I like Park Mommy's rule of not shopping when distressed or sad...I know I have purchased things when "under the influence" in that way. My latest solution is to still shop online when I feel that way, but I leave the stuff in my cart and don't check out. A few days later, when I go back, I usually say, "Gosh, why was I so sure that I needed this thing?" It seems like if you can just get past the moment of crisis, you can save yourself some bucks. I also ask myself, Do you really want to spend [amount of money] on this, or is there something else you would rather have for that money? Usually the answer is that I would rather spend the money on something else. Or I may say to myself, OK, you really like this thing, but do you really think it's worth [amount of money]? Again, the answer is usually no. I also think about how many hours I have to work to pay for the thing--is the item worth my working X number of hours? These are some of the ways I keep myself on track, because I'm all too aware of how weak I can be!
