Impulse Purchases – Just Say No!

I may not live in an apartment any longer, but I still love the emails I get from Apartment Therapy!  Recently one came through my inbox titled, “How To Cut Down on Impulse Purchases, Save Money, and Buy Things You Really Like” and I immediately clicked to read more. 

How often do you find yourself buying that pair of cute earrings because heck, they’re only $14.99! Or what about that cute JCrew top because TODAY ONLY its an extra 40% and has free shipping. Or it’s Wednesday and you’ve run out of pink to wear and that of course is a MUST (according to Mean Girls at least). Or it’s so hot out which means you just HAVE to have that Starbucks Frappe… you see where I’m going with this? 

1. I really hope my husband is reading this because, yauh welcome 🙂
2. Time to get real with myself, this is something I definitely need to do!!
3. Repeat after me… Tory Burch. Kate Spade. Lilly Pulitzer. Trips! (all falling in the category of “Buy Things You Really Like”)

Don’t you just love how my brain goes from practical, lets get real, to SHOPPING so quickly? C’mon ladies, you know I’m not alone on that one… 

Anyways, to help us all out, here are Apartment Therapy’s tips summarized, you can also click here to read the full article.

1. Unsubscribe form all those flash sale emails. Side note – I recently signed up through Unroll.me to take all of my store emails and roll them up into one email, so I’m not getting a million emails. It’s amazing and I’m more prone to archive instead of read!

2. Make a ‘wants’ list.

3. If you can’t decide between two items, consider that you may not need either one.

4. Deny yourself right now and put the money towards something you really want.

5. Find small ways to satisfy your cravings for newness. 

I of course gravitate towards #2 and enjoy storing my “wants list” via a wish list on Pinterest – click here to see my entire wish list board.

I thought I would kick off this effort by sharing some of my top wish list items (in no particular order) for inspiration! Now don’t get me wrong, it could take me years and years and years to be able to indulge in these items and I’m quite okay with that, but for now, the thought alone will help me just say no to little impulse buys!

Pretty high on my list is a trip back to beautiful San Diego, CA to visit my bestie who has been living out there since after college. I miss her times a mil and would love to spend another weekend in the sunny place she calls “home”. 

Moving to more material things, at this moment, I have one pair of monogrammed Jacks and one mid-wedge pair (seen here) that are getting me through the summer, but I would love to add back the traditional Platinum color or these Lilly-inspired cuties!

So, what is on your “wants” list? And how else would you inspire yourself to cut down on impulse purchases?