Comments on: Eight Minutes to Financial Success – Minute #4: Minimize Electronic Temptations

By: Shelly

Shelly — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:19:41 +0000

I have replaced “add to cart” with “add to list” on Amazon. Anything that I’m tempted to purchase gets added to one of the wish or shopping lists Amazon allows you to build. After adding it to a list, I can think more about the purchase, if I really need it and if I can afford it. If I use a wish list, I can also share with family members who might need gift ideas.

By: dh

dh — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:55:54 +0000

My weakness, or one of them = Amazon. I fool myself thinking that just because I can buy a book that I want to read there, used, for as little as a penny, I’m saving money. The way my spending compulsion works is: I then buy MORE books because they are so cheap! The postage ads up, consequently, I blow a lot of money. Thanks for this tip and encouragement!

By: Carole

Carole — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:52:40 +0000

I heard a woman on Oprah who was kind of a celebrity who had made a lot of money and was now bankrupt, say she had the idea one had to spend all the money one had before new money would come in. I wonder if that could be what some people subconsciously think, and it gets them in trouble.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 13:24:39 +0000

I think these steps are smart for cyber security. I don’t store my credit card info online and I don’t save my passwords. Doing so is asking for trouble.

By: AndreaS

AndreaS — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:16:08 +0000

I am also not tempted by the bobbles. I am an avid yard saler, and so I am acclimated to those prices. When I shop at the retail level, be it in the store or online, it all seems very expensive to me. I can afford retail, just have an aversion to it. I know that if I hold out, am patient, likely I can get the same thing at a fraction of the cost. And that is thrilling. When I pay retail for something, it feels like a defeat, and I know by doing so I am denying myself a future coup. So I will not love that retail bobble. It is not about will power, because I genuinely don’t want the stuff at that price.

By: deRuiter

deRuiter — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:52:40 +0000

These are good tips if you don’t have self discipline. If you practice them, they may teach you to exert self discipline. I once went to tea at a very elegant and expensive department store. The restaurant was located on the top level in order that one had to pass floors of interesting and pretty things to get to have a cup of tea. When I sat at the table, my escort said, “That’s amazing, I’ve never seen a woman pass through a store like that and not look at a single thing.!” To me it was normal. If I’m not going to buy, I don’t look. Don’t go anyhwere things are for sale “just to look around.” Shopping with a purpose is fine.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 02:48:21 +0000

I remove temptation by using gift cards to shop online, not my credit card. For example, I’ll buy myself a $25 for iTunes or my favourite bookstore (a budgeted treat, of course), and then when it’s gone, it’s gone. It allows me to both plan for purchases and be a little impulsive too.

Actually, I seldom buy gift cards because people know which ones to get me as gifts ;)

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:34:55 +0000

I love this series of posts!

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 23:32:26 +0000

If you’re really serious about this, you can also delete the retail website cookies, remove their URLs from your browsing history, and unsubscribe from their email lists and their hardcopy catalogs.