Steps against impulse buys of flashaholics!

The flashaholics questionaire..


TWELVE steps against impulse buys:

ask yourself

1.Do you need it?


2.No really DO you NEED it? Not just WANT it.
-Dont lie. Be honest. There is an actual intended use for this?
If not daily but weekly or monthly atleast?
And not just "I will use that one today instead of the others" reasoning!


3. Is it SO much better than others you have that you will see signifigant upgrade when compared to your other flashlights?


4. An actual difference what a NORMAL person would notice? Not just you and flashholics.


5. Is it really that much better to ALL your other lights?
No other light can compete with it?
Output? Runtime? User interface? Ergonomics? Size? Battery type? What is soooo great in it that others dont stand a chance?


6.Will it replace something else you have/own?


7.Will you promise to sell the old one now that it has become obsolete?
Or will you keep the old one as backup? (thats ok)
If so, then you definately will sell light that used to back up the light this will be replacing?


8. Can you afford to it?


9. Seriously, afford to buy it without cutting costs anywhere else?


10. Buy it without remorse?


11. And are certain that your wife gf etc will not get angry hearing you bought "yet another flashlight"?


12. Can you afford to use it, loose it, break it and replace it with ease.


13. If you do, thats great, go buy it. But somehow i still think you lied atleast in some of these steps..

There is plenty of repetition, yes. But most of you just skipped the 1st question without thinking.. by reading it again you might actually think and answer more truthfully!

i tend to manage to get only 2-4 answers right. so i cant buy all of the ones i want. so this works for me.

Good advice. I try to follow some of those steps, or used to try. At this point I could probably answer "yes" for only two or three. I've always had a slightly variable max spending limit. Now it's around $70. This seems to help keep me out of trouble.

Geoff

Wow, I didn't know there're that much steps for that.

One overdraft notice from my bank is enough for me to stop buying on impulse though, following above steps sounds like a good idea.

NonSenCe said:

11. And are certain that your wife gf etc will not get angry hearing you bought "yet another flashlight"?

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Looks like I fell of the wagon twice today already and it's only lunch time :devil:
My wife was with me at the time
Norm

One way is not to have any money. I am self employed and business is slow so I don't have any extra money for such things.

I have enough lights anyway. I'll probably wait until the new Cree LED starts to show in new lights.

Man, I didn't get past #1.

Just give yourself a "mad money" account that fits within your budget to spend or save freely as you see fit. Then you don't have to question or justify any purchases to yourself or anyone else. That is what we do. It works very well.

My steps:

1: Do you need it? (yes)

2: Hey, look at that knife!

3: Do you need that knife? (YES)

4: Hey, look at that flashlight!

........

I simply set rules for myself that my light/knife/tool are user only, and avoid overlap in function as much as possible. It's been working okay so far, even if I break it once in a while it still kept my purchase down to a very reasonable level.

You are evil.
Now I can newer buy a flashlight again :mecry:.

These questions come only from a "practical use" view. Shouldn't the collector/hobbyist's view be incorporatetd as well?

This logical questionnaire, and its search for answers, reminds me of that old Tom T. Hall song about an old philosopher and the mysteries of life: faster horses, younger women, older whiskey, and more flashlights or something of the sort.

Sigman said:

These questions come only from a "practical use" view. Shouldn't the collector/hobbyist's view be incorporatetd as well?

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Well said, money spent on a hobby or collection never involves an essential purchase.
I know there are members who's lights are necessary items but I would say that most people here could live with one or two lights around the house.

I definitely don't need to justify each purchase, I'm just having fun

1. Close your Credit Card accounts and pay for everything in cash.
2. Close your Paypal accounts.
3. Stop visiting Ebay, CPF, and or your favorite gun/sporting goods retailers.

OR
Learn some self control, I am still working on that angle.

Onuris said:

Just give yourself a "mad money" account that fits within your budget to spend or save freely as you see fit. Then you don't have to question or justify any purchases to yourself or anyone else. That is what we do. It works very well.

Click to expand...

this works for me too
but I'm a bit like Keygrip...
ooh nice knife...

Access your home Internet router and block http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/forumdisplay.php?f=123

This stops most of my impulse buying..

(Now if I can only find a way to block this while at work... :devil

I usually lie on 10 of the points, I always say I need it when I don't. It's all Sasha'a fault for having this site. If she would just close it down we "addicts" could save ourselves.

Yes self control is the order of the day

Now! I really must go see what's cooking in the MP

>Is the new light on your 'buy' list? The list you've made after searching over all the forums and reviews and decided what you 'need' to have, written, in pen, in 3 places.

If the light isn't on your list, don't buy it! But, maybe you can start revising the buy list. Do that 3 times over (as you update each different list).

My trick ,which is not applicable in all cases, is to equate the price of a flashlight with something else.

My wife has unfortunately taken this logic and turned it against me ....

".... that flashlight is $150 ? (fenix tk40)... you know that that is equal to five days camping fees ?

*sigh*

Hoisted by my own petard.