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Every Wednesday is Tip Day (or Quiz Day).
This Wednesday: Quiz—Are you an Over-Buyer or an Under-Buyer?
I've posted this quiz before, but I can't resist putting it up again. This distinction encapsulates one of my very favorite (if not most weighty) personal insights into human nature: the difference between overbuyers and underbuyers. I also love the satisficer/maximizer distinction, but I didn't come up with that one myself.
It’s not particularly productive to be in too deep as an over- or under-buyer; both offer certain advantages but also some definite drawbacks.
Does one of these descriptions fit you?
You’re an overbuyer if …
—You buy several summer outfits for your as-yet-unborn baby, then it turns out he outgrows those clothes before the weather warms up.
—You often lay in huge supplies of slow-moving items like shampoo or cough medicine.
—You often make a purchase, such as a tool or tech gadget, with the thought, “This will probably come in handy.”
—You have a long list of stores to visit before you travel.
—You find yourself throwing things away—milk, medicine, even cans of soup—because they’ve hit their expiration date.
—You buy items with the thought, “This will make a great gift!” without having a recipient in mind.
—You think, “Buying these things shows that I’m responsible, organized, and thoughtful.”
You’re an underbuyer if…
—You buy saline solution, which you use every morning and night, one bottle at a time.
—You often scramble to buy an item like a winter coat or bathing suit after the point at which you need it—and often, these items are sold out by the time you show up at a store.
—You’re suspicious of specialized objects and resist buying things dedicated very specific uses: suit bags, special plastic plates and cutlery for children, hand cream, rain boots, hair conditioner.
—You often need to come up with a makeshift solution, such using soap because you’ve run out of shaving cream, because you don’t have what you need.
—You often consider buying an item, then decide, “I’ll get this some other time” or “Maybe we don’t really need this.”
—If you must buy something, you buy as little as possible—say, by putting $10 of gas in the car.
—You think, “Not buying these things shows that I’m frugal and not a consumerist sucker.”
Me? I’m an underbuyer.
Underbuyers feel stressed because we don’t have the things we need. We make a lot of late-night runs to the drugstore. (I constantly run out of saline solution.) We’re surrounded with things that are shabby, don’t really work, or aren’t exactly suitable.
Overbuyers feel stressed because they’re hemmed in by stuff. They often don’t have enough storage space for everything they’ve bought, or they can’t find what they have. They feel oppressed by the number of errands they believe they need to do, and by the waste and clutter often created by their overbuying.
So underbuyers, buy what you need, without procrastination! Don’t wait for the first morning of your ski trip to buy ski gloves!
Overbuyers, think it over before you whip out your wallet! You don’t need a 10-year supply of toothpaste!
What do you think? Do you recognize yourself in either of these categories?
* A friend, Melanie Rehak, has started a terrific new blog, Eating for Beginners—"on food, farming, and raising a family." My favorite feature is the "Friday Food Writers," when Melanie quotes a wonderful food-related passage from literature. Delicious! Her book by the same name will be published next year, and I can't wait to get my hands on it—and I'm not even a foodie.
* Consider starting a group—organized around happiness projects! (Or a book group focused on happiness books.) I'm busily creating the starter kit to send out to anyone who is interested. If you want a starter kit, e-mail me at gretchenrubin1 [at] gmail [dot com], and I'll add your name. (Use the usual email format—that weirdness is to thwart spammers). Just write "happiness-project group" in the subject line. Or sign up here.
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Every Wednesday is Tip Day.
This Wednesday: Nine tips to avoid overspending.
One source of unhappiness for people is feeling out of control of their spending—and this is a problem that’s far more widespread now than it was a year ago. Feeling regret about having bought something is a very unpleasant sort of unhappiness. Being an underbuyer, as opposed to an overbuyer, I don’t generally have much trouble avoiding overspending. I have more trouble prodding myself to buy things I actually need.
Nevertheless, even with my underbuying ways, I sometimes come home with something I didn’t really need. Stores use extremely clever strategies to hoodwink customers into making purchases. Here are some strategies to make sure you don’t make purchases you regret:
1. Be wary of the checkout areas. There are lots of enticing little items here; ask yourself if you really need something before you add it to your pile. How many times have I picked up a jar of Balmex?
2. Get in and get out. The more time you spend in a store, the more you’re likely to buy. Even better: Don’t even go in the store. Then you definitely won’t buy.
3. Question the need for an upgrade. You might want that device with a slick new function or an improved version of what you have now, but do you really need it?
4. Be polite to salespeople but don’t feel like they’re your new best friends. Don’t buy something because you worry about hurting their feelings or feel guilty that you made them do a lot of work helping you or explaining products to you. (At the same time, be respectful of clerks’ efforts. The other day, I was in Gap Kids, and I saw someone rifle through a pile of beautifully stacked shirts in a way that would require them to be refolded. Was he malicious or just oblivious? I couldn’t tell.)
5. Don’t shop when you’re in a hurry or when you’re hungry.
6. Stick to a list. I’ve found that after I’ve decided to buy one thing, I’m far more likely to throw in other impulse items because I know that I’ve committed to going through the hassle of paying.
7. Beware of sale items, which make you feel like you can’t afford not to buy, or limited-time offers, which make you feel like you have to take advantage of a special deal. If you don’t need or want something, it’s not a good deal, not matter how cheap it is. A friend of mine told her husband, “I got this 50 percent off!,” and he answered, “That means it was 50 percent ON.” Along the same lines …
8. Don’t buy anything that you don’t know you need. This is especially important with clothes. If you’re not careful, you can buy a pair of pants marked down 75 percent, then realize that you can’t really wear them unless you buy the right shoes to go with them.
9. Pay with cash or credit card, whichever is least comfortable. Some people find it far harder to spend physical cash; other people find that paying with cash makes a purchase seem trivial, even when the dollar amount is high. Know whether you’re more inclined to overspend with cash or credit cards—and leave that payment method at home.
Have you found any great strategies to prevent overspending?
* I discovered a terrific new site for working mothers, The Mama Bee. Great material, helpful information, and beautifully written.
* Interested in starting your own happiness project? If you’d like to take a look at my personal Resolutions Chart, for inspiration, just e-mail me at grubin, then the “at” sign, then gretchenrubin dot com. (Sorry about writing it in that roundabout way; I’m trying to thwart spammers.) Just write “Resolutions Chart” in the subject line.