Whenever I want to buy something online, I add it to cart and force myself to wait 24 hours.
That’s it.
About 70% of the time I completely lose interest in buying it.
I checked my bank statements and realized most impulse purchases happen within 10 minutes of seeing something.
This one habit genuinely changed my spending more than any finance YouTube advice.
The “24-hour cart rule” saved me more money than budgeting apps ever did.
byu/localhostuser- inpersonalfinance
Posted by localhostuser-
7 Comments
This works so well! I started doing this after seeing similar advice somewhere and now half my cart just sits there forever lol. Amazing how much you dont actually want stuff after sleeping on it
Even better, add to a shopping list on your phone. If you can’t find it locally, and still want it a couple of weeks later, get it. I have reduced shopping a lot by boycotting Amazon and primarily shopping locally. Things are more expensive but I buy a lot less, and mostly second-hand.
I’m generally just an adult and have a budget.
I don’t have a cutoff time. I still save money by forgetting to check out. Sometimes, the research is my favorite part of the purchase. Once I have that, the fun had already been had.
I thought you were going another way: Sometimes they send me a coupon for an abandoned cart.
I do this for most purchases under $100. If it’s over $100, I have a 1 month rule I try to apply (don’t always succeed). If I want something over $100 (assuming it’s not a need), I put a pin in it for 1 month and then come back. If I still want the thing a month later, then I go for it.
Saved me thousands upon thousands of dollars. Would save me more if I was more consistent with the rule, but it’s a start.
Sometimes when I buy from Amazon, I choose the slow shipping–Amazon day shipping. This gives me a few days to chancel.