Impulse buying is extremely difficult to avoid. Even in the current financial climate the temptation to go shopping can be difficult to avoid and can lead to unnecessary purchasing habits. Fortunately there are ways to limit yourself from spending your money on unnecessary purchases.

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Make a list

Make sure you write a list before you enter a shop. It’s very easy to convince yourself you need something that you actually only want. By writing a list you can hold yourself to it and will therefore be less likely to stray. You never know, maybe a list will be the thing which helps you save enough money to start investing, for example in commodities like Gold at BullionVault, shares on the stock market or even international currencies on the Forex markets.

Don’t justify them

Don’t talk yourself into buying useless junk by justifying it to yourself. If you didn’t need it in your life before, then it is highly likely that you don’t need it now and therefore can avoid buying it. Excuses people often use include: ‘Just this once’, ‘It’s half off’, ‘I deserve a treat’, and ‘What harm can it do?’ To your bank account? As it turns out – quite a lot if you do this kind of thing often.

Ignore deals

I know how tempting it is when you spot a ‘great deal’ in a store. Unfortunately even though there may be money off an item, you still have to pay for it. It might be a reduced amount, but it’s money you could be saving in an emergency fund for accidents, holidays, or adding to your weekly mortgage repayments. Also, a lot of the time these supposed ‘deals’ actually don’t save you money at all. Get savvy and walk past them if you don’t need the item.

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