Deciding What to Buy: Sleep on It
When planning their budget, people often wonder how they will be able to buy all the things they need. The surprising thing, however, is that the more money we have available, the more things we seem to need. Since it is unlikely that there should be a direct causal link between our earnings and our diet, for instance, we can conclude that human nature is the only thing to blame for our longer shopping list. Changing human nature would be a much too ample endeavor, but changing the shopping list is a more sustainable option.Whether or not we like to admit it, greed is a natural component of human psychology. Consequently, we tend to use up all the resources we have available. This is not a problem as long as our resources exceed our consumption capacity, but when we have to live on a tight budget, it is important that we should not spend everything we have. You never know when unexpected expenses may arise, so it’s always good to be prepared and have some money put aside.
The easiest thing we can change is our shopping behavior. Going to the supermarket and just taking whatever tempts us off the shelf is not the smart way of shopping – certainly not the budget-aware way. A shopping list, on the other hand, will prove a valuable money-saving tool, simply because you have time to think before you act. You can even go one step further and make your grocery list the night before you go shopping. You can check your list again in the morning, before leaving the house. You will realize the things you do not really need to buy, and will find yourself crossing them out.
If you do this consistently, you’ll soon notice a change in your shopping habits that may have positive effects on your overall-spending behavior.
