I am not a list-maker by nature! As I age, I'm finding them increasingly useful.
I have noticed recently that I have a fairly set list of purchases in mind for this coming year. When I tried to reproduce it in another forum, there were a few raggedy ends. So now I have it all in one place. It just makes me feel more together.
One thing I've noticed is that as I browse "oooooh, exciting sales!" I am instinctively noticing if items are on my list or not. It makes turning aside yet another T-shirt or blue dress much easier. But the list is also very general, so I don't feel like I'm on a frustrating hunt for one very specific item. More like "long, shaped cardi in berry or blush", "cropped cardi", so I have tons of room to play.