Comments on: Two Secrets To Saving Money (Hint: Instant Gratification!)

By: Forex Articles

Forex Articles — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:31:56 +0000

I was sucked in the other day by these very tactics.

My local newsagent had a promotion next to the checkout offering 2 Chocolate Oranges for the price of one.

I have very strong willpower normally, but I’m afraid when it comes to Chocolate Oranges, one of my favourites, I fell for it hook, line and sinker and quickly grabbed two boxes….. but they were worth it

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:08:46 +0000

When you realize that you don’t NEED to busy something and you’re just thinking impulsively you can prevent unneeded spending. Its nice to have some money for the splurge/impulse buys but keeping that down will probably mean the difference between living above your means and living below them.

Great post!

By: budgets are sexy

budgets are sexy — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:29:58 +0000

You know who else knows this? ME!
haha … seriously though, Instant Gratification can work to your favor too. For instance, whenever I have a craving like this, I do one of the following about 80% of the time:

1) I xfer the money I for some reason HAVE to spend into my Roth IRA asap! This way, I get the satisfaction of “spending” money, i’m doing GOOD with it, and best of all I just can’t “take it back”. I used to do this with my Savings acct, but didn’t work so well
2) I dip into my “fun money” and splurge. This is money that i’ve earned on Craigslist, ebay, etc, and it’s specifically used for times like this! AND, it helps me to re-evaluate the purchase as I pretty much know what I sold in order to pick up this new widget.

By: Adfecto

Adfecto — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:52:38 +0000

This is so true. It is the worst for me when it comes to food. I can spend 45 minutes cooking a quality meal at home or 5 minutes in the drive-thru. I also get snagged into buying an appetizer with the allure of immediate gratification only to take half of my meal as left overs.

If we are willing to sleep on our purchases for a night or two we probably will make the right call, but when all it takes is a signature to walk out the door with a new toy it is almost too easy. Leave the plastic at home, stay out of the store unless you have a shopping list (and will stick to it), and never make a major purchase (for me anything over $50) without a waiting period.

I don’t have much of a problem with errant purchases, but I still need to find a solution to the immediate food issue.

By: Ron@TheWisdomJournal

Ron@TheWisdomJournal — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:33:21 +0000

Great points. Retailers and salespeople STUDY the consumer. There are companies that do nothing but watch your eyes, what you pick up, where you look on the shelf, what signage you notice.

The best bet is to STUDY them right back and make only those decisions that have the best impact on your financial life.