Impulse buying: Come the festive season and the newspapers, social media timelines, YouTube videos and almost everything around us gets filled with advertisements of sales and products on huge discounts. It is very difficult to avoid these ads that are strategically placed in our line of sight and constantly invoke the buyer out of us. The elaborate advertisements are very enticing, in more ways than one as they not only include gifting products at attractive discounts, but items of everyday needs as well.

It is obvious to fall prey to this enticement and indulge in impulse based buying. Such a state pushes us to go beyond our needs and order things that we don’t even need. This not only hampers our finances, but the unwanted items consume a lot of space in our homes. An item that is ordered with a pleasant emotion turns into a bitter experience later on and in most cases, such products end up in the junk.

It is very important to avoid impulse buying during the aggressive sales season and maintain peace of mind. Here are some tips to avoid impulse buying:

Disconnect your credit cards from ecommerce apps

Ecommerce apps have always tried to simplify our shopping experience, so much so that we have to put in as minimum effort as possible. One feature that these websites and apps include is the linking of our credit/debit cards with our accounts in these sites. This helps us to make the purchase with just one click as we do not have to feed in the long credit/debit card number every time we shop. One thing that we can do is de-link or disconnect our banking details from these sites. This would require extra effort while checking-out from these sites and give us extra time to think over our buying decision.

Avoid ‘retail therapy’

Popular media has conditioned our brains in a certain style and we are not more familiar with activities, earlier not known to us. One such activity is pronounced as retail therapy, wherein you are required to head out to a market or mall to indulge in shopping for everyday items; clothing, shoes and accessories. It is believed that such therapy helps you feel good about your life and make you feel elated. Even if you wish to indulge in retail therapy, it is suggested not to do it during the festive season. The attractive discounts and sales would trap you in buying a lot more than you actually require to quench your shopping thirst!

Make a list of items you need

Create a list of items you actually need for your home and do not overstep the boundary. Remember, disciple is the key here! Go through your requirements and include only those items in the list, actually required by you.

Follow the 48-hour rule

The rule is to give yourself a 48 hour time slot before actually making a purchase. If you come across something attractive on an ecommerce platform or in a shopping window, it is very important to wait for a period of two days to rethink and revisit your decision. If you truly need the item, you would make the decision accordingly.