How to Fight the Urge to Buy Unnecessary Clutter

Run through these mental questions whenever you’re considering a new purchase and think about how it is going to fit into your lifestyle on a daily basis. Where will it go? How will it look next to the last thing you purchased?

At the same time, try to be savvy to the tricks that advertisers and even store managers will use to try and get us to buy things we don’t need. In particular, always make sure that you take some time out before choosing to buy something.

The vast majority of purchases are made based on an emotional impulse and this is what can cause us to become impulsive. If you go away and think logically about what you need and what you don’t, you’ll often find you are a lot smarter with your purchases as a result.

Never buy then and there. Always have at least one night to sleep on it. The offer will still be there in the morning, no matter what the marketing may claim!

A List of Things to Do

A powerful weapon in the fight against needing to keep buying new things and a good way to practice this concept is to make a list of things that you want to do – using items you already have, or without needing to buy anything new.

This might sound like something you shouldn’t need… Surely you already know the things you want to do!

But the reality is that we often forget. Most of us have lots of books on our bookshelf that we have yet to read, games we never finished playing and even films that we haven’t watched! And these days, you can download books for free, play games for free and more.

Then there are the activities we never seem to have time for that might be to do with our hobbies or just getting our lives straight. Maybe you’ve been meaning to go for a drive, maybe you’ve been meaning to build some flat pack furniture, maybe you like the idea of trying to learn another language.

And yet, when you get a free hour you forget all these things and end up just lying in front of the TV. And when you see something else advertised, you suddenly want to buy it.

Why are you buying a new book, game or DVD when there is so much that you already own that you have yet to use? Why are you saving money to buy a big swanky computer when you’ve never been out to your local park? Or check out the free museum down the road?

Having a list of ideas for your evening’s entertainment can really change this. The next time you’re bored, you can simply check your list for ideas of things to do. The next time you are tempted to buy something new, check the list and realize that you have plenty to be excited about without spending more money or cluttering your home.

Stay focused and make a home that helps you achieve your mission!