When I reached my 60s, my wasteful spending stopped, almost all at once.
The trigger was three things. A vibration exercise machine for about 30,000 yen. A high pressure washer for about 20,000 yen. An electronic keyboard for about 30,000 yen. I bought them all, and within a few months I stopped using every one.
And it went further. Over the years I paid for home study courses too, about 100,000 yen each, more than once.
That was the true shape of my wasteful spending.
But there were also things I was truly glad I bought. So where was the difference? In this piece I write down the simplest way I found to stop impulse buying, using the three things I regret and the two things I do not.
Here is my answer first. When I suddenly want something on the spot, I do not buy it right away. I take a photo or write a note, and I let time pass. Most of the wanting fades on its own. That one habit stopped my wasteful spending.
The two things I was glad I bought
Two things earned their place.
A MacBook Air. I bought it to write this blog, and I use it every day. A printer. I serve as an officer in my neighborhood association, and I make a lot of copies, so I really needed it.
What they share is simple. The purpose was clear from the start. Writing the blog means I use the laptop daily. The copies mean the printer is truly needed. A thing with a reason to keep using stays.
The three things I did not need
Three things were pure impulse. Together they cost about 80,000 yen.
The vibration machine you stand on, about 30,000 yen. I stopped using it in a few months. The high pressure washer, about 20,000 yen. I used it once at the end of the year, and that was all. The electronic keyboard, about 30,000 yen. I practiced a little, but I have no time for it.
When I bought each one, I thought it might be good. Looking back now, I did not need any of them.
It was not only things. Life was the same
This is not only about objects. Long ago I paid for courses too.
A correspondence course to become a mechanic. A class on drawing portraits. A U-Can course. (U-Can is a Japanese company that sells home study courses by mail.)
Each one cost around 100,000 yen. I tried again and again. Every time I thought, maybe this will change me. So I started. But I did not keep going.
In the end, what remained was not the wish to change. Only the things I actually kept doing remained.
The simplest way I found to stop
When something suddenly makes me want it, I do not buy it right away.
If I decided I needed it from the beginning, buying is fine. But when a want appears out of nowhere in a store or online, I go home once. I take a photo or write a note. Then I look at it again after some time has passed.
And the strange thing is this. Most of what I thought I wanted so badly has already become something I can do without.
A passing want is only that shallow. Even for me, just letting a little time go by has settled it more times than I can count. To me, a real want is a thing with a reason to keep using it.
But I still lose at the bookstore
Let me be honest. I have not fully mastered my wants either.
The bookstore is where I slip. I see a title. I flip through the pages. Hmm, looks interesting, I think, and I buy it. I get home, start reading, and feel let down. Not what I hoped. The bookstore is my last weakness.
Even so, the big items, the 30,000 yen machine, the 20,000 yen washer, the 30,000 yen keyboard, I can now pass by just by letting time go. Not perfect. But most of the wasteful spending has stopped.
So let me ask you. Your last impulse buy, where is it now, a month later? Do you use it every day? Or have you not touched it since? If you notice you have not touched it, that is the true shape of wasteful spending.
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