How To Save More With The Do Not Buy List

One of the most used ways to save is to make a shopping list , especially when going to the supermarket. With this list we try to limit both impulses and improvisation by reducing the purchase only to the products that appear in it. Surely the formula sounds familiar. We are going to go a little further and we are going to give the idea a twist. In other words, we are going to learn how to save by doing just the opposite: the DON’T buy list.

The concept is very simple and needs few explanations. It is about keeping the budget under control and expenses at bay by writing a list of things that under no circumstances can you buy. For example, the whims of the supermarket, the latest iPhone or the gym subscription.

LEARN TO IDENTIFY YOUR EXPENSES BEFORE

Before making a do-not-buy list, you have to be moderately clear about your monthly expenses . You must start from the basis that not all expenses are the same. Some, such as the electricity bill or the mortgage payment, are essential and essential . Those cannot be blacklisted.

Yes, there are other more superfluous expenses that, as far as possible, you should put in the drawer of not buying from the first moment. For example, that piece of clothing that you find on sale but that you do not need or any whim that you crave when you see it on Amazon and that you know does not bring you any real utility.

HOW TO CREATE THE DON’T BUY LIST

Once you are clear about which expenses are important and which are not, it is time to take out a pen and paper to make a list of the products (and services) that you cannot buy. You can classify the purchases you want to avoid in different categories to make everything easier for you.

Some suggestions:

Supermarket

It is one of the most dangerous sites for your wallet. Everything in the supermarket is designed to generate impulse purchases. In your list of not to buy can not miss the industrial pastries, cut fruit, salads already prepared or processed products. Everything you know that you neither need nor is good for your health , to the list.

Products on sale

If you buy something on sale that you did not plan to buy, no matter how discounted it may be, it will be very expensive. If you find a jacket of 80 dollars reduced to 30 dollars but you don’t really need it, you don’t save 50, you spend 30. Be clear about it and don’t fall into the trap. It will help you to have a list of products that you cannot buy even if they are on sale.

Leisure

Without proper control, the item of leisure spending can skyrocket too easily. It is important to refine a lot and make a list of prohibited expenses. For example, eating out more than once a week. You can also consider prohibited entertainment some subscriptions that you do not get to take advantage of one hundred percent, such as the gym or Netflix.

Online shopping

There are people who turn on the computer, visit ecommers like Amazon or Aliexpress by inertia and discover a lot of things that they did not know they needed. Buying them is a mistake and to avoid it you have to include them in the do not buy list. For example, the new smartphone that you know will hit the market in a few months.

Now is your turn. Are you brave enough to write your DON’T buy list? If you want more commitment to yourself, make it public among your friends and family. Or why not, dare to share it with us!