Break the buying chain
Why one purchase never comes alone, and the three questions that break the chain before you open your wallet.
One purchase never comes alone
You buy something new. Fine, you earned it. But next to the new thing, what you already had suddenly looks old. So you replace it. And then the thing beside that one doesn't match either. So you replace that too. In the end you didn't pay for one thing: you paid for ten.
"You're not buying a thing. You're buying everything that comes after it."
It happens with anything, in any country. See if this sounds familiar:
New phone→
Case→
Headphones
New couch→
Curtains→
Lamp
New car→
Pricier insurance→
Tires, car washes
That's a chain purchase. And the worst part isn't the first one: it's that you never actually decide on the rest. They come on their own.
Before you buy anything, ask yourself:
"Is this going to force me to buy three more things?"
If the answer is yes, it isn't a purchase: it's a chain. And chains get broken.
The 3 questions before you buy
Fill them in next time you feel the urge. If all three give you a bad feeling, you know what to do: don't buy. What you write is saved on this device only; nobody else sees it.
The 7-day challenge
Every time you want to buy something on impulse, write it here instead of buying it. On the seventh day, look at the list: how many would you still really want?
Everything you write is saved on this device. Nobody else sees it.