[Infographic] Why Keeping A List Of Things You Didn’t Need Is As Important As Keeping A Shopping List

There’s a constant war for all of your paycheck and savings. Round the clock, the opposing sides fight to different ends: marketers and businesses people fight to take your money by selling you everything, anything – including those things you don’t need through adverts, fancy wrapping and great service. On the other side are you and your weapons of war. Your budget, savings plan and shopping list are just a few of your tools in the fight.

Shopping lists are good tools for controlling spending on the frontline, because they can help prevent unplanned purchases when you go shopping. There are times though when you may bump into something or see an advert that’s so enticing that you want to immediately buy the item even though you didn’t plan on getting it. Shopping lists can’t help you win against this particular type of unplanned spending, but the things-you-didn’t-need list can. Here’s how it works, whenever you meet a thoroughly enticing item, hold off on buying it until the urge dies off. This waiting period could be from a day to a month or longer. Consider the item again after the urge has passed and determine whether you really need it. Chances are, you’ll realize you did not need it to begin with.

This is when you can add that item to your things-you-didn’t-need list. Add up the costs of all the things you didn’t buy and see just how much you’ve saved. Next time you’re in a similar situation, you can refer to your list and how much savings you have made to motivate you to fight off the urge to buy things you don’t need. The things-you-didn’t-need list works surprisingly well because it changes the rules so that you derive pleasure from not spending and saving money rather than spending and failing to meet your targets.