How Do *You* Avoid Consumer Temptation?
by Katy on June 27, 2025 · 19 comments
I’ve been practicing extreme frugality since 1998 when a copy of The Tightwad Gazette landed in my lap. I then got extra frugal and stopped buying anything new in 2006! It was kind of hard when I first started, but in time it became second nature. I rarely have any temptation to overspend now.
So when Non-Consumer Advocate readers or Facebook group members write asking for advice on how to spend less, sometimes the best advice comes from you, not me.
So today I ask you, dear readers:
How do you avoid consumer temptation? What advice do you have for people who continue to struggle with their spending?
Please share your thoughts in the comments section below. Thank you!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
whenever I’m itching for a new this or that unnecessary home decor, I rearrange the furniture, bric-a-brac and/or pictures on the wall. For some reason, that stops the craving to buy something new!
Embrace thrifting! It’s amazing how many BRAND-NEW, TAGS STILL ON things you can find that people donate.
Well, husband left his wallet at my sister’s yesterday, so he’s 20 hours in to not spending a dime! (It fell out of his pocket…fortunately at her house.)
We are implementing a new strategy to see how this works (fortunately, we didn’t start yesterday since his wallet is at my sisters). If it works, it will only work when we are together, but every little bit helps. We’re going to carry each other’s bank cards…me his and him mine. We don’t know each other’s pin numbers. That means we have to consult each other for as little as a candy bar. I’m diabetic and his last A1C indicated prediabetes, so neither of us NEED a candy bar. If we get one, we usually get one we both like and split it.
I ALWAYS check the clearance racks first. It’s rare that I find anything, but once in a while, I will stumble onto something. Most recent score was a box of Raisin Bran. It’s a cereal we eat regularly. Retail, $6.19. I got it for $3.09. The bottom of the box flap wasn’t sealed and was taped shut with packing tape.
Our laptop is in the process of giving up the ghost and replacing it is currently not an option. I’m using it very sparingly to nurse it along. Online shopping cut drastically. I could use my phone, but I don’t. Screen is too small.
3 years ago at Christmas, our daughter bought me a 12-pack of socks. I had socks, so I only got out one pair as I had to replace a pair I already had. I still have about 6 pair unopened after 3 years. I do the same with underwear. May be stained and have holes here and there, but I continue to wear them until they practically disinegrate before replacing with a new pair. Forget the adage our mothers told us about being sure to wear clean underwear in case you’re in an accident. If I’m in an accident, chances are I’ve messed them on impact anyway.
Because there are only 2 of us, we keep a running list on a white board in the kitchen of things as we run out of them or things we need to get to fix a meal. One of the things we eat periodically is Egg Roll in a Bowl. When we buy the sausage from the local butcher, we buy several pounds and freeze. Sometimes we eat pancakes and sausage and the butcher is only open Thursday afternoon, Friday all day and Saturday morning. The rest of the week he’s either butchering, smoking, grinding, prepping. They only make what they expect to sell, so everything is fresh. The loose sausage wrapped in 1 lb packages. I keep an eyeout for sales or marked down cans of bamboo shoots and water chestnuts to have on hand. Then the only thing we need fresh is a bag of cole slaw mix. Then, when we go to the store, I take a pix of the white board, only buy what is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, then mark those items off the white board. We only buy as needed instead of doing a big grocery shop. Other than milk, the only things I need to buy before next week is a small jar of sliced olives and 1 green pepper. I have to make macaroni salad for a potluck and those are the only 2 ingredients I don’t have.
And, I need tell you all – and this is no lie – that I met my husband in 1992 through a matchmaking column in a little classified magazine (which was free). He had placed the ad. I answered it. It cost me $3.58 to answer the ad ($3, plus 2 -29 cent stamps). We’ll be married 31 years in October.
Melissa, I laughed out loud when I read your hilarious take on clean underwear. And I love you and your husband’s origin story.
Melissa, I also met my DH through a classified ad, though it was online (back in the early, early days of the internet in 1998). The site was free, as I recall, and then we started emailing, which was free for me as I used the computers at the lab where I worked. ha. I knew he really was interested when he gave me his phone number and said I could call him collect (we lived in the same state, but four hours apart). True love.
And regarding underwear, if I’m in an accident, and in dire need of medical attention, I would hope my nurses and doctor would care a heck of a lot more about getting my vitals than checking the cleanliness of my undergarments!
I just figure with medical and emergency personnel, they’ve seen it all before.
Same with repair people like plumbers: My house isn’t the clean standard I would like, but they have seen far, far worse.
My Amazon Wish List is where “Almost” purchases go to die. I treat it as my Wish To Save My Money Instead list.
1. I concur with all of the above recommendations. One that I will add — whenever I think about making a purchase, I look at my savings account. Do I want this doodad, or do I want my savings to grow? In these times, I am so scared about what may happen, I usually choose savings.
I don’t look. My biggest temptation is antiques, so I deliberately do not peruse auction catalogs. I don’t look at emails from Anthro or Eileen Fisher or other clothing brands I like if I don’t need any clothes. Just delete unread.
Shopping in my area is ridiculous anyway, so I never shop in person. No thanks, I don’t need any Prada or Loewes or Louis Vuitton. I might go in person to J. Crew (the cheapest clothing store around) if I need something, but I don’t.
We have wonderful thrift stores here but I don’t go into them as I need nothing.
We rarely eat out, and if we do it’s a $28 pizza, so I make good food at home. I am very tempted today to make strawberry shortcake but I’m better off skipping the cake and cream. (Although….) I shop at the local supermarkets (which are still $$$$) rather than the gourmet stores. Planning on grilled chicken and leftover arugula for dinner.
-I create mini-challenges for myself and turn everything into a “game” to make it fun. I share my “wins” with friends/family who respect my creative approaches.
-I use the gift of technology to research and find resources that help me to fix/repair/replace at no/little cost to me.
-I lean into the community offerings that provide information, resources and connection around sustainability and practices I align with. It helps to have community!
-I shop my home first. I rearrange and rotate things so I feel like I have *newness* happening so things don’t feel stale.
-I ask friends/family before purchasing something they may have that I can borrow. I partner with others when I can to share/rotate things we don’t need all the time.
-I don’t use retail places as a form of entertainment to avoid temptation. If I’m out and see something I want I take a photo of it and then give myself time to either comparison shop for a better deal or find it for free/resell.
-I plan gifts as far in advance as possible and gift experiences/food when I can.
For me, what works is staying out of stores that have the most temptation for me to indulge in “impulse purchases”. Same applies to staying off websites that are tempting for me.
I also apply the Bible verse to my life that says “having food and raiment (clothing), let us be content.”
Having helped my parents downsize out of their 3000SF house in the Midwest has made me determined to not acquire anything that doesn’t have a specific immediate use.
Periodically going through my stuff to declutter also deters me from buying things when I know how much I have and I’m fairly minimalist to begin with. And I don’t go shopping to entertain myself – I go with a list.
I am loving all the tips and inspiration in the comments so far!
We simply don’t have a high enough income to allow for much temptation, but planning and treating thrift as a game are probably our biggest secrets.. A few things we do include:
– First and foremost, it is about values first, not thrift. It doesn’t feel like deprivation when it comes from a place of personal values. Being thrifty aligns with our environmental, humanitarian, and low consumption values. Being able to afford to live comfortably and save a bit on a small income is simply a happy side effect.
– We have two separate lists, needs and wants. Outside of food, rarely is a need immediate and we try to plan ahead, so usually an item sits on the need list until we find it for free or cheap second hand, cheap on sale locally, find a work-around with something we have already, borrow the item, or discover we never really needed it anyway. Honestly, thrifting or garage saling with the lists in hand is a bit more thrilling, especially when we DO find a long sought after item. The satisfaction of finally crossing it off the list is almost better than getting the actual item!
– We don’t order online unless absolutely necessary. This is more from the place of our personal values (we would rather support local businesses, or at least local employers if that fails). The side effect is that we have learned patience since you can’t always source things locally, at least not immediately.
– We try to follow a basic recipe for satisfying a want/need: Do we have something that will work? Can we make something that will work? Can we borrow it from our circle of neighbors and friends? Can we find it free on Buy Nothing or during college move-out, aka “hippie Christmas?” Can we find it used? And then finally, can we find a good deal on new? Wants are rarely if ever purchased new.
– Food and drink treats out are our weak point, so we have a $40 a week cash allowance. This amount allows for: 4 coffee dates at our favorite locally owned cafe, or two pints with dumplings at a local watering hole plus one coffee date, a lunch out (sometimes with enough left for a coffee date, depending on where we have lunch), or a single inexpensive dinner out. Whatever is left over from the $40 at the end of the week goes into our thrifting coin purse, which is used to buy needs or wants from our list, as well as allowing for the occasional spontaneous purchase or for covering a larger outing such as a movie, festival, or taking family out for a meal. For example, we are planning to attend a local cultural festival in two weeks, so for the last month we have been forgoing one coffee date each week so we could put $10 in the coin purse to cover tickets and any small purchases we decide to make.
I stay out of stores unless I have a list and a need. Thankfully shopping for recreation was not part of my childhood. In fact, I struggle to make myself go to the store and buy what I need since I really do loathe stores. I find them utterly overwhelming.
I unsubscribe to every single marketing email that comes. Immediately.
1) I naturally hate waste (wasted time, wasted money, wasted food, wasted effort), so that general approach to life helps me try to optimize. Buying something I don’t use makes me twitch.
2) We spent plenty, but we are heavily skewed to the experience side of spending vs “things”. We’re just not big things people. Other than watches for DH, which surprises me, but whatever. He has a few, and loves them. That’s not my jam.
3) If I “need” something, I ask myself if I can borrow it, if I can use something else instead, and/or if I really “need” it.
Different JC here,
I intensely dislike shopping, it’s all of the people crowding that gets to me the most. Thrift shopping with family for needs only works for me.
I feel like its the TV or advertising that creates “wants” for me….so I don’t watch. I don’t shop online and haven’t since the pandemic.
I feel like if my home is comfortable, clean and in good repair it is all I need.
I am trying to conserve in all areas because the times are scary.
If I can feel content at home I am happy.
JC
Time and patience are my anti-consumer tools. I have been wanting a Christmas colored, Mountain Weave tablecloth from the Vermont Country Store for years. I’ve put it in my cart a few times, and talked myself out of it. A couple of weeks ago I found exactly the tablecloth I’ve been coveting at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. Christmas items were deeply discounted in June, and my holiday self will be so happy that I waited.
What helps me to avoid consumer temptation:
1) Have an attitude of gratitude. I try to think of 3 things each day I am thankful for. When I am thankful, I am more content and not tempted to compare what I have/don’t have with others.
2) I’ve unsubscribed to shopping type email lists. I don’t subscribe to magazines and I don’t watch much TV. Since I listen to free Spotify and free podcasts they will promote ads. I just use that time to think about what I listened to or think about other things I need to do. I learned to “tune it out”.
3) I don’t go into stores unless I need to. When I go I stick to my list!
4) I try to be creative with what I have. I have made it a game to not have to go to the store. If a relative, or friend, has a birthday I go to my “gift tote” and pick something from there (I teach elementary school and receive various gifts for Christmas and will usually regift half of what I have).
5) Make a list of things you like to do that don’t cost much or are free. When you are tempted to spend, chose something from that list and do it. I go for a walk, write an email to a faraway friend, read a book at the library or at home.
I prefer to do the shopping in the sense that if I give my husband a list, he will come home with 2 or 3 things (minimum) that weren’t on the list. He shops like a woman – can go in a store and browse for HOURS. I shop like a man – get what I need and GET OUT!