneurs are wrongly being portrayed.
6. BUY WHAT YOU WANT, Whattttttt a financial education blog telling me to buy?!
Hold your horses, I’m only saying purchase the things that you’re truly happy about, not what others think.
If you’re desperate for others to give you the feeling of being successful, then you will never truly be happy.
It’s time to stop having the thought of other people’s opinions ruin your life, and buy the things that make us feel proud and happy, after all, it’s your life, not theirs, so who cares what they think of you.
7. Imagine you had the product but in cash, what I mean by this is would you rather the $5 Starbuck coffee or $5 in cash?
If you would rather get the coffee then buy it, however would you rather the Rolex Datejust 41 Champagne Diamond Steel and 18K Yellow Gold Jubilee Men’s Watch 126333CDJ, or would you rather $17,901.35 in your bank account? Call me crazy but I would rather the money.
Don’t you dare buy this watch on Amazon, or else I’ll send myself in the mail to punish you. 🤣🤣🤣 https://amzn.to/2HmodQz
FINAL WORDS
People buy things they don’t need, with money they don’t have, to impress people they don’t even like, simple as that.
If you continue to have this awful addiction of “Keeping up with the Jones”, then you’re on a quick, and certain path to becoming broke, so please take these steps and SERIOUSLY STICK WITH THEM.
Then, in the future, come back and thank me when you’ve made the amount of money you’re pleased with, and can finally live the life of your dreams.
SHARE IN THE DISCUSSION BOX, A TIME WHEN YOU MADE A BIG PURCHASE THAT YOU QUICKLY REGRETTED.