Chapter 42 ★40 Review Your Shopping Habits

Many years ago, Gibbs and I decided we wanted to buy a set of weight dumbbells that we could use as a daily walk.We rushed to a sports equipment store and bought a set of dumbbells for 1,000 yuan. After two weeks, we used this set of dumbbells only five or six times.Finally, put the set of dumbbells in a corner and never use them again. Half a year later, as soon as I heard from my friend that I would go to a sports equipment store to buy dumbbells, I gave her the set of dumbbells.She also only uses that set of dumbbells once, and if I'm right, she won't touch that set of dumbbells again.Unless, she hears that another friend wants to buy dumbbells, and then gives that set of dumbbells to a friend again, otherwise the set of dumbbells will not be used again.

This is just one example of many useless things we have bought. Most of the things are bought, used only for a short period of time, and never used again.In fact, these things are not what we really need.Don't be surprised if you have this kind of buying behavior, maybe you bought some things more expensive.In fact, the reason why we buy so much useless stuff is that we have a shopping syndrome that I must buy now.On average, every American, like my life, my home, my car, my work space, is full of this rather more shopping habit. When Gibbs and I took stock of our repeated useless purchases, we both acknowledged the need to examine our shopping habits.So we sat down and listed on paper all the things that could be improved:

⑴ We set only one day a week for shopping; and the items to be purchased on this day include daily groceries and other things that are really needed. ⑵From now on, before buying something, you must thoroughly think about whether you really need to buy this thing.When we buy a lot of things, we do it for instant gratification.We'd better also get into the habit of asking ourselves before buying something: do we really need it?How long do we need this thing?After buying this thing, is there still room to put it? (3) We can delay some big purchases, or any small purchases, for at least two weeks, or even a month.Perhaps, after a month, you will find out that in fact we don't really need these things.

⑷Otherwise, we can conduct an experiment to see if we can live without the things we think we should have?How long can you live?We can play this game with ourselves every time we have to make a shopping decision, so that our determination to keep our home tidy can be fully supported. ⑸ Rather try to find creative solutions, rather than use shopping to meet their own needs.For example, instead of running to the sports equipment store and spending a lot of money, we can use some items at home, such as thick books or socks filled with sand, to replace dumbbells.