1. Is this a want or a need?
2. Can I find a cheaper alternative?
3. Do I already have something like it at home? (I have no clue why but I have 4 blue shirts--the same shade).
4. Can I put off this purchase? Chances are if you do you won't go back and buy it.
5. This is the one that gets me---I'm a sucker for a good deal/clearance item. Sometimes I need to stop and ask myself "does my dd really need another dress". The answer would be no and I put it back on the rack even though it was a great deal. She didn't need it and that is the bottom line.

Do you ever stop and think of these kinds of things when you go shopping?

Great tips!

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Yes I do - even when I have given myself a rare allowance to go shopping fro anything I want.

That happened recently - I had $100 to spend on anything I wanted. The last time I did that was about 6 yrs ago. I shopped for 2.5 hrs and bought 3 hand soaps at Bath and Body Works for $15. I talked myself out of everything else!

Great tips.

But I change #2 to
Can I find a better quality one (rather than a cheaper one) so that it will last and I won't be throwing it out in a year (I never apply this to technology, but I do to pretty much anything else).

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