5 questions to ask yourself before you buy anything –
What we're covering..
Introduction 👋
These days, you have to work very hard, for long hours to get money. 💪
Life is expensive, so every penny counts. 💸
So – it’s really important to spend wisely! 🧐
This means, it has to be worth it when you spend! ✨
To make sure it’s worth it, before you buy anything, you can ask yourself these 5 questions! 🎤
Disclaimer: This website provides information for guidance and educational purposes only. The Grown-Up School does not provide regulated financial advice. You can seek independent financial advice from a suitably qualified and regulated professional advisor. Check out our disclaimer policy for more information.
1. How am I feeling? 💖
One of the main reasons we spend money, is to make ourselves feel better.
It’s easy to change your mood with your purchases, and buy things that only feel good in the moment! 💃🕺
You could find yourself buying things because you’re feeling:
- Anxious 😬
- Lonely 😔
- Stressed e.g. work or school stress 🥴
- Under pressure e.g. to look a certain way, other people are buying things so you feel like you have to 😎
- Sad 😢
- Insecure 😓
- Tired 😴
- Really happy – it can be easy to spend lots of money when celebrating! 🥳
It’s normal to want to spend money whilst you’re feeling this way, so just be mindful that you might end up overspending if you’re feeling emotional.
Don’t judge yourself or beat yourself up if you do spend to cheer yourself up once in a while. 🥊
But also remember – money is a temporary solution that won’t work to make your life better! ⌛
If you find yourself spending to make yourself feel better all the time – make sure you’re fixing the main issues that are making you emotional in the first place! 🩹
For example, you could try to make your work, school, or home life less stressful. 🧘♀️
You could ask yourself:
- Why am I buying this?
- Are my emotions making me buy this?
- Am I buying this to fill a void?
2. What else could I do with the money?🤷♀️
Think about what your biggest priorities and money goals are. 🏆
Do you really value spending money on things like:
- Books? 📚
- Holidays? 🏖️
- Meals out? 🍛
- Spending time with family/friends? 👪
- Saving to buy a home? 🏡
How high does buying this thing sit on your priority list? 📝
Is it as important as your main goals/priorities?
Could you use the money for something better? ✨
If you’re not too bothered about buying fancy clothes, do you really need to spend a lot of money on clothes?
Buying one expensive tshirt, could cost the same as a night away in a hotel! 👕
If you love holidays, why not keep the money aside for a mini holiday instead?
Thinking about what else you could do with the money, can help you to decide:
- If it’s worth buying 💸
- If you’ll truly value the thing you’re spending money on 💖
3. How much would I use the thing I’m buying? ⌚
Have you ever bought something, used it once, and then never used it again?
Think about things like:
- Clothes that don’t fit or break easily 👕
- Fancy outfits for an occasion 👗
- Gadgets like a fitness watch ⌚
- Exercise gear like running machines or weights 🏋️
- Cooking tools like blenders, slow cookers, or air fryers 🍳
This could be a waste of money!
Work out the real cost of buying it 🤔
You can work out the real cost of something, by looking at how much you’ll use it. 🕵️♀️
For example, imagine you’re buying a breadmaker for £100. 🍞
If you use that breadmaker once every week, for 1 year (£100 ➗ 52 weeks) –
It would cost £1.92 every time you use it.
If you only used it twice, your bread would cost £50 every time you use the breadmaker! 🥖
4. Could I get it cheaper? 💸
These days, businesses use lots of tactics to try and convince you to spend your money! 😏
They’ll offer things like:
- Sales 🏷️
- Buy one get one free 2️⃣
- Limited time deals ⌚
- Summer/winter/spring/autumn discounts ❄️
- Free delivery 🚚
- Free gifts when you spend 🎁
But are these “deals” actually helpful?
Or are they just a way of making you spend more of your precious money? 💳
Whenever you buy something you should ask yourself:
- Is this actually a good deal, or are they just trying to make me buy more? 🛍️
- Am I buying it just because it’s on sale? 🏷️
- Is it worth the price tag? 💸
- Can I get it cheaper? 💰
- Where else could I look to buy this thing? 👀
5. Can I actually afford it? 💰
It can be tempting to buy something in the heat of the moment. 🔥
BUT
Before you buy something, it’s important to check if you can actually afford it first. ✅
The person selling it to you, probably won’t care if you can afford it (they’ll just want to sell it to you!) – so it’s your job to care and protect yourself! 🧠
You can ask yourself things like:
- How much money is in my bank account? 🏦
- Are all my bills paid? 📝
- Do I have enough emergency savings? 🚑
- Is there money in my budget I can use to buy this thing? ⚖️
- Will I have to go into debt if I buy this? 🌪️
- Could I afford to buy this thing several times (could you afford buy it at least 3 times), or is it sooo expensive that I could only afford to buy it once? 🤷♀️
- Will I still be able to pay my bills, food, and shelter costs if I buy this? 🏡
How to start looking after your money 🌱
Conclusion 👍
So that’s it!
Before you buy anything, you should ask yourself the questions:
- How am I feeling? 💖
- What else could I do with the money?🤷♀️
- How much would I use the thing I’m buying? ⌚
- Could I get it cheaper? 💸
- Can I actually afford it? 💰
If you know any friends or family members who might benefit from learning about questions you should ask before buying things, share this post with them!
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