I was browsing through LifeHacker and I came across this rather interesting article regarding a 100 dollar-a-day rule to prevent impulse purchasing.
For every $100 that I want to spend on the purchase of a new product, I must wait one day before I make the purchase. This creates a self-imposed ‘cooling-off’ period.
It sounded quite useful, so I decided to put some further thought, thinking through how I can utilise this strategy to curb my purchasing habits. After much thought,I realised I couldn’t do so for my otaku purchases.
Not even Geass works in preventing otakus from making impulse buys
Here’s why:
1. Most of my single item purchases cost less than a hundred bucks, so I don’t have to wait through the cooling-off period at all.
2. I’m a student who doesn’t bring home an income. Unless I lowered it to 20 or 50 dollars for each day of cooling-off, it just wouldn’t be practical. Lowering it to anything below 10 dollars and it’ll be quite retarded.
3. Some of the stuff I’m deciding to purchase might no longer be there even if I lowered the 100 dollar rule. It’s a race against time with other fellow otaku consumers.
4. Preorders. That’s what nullifies this entire strategy. A preorder of a normal figurine is a mere 10 dollars, totally under the range of 100 bucks. It’s not strange to order a whole bunch of them, followed by accepting the wallet’s doomsday when the stock arrives in stores.
Still, despite the flaws, I think that it’s quite a worthy plan to apply if you have a steady income and are looking at stuff far above the cost of a normal figurine or dvd. Stuff like a new HDTV, a new PC or a new mp3 player. With the cooling-off period, you can use the time to do further research to expand your options and thus make a better decision instead of a impulse purchase that you’ll eventually regret.
In the meantime, I shall go think of a better plan to counter my impulse purchase instincts.
So, what do you think of this 100 dollar rule? Is it applicable to your purchasing habits?
Yay for Lifehacker
Awesome blog.
Anyway, this is actually a good idea… but I always attempt these things, but I never follow through ><
The $100 rule might actually have the opposite effect on me. I’m a total cheap-ass, so it’s easy for me to dismiss a $100+ purchase on the spot. If I wait and think about the purchase, I’m more likely to convince myself it’s worth the money instead of talking myself out of it.
The biggest question you should ask yourself is actually: DO I REALLY NEED IT? Once you get over it, you’ll realise that everyone is surplus to requirements. The 2nd question is, WILL I EVER LOOK AT OR USE IT AGAIN? Generally the answer is no and it just sticks around in the closet.
Point number 3 is usually one of the main reasons for impulsive purchases because we are usually afraid of losing out to others. But tjhan’s points can help to reduce the influence of point number 3 by thinking twice and I believe he words hold some credibility due to experience. lol
Meh I am in no position to say that. Just got milked like a good Gainax bitchcow by ordering Rebuild of Eva LE online along with BMX Rei figure. Moo Moo Moo Moo Moo!
And I meant ‘his’ and not ‘he’. Moo moo *means sorry for double post in cow lingo*
That plan wouldn’t work for me…I only buy expensive stuff when the old version of it has broken. Well, except gas. Some day, gas might be over $100 and that rule won’t apply there. x.x
My general rule is to remind myself of the bills that I have to pay and the impending future of grad school. That alone is generally enough to make me close my wallet real fast.
Any form of plan won’t work on me. I go by the motto “Buy Now, Regret Later”.
which is more painful?
regret buying it or regret not buying it?
for me if i spend too much this month, i’ll either try to cut down on spending next month or do more OT to earn back the money.
I rather make informed purchases nowadays than go by any rule. It is not about a cooling period or anything, and yea, preorders totally nullify anything like that. All in the mind.
I usually think it over for at least a day before I make any purchase, $100-rule bearing or not - which made me miss my GSC Miku pre-order =A=;;.
Generally speaking, I go by the “If I buy this, will I sell it/chuck it away”? If the answer is YES, I’d usually not buy it.
IcyStorm > Yea LifeHacker’s an awesome read.
Baka-Raptor > Wow, you’re different from the majority.
tj han > What you said about surplus applies to more than 90% of my stuff. When I look back on the stuff I’ve bought over the year, I realised that I’ve never even touched some of the stuff apart from unwrapping them from their packages.
The Sojourner > Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who Gainax milked. Moo.
Caitlin > Gas is definitely an exception, as without it, how are you going to drive?
Adun > I salute your wallet.
gordon > Actually, both are equally painful. One to the heart, one to the wallet.
Panther > Preorders are the Otaku’s Evil.
Soshi > I hate to sell my figurines, but I might have to do so eventually to clear more space.
“Act first, think later” is what I will do.
I don’t think the $100 cool off plan will work on me at all.
Considering I’m not a figure collector, my purchases are usually mangas that cost around $5 to $20 (the most). Being a regular helps too so that I will not burn a hole in my pocket with bulk orders; purchasing a volume per month seems affordable. And as you’ve said, it seems really silly to have a cool off period for a $9.90 manga.
I suppose it’s fortunate that Madison does not have any big anime stores selling things like figures. I’ve a Best buy card for my DVD purchases and occasionally pick up manga (A little behind on the titles I’m getting right now though). So the $100 rule is something that I don’t think I’ll have to follow much. I only tend to go nuts at anime cons (ACEN to be specific)
need? do we really need figures. come on its a case of wants not needs.
anyway imo even for preorders you should look at the price of the item rather than that of what you are paying atm for the preorder.