Everyone in this thread has been completely useless aside from Moriarty and I hope they get banned.
Cookiez, I was given along with the rest of my siblings $5000 of inheritance money from my Aunt when she passed away. I have learned throughout the saving and spending of these funds my personal way of keeping myself from spending unless extremely necessary.
Here are the steps. Say you come across a product that looks interesting and you want to buy it. Run these through your brain first:
1. Do I need it? Now, the word "need" is big because unless this certain product is the thing stopping you from doing something important such as school work, basic life (food etc), or employment, you probably don't need to buy it. It's most likely not worth it to buy unless you SERIOUSLY need it. If you actually NEED it, go to step 6. Even if you don't NEED it, proceed to step 2.
2. Do I already have something equal or similar to it? This is a common mistake with buying things. Sometimes you might spend a lot of money on something and then realize that you basically already have something that can do the exact same thing as the item you just purchased. This can be a huge waste of money. However, if the item you purchased is far BETTER than what you already have, it may be worth it to research selling the older product (for example on something like Ebay, Craigslist, Amazon, a yard sale, etc). If this is the outcome, proceed to step 3. If you already have it though, and what you have can do the same thing, proceed to step 7.
3. Have I wanted it before? This is a different story. If this product is something you've wanted for a very long time and you've just recently come across the funds to purchase it, then that's excellent. If you haven't wanted it, proceed to step 7. If you have wanted it, proceed to step 4.
4. Find the lowest price Look everywhere on the internet for the lowest possible place to buy this product. Services like Google Shop can help you with this a lot. Once you find the lowest price of the product, proceed to step 5.
5. Read reviews You don't want to end up buying something that looked good but turned out to be stuff. Read lots of reviews, see what everyone else thinks of the product, and if it's got good reviews proceed to step 6, if not, proceed to step 7.
6. Buy it If it's everything you've wanted, if it's affordable, you don't already have it and it's a good product, go for it. Even if you don't need it, if it's something you've wanted for a long time, it's probably worth it to buy it. However don't purchase it unless you have the right amount of funds and you know that it's exactly what you want to spend your money on.
If you've bought it, that's that, the steps are over.
7. OR, Don't buy it It's probably not worth it if you don't have enough money, it's too expensive, you've already got something just as good around your house and you've just come across it now. Save your money for something better down the road or for something more important, something you need.
If you haven't bought it, wait a few months. If you find something more interesting or that product goes on sale or something, go back to step 1!
