If you’re tempted to impulse buy, ask these 5 questions first (low buy questions!)

hey everyone welcome back to my channel so we talk a lot about intentional spending intentional shopping adding things mindfully and slowly to our wardrobe so that we can get the best cost per wear and ultimately the best use out of our money but what about those scenarios when the situation isn't as within our control as much as we would like I'm talking about things like boredom browsing window shopping and even the Oh I like that where did she get that I need to have that right now kind of shopping so yeah as much as I tried to be as intentional as I possibly can when it comes to shopping sometimes my impulses and more importantly my boredom can really get the best of me so when I catch myself in that little rabbit hole feeling a little bit bored and scrolly and flat out spendy these are some of the harder questions that I ask before I buy for those of you who don't know me welcome my name is Christina I talk all about intentional living intentional spending and how to get the most out of what you already got so if any of that sounds interesting to you then please give this video a thumbs up it helps me out so much and if you haven't subscribed yet please do now before we get into the hard questions I want to thank the sponsor of today's video audible you guys know I've worked with audible many times before they're a great supporter of my channel and that's because I genuinely love to consume my knowledge and entertainment through audiobooks I'm not that big of a reader of like book books traditionally I like to listen to audio books when I am working out when I'm walking to work if I'm cooking or tidying up and there are basically Endless Possibilities on Audible since we're talking about conscious spending and intentional shopping in today's video I want to recommend one of my all-time favorite life-changing reads and that is I will teach you to be rich by ramit seiti I really resonate with roommates practical and most importantly emotional and psychological approach to money where he really sort of prompts you to explore where it is you see the most value and that's where you can be putting your money guilt free everything else can really be automated and that way you can make your money start working for you while you spend the rest of your time living your rich life as an audible member you'll have a huge selection of titles to choose from from bestsellers podcasts audible originals and more you can choose one title a month to keep forever including the latest bestsellers and new releases and they update it all the time and if you wanted to try audible completely for free for 30 days days you can go to audible.com Christina mahas or text Christina makas to 500 500. again that's Christina bakass to 500 500. so the first hard question to ask yourself before you buy is is it the outfit or is it her or him or they is it the person that you're attracted to or is it the clothing itself and I find that especially when it comes to shopping or finding things that Intrigue us it might just be the person that we're finding attractive rather than the outfit or garment itself and for me it's been a hard truth to accept because sometimes it is the body or the height or the whole package that I'm attracted to and I know in my real life I probably wouldn't actually wear the piece use the piece or it just flat out wouldn't be as flattering on me as it is on the person I saw it on and to me that's perfectly okay I think it's a really powerful thing and a really powerful Act of self-love to kind of know what it is that works for you and accept and love the body that you're in question number two is what am I trying to remedy right now for years I used to use shopping as my favorite form of escapism I would shop when I was happy to prolong that feeling and I would shop when I was sad or bored to help me feel some time yes but I think for many other reasons to soothe and Escape certain feelings that I just didn't want to deal with it was always easier to swipe the credit card to add to cart and to create a sense of anticipation for the package coming in rather than to actually face and deal with the problems that I was trying to escape you know and figuring this out may take some real deep work it may even require the help from a professional therapist because you know the reason that we shop in impulse buy especially if it's more compulsive it can be a symptom of a greater problem and of a greater issue that maybe runs deeper than we're willing to deal with right now so there's no shame in getting help for that and asking for help I've gone through therapy myself as I was working through all of this but if you are a little bit Frank with yourself and ask yourself that question up front I think it can yes be very painful but also really helpful in helping slowing down that impulse and just digging a little deeper question number three is am I trying to have something in common with someone I admire I used to do this all the time especially in the era of Beauty YouTube of makeup Guru YouTube I used to think it was the coolest thing that I could have access to certain makeup products that my favorite influencers were using it felt really special to me at the time to know that like me and Desi Perkins were using the same Nars highlighter and I think this can kind of go too full especially when it comes to influencers like there's certain influencers that I know and trust and that you know maybe we have similar styles then I do look to them for recommendations and even to see how they like vet certain products and that way you know I can get good use out of my money and all that stuff that we talk about but the other angle that I've learned to be a little bit more mindful with about is do I just want to have something in common with them for me it was like a way to feel closer to that person and there would be like a fantasy of oh if we ever met then it could be like oh I have that too I love it don't you love it it's like a conversation starter so I think just digging a little bit deeper and thinking a little bit more critically about why it is that you want that thing when you saw it on that certain person are they actually helping you make a better decision when it comes to that purchase or is it something that you want to use as a way to feel closer to them even if you'll never meet in like a sort of parasocial way if I'm being honest sometimes it's like oh I want it because I saw Matilda jerf wearing it and there isn't much more of a deeper reason than that and if that is the the reason then it helps me maybe think twice about it question number four is a little bit more practical and I think maybe more tailored to occasion wear or like Stand Out pieces and it's besides the one event that I'm picturing wearing this thing where else and how else can I wear this I think it is actually a very useful shopping technique to kind of picture where you want to wear this thing and come up with ideas and places of where you're going to wear it but if the item is like really really sort of unique and special and a little bit more on the like occasion wear side then I would just see if you can think a little bit more realistically about where else and when else you want to wear that item especially when it comes to really sort of fantastic occasion wear like if it's so cool that you only really want to be seen in at one time then maybe it's not really the Best Buy in which case I would maybe look towards an option like renting it so that the Garment stays sort of special and unique to that situation you also save a little bit of your money and question number five is one of my favorites and it's who am I really buying this for is it me real me everyday me or is it fantasy self me ah the fantasy self you got a lover you also gotta hater honestly I've been doing a lot of thinking about the fantasy self and I spent a lot of time over the past two and a half years decluttering her because I used to shop primarily for my fantasy self that would mean things like buying one hit wonder occasion wear pieces that I never ended up actually going to because that's just not the life that I live I don't live a Carrie Bradshaw New York City French girl La rock star socialite life I had a lot of fantasy solves clearly or I would buy a ton of high heels when I stand all day at work I walk to work and when I do wear high heels I feel like I'm gonna vomit by the end of the night I would continuously buy things that were so completely out of alignment with my actual life and I would also never take any steps or actions to create that fantasy life that I thought about because I think a fantasy self can be useful in terms of like the dress for the life you want kind of mentality I think you can use your fantasy self to sort of um mold your own aesthetic like for me a lot of my fantasy self is like fabulous French cool girl a little bit a little bit of like La rock and roll Chic really Fab like Scandinavian style so I use a lot of that fantasy and incorporate it into my personal style but I feel like I've learned to take what I need from that fantasy and leave what I don't because maybe that cool girl loves to wear high heels but I don't so I'm not going to take that part of her so I think that's how you can use a fantasy self in a healthier way but when you are shopping for a certain piece or are intrigued by one slash planning to impulse buy it I think there's still a lot of Merit in asking that question and asking which perspective you're looking at that fantasy self from and that is are you trying to escape from your current reality or are you using it to mold a reality realistically in one that can actually serve you so those are some of the harder questions to ask yourself before you buy but I think they are really effective questions to ask because it just gets you to slow down stop and think a little bit more critically before you decide to spend that money obviously not every purchase will be a perfect one but I think knowing the why behind it can really help you sort of figure out if it's a purchase that you're gonna feel joyful and excited about versus one that you might end up regretting let me know if you have any hard questions that you ask yourself before you buy leave me a comment down below and don't forget if you want to try audible completely for free for 30 days you can go to audible.com Christina mahas or text Christina macas to 500 500. again that's Christina mahas to 500 500. thanks so much for watching don't forget to give this video a thumb subscribe if you haven't and I'll see you in the next one bye [Music]

Channel: Christina Mychas

Views: 37,112

Keywords: how to stop shopping, low buy questions, questions to ask before you buy, low buy year, low buy 2023, no buy year, no buy, how to stop shopping and save money, how to stop impulse buying, low buy rules, minimalism, minimalist living, mindful spending, intentional spending, how to stop shopping addiction, shopping addiction, compulsive shopping, how to stop buying things i dont need, how to stop spending money, how to save more money, how to save money and pay off debt, debt

Id: To1jgcGbyNw

Length: 10min 51sec (651 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 11 2022