Of impulse buys and small furry creatures - Part 1

Warning: This post is rife with quotes by Douglas Adams (henceforth denoted as DAQ) which, although irrelevant in certain places, and nonsensical in most, provide a humorous diversion.

Just like every other year, I made a list of new year resolutions this year. And just like every other year, I promised myself I would abide by them. And just like every other year, I was almost lazy enough to conveniently blot out the list-making incident from my memory by the end of the first month. Alas, I could not. The reason was simple. One of my resolutions was to stop being lazy enough to conveniently blot out the list-making incident from my memory by the end of the first month of the year. However, I did not include any statements about the second month. So there is still hope.

One of my resolutions was to start looking at my personal finances once in a while, as opposed to trying to understand them after being surprised by the bills, unpleasantly of course, at the end of the month. Included in this resolution was to cut down on impulse buys and to try and get rid of my current mistakes. Following are the action items on my plate:

• Keep regular tabs on my bank accounts
• Cut down on impulse buys & needless spending
• Read more from people with similar ideas (personal finance blogs)
• Get rid of items which are useless to me but could be of use to others
• Keep track of my spending trends
  

DAQ: It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problem just with potatoes.

Has it been helpful at all ? Yes, yes and yes. And yes again, although there was just one question there. An important aspect of this has been the containment of impulse buys or the far more dangerous entities - impulse buy urges.

So what are impulse buys you might ask. I personally define it as your loss of self-control when you see something attractive and purchase it to satisfy yourself. I know what you perverts are thinking of, but I mostly meant material possessions like mp3 players, new shoes, LCD TVs, pacemakers, etc. The urge to habitually eat out could also be counted as an impulse buy. Many businesses thrive on these urges of yours in order to even exist. And they take special care to see that these urges are not suppressed through the magic of marketing.

Digest that. In the mean time, here's a DAQ.

DAQ: He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which.

As invincible as I may sound, I too was lured into many impulse buys and expenditures. Of course it was not my fault. It was the damn advertisements. But it was my money. From my wallet. And I ultimately did deal with it. Hopefully permanently.

Stay tuned for the next part tomorrow.