In my line of work I spend a lot of time online, and I work with a lot of clients from different industries. That mix has a lot of potential to lead to a bad case of wanting things that I don’t really need or wouldn’t fit into my life right this second. That could be really cool furniture, clothes, accessories – you name it! And the way that advertisers have gotten so good at targeting and retargeting – it’s hard to resist sometimes.
The best way I’ve come up with to deal with this daily battle against desire is to start a daydream file. Anytime I see something I want – for me, my home or my future, I digitally clip and save it. It doesn’t matter how you do it, I use a mix of an Evernote notebook for big future items (furniture, vacations, etc) and an Amazon wishlist for personal things (clothes, games, books, etc), as long as you’re consistent. (Side note: both of those tools provide a browser button for easy clipping.)
It feels good at the time, because while you’re resisting buying it today, you’re still ”saving it for later.” Then when later rolls around, and you get a bit of money saved up and you decide to redecorate the living room, you can flip through the file and pick what you really want. Maybe all of a sudden that table you HAD to have a month ago isn’t as cool as some of the other tables you saved over time. By resisting the impulse buy you can save money and avoid cluttering your house with things you don’t really want.
*Original Photo Credit: Juan23for (Flickr)
This tip is from Katie Van Domelen
Katie created the {un}chaotic out of a love of all things organized and tidy. She's lived at home, in the dorms, with roommates and is finally all on her own. Her posts share everything she's learned along the way.
Katie has written 33 tips.
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