Wait for Reviews and Control Impulse Buys

September 16th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under • by tisha

As an avid internet user and daily blogger, I have discovered recently that I have curved my impulse buys by replacing it with the impulse to know what other people are saying about the product. This usually is true for the larger ticket items I am interested in or intrigued by. I have not yet succumbed to googling the reviews for a new cereal or other common item I am prone to purchasing.

I hadn’t realized I even did this until my husband pointed it out when we were shopping recently. It all started months before when we were shopping for a memory foam mattress pad. We knew we wanted one so prior to going to the store, I did my research and ultimately we’ve been thrilled with the one we chose based on consumer reviews. But it seems the tides have turned a bit and when I find something in the store I am suddenly yearning for, I immediately wonder what other people have to say about it. It is not that I can’t think for myself or I rely on other people to make my decisions for me – quite frankly I am the total opposite of that statement. The real reason I do this is because I am sick of buying junk.

Our family works hard to be frugal, not because we necessarily want to but because we often do not have any other choice. We live paycheck to paycheck and since going full time for myself nearly two years ago, we have to watch where our money goes or we just do not have any left over.

So reading reviews does two things to help our finances:

1. Takes Away the Impulse Factor – If I see something I like, I am now more interested in going home and looking at the reviews. I am no longer ready and willing to throw it in my cart.

2. Out of Sight/Out of Mind – There are many times I will leave the store, wondering how the product will fare to the mass population and by the time I get home, I completely forget what I was excited about.

Using the internet for more than just the review aspect is also a good idea. There are a number of sites that allow you to comparison shop from the comforts of your couch. You can find the locations that carry the exact same product and choose which the most convenient place to shop is and what store offers the bigger bargain. The have been so many times we have made purchases on the frugal side (a garden rake for instance) that fell apart on day one. Sure we may have saved some cash initially but in the long run, we ended up spending more on replacements.