Impulse Shopping From The Comfort Of My Home

Wow.  Yesterday was a busy day.  No, it wasn’t too bad at work and I didn’t have much to do around the house, but I sure was busy looking at all the things I could blow my money on.  I don’t know why, but I had an incredible urge to spend money yesterday.  I started by looking at Dell’s new 9" mini laptop.  Wow, that looks neat.  As I admired the size and capabilities of it, I ran through all of the "good" reasons I should buy it.  It would be handy for sitting in the family room watching tv.  I could watch a show and keep up with stuff online.  Never mind that I already have a laptop.  This one seemed "better".

While I was looking at the Dell mini laptop, I couldn’t help but notice their full size 15" Studio laptops.  Those look very nice.  I think I must be drawn to them by their thin size and similar features to the Dell XPS laptops.  In the end, I didn’t buy either of them.

A little while later I started looking at new cel phones.  My contract is up in April and I’m probably going to switch away from Sprint.  I never thought I’d say this, but I’m seriously considering an Iphone.  Of course, I’ve got a lot of time to lust after an  Iphone since my contract doesn’t expire until April.  I went to ATT’s website and chose the phone and calculated out what it would cost each month to use it.  For a family plan with 2 phones I’d be paying $83 a month (with corp discount) before all of the extra fees.  That includes texting and unlimited data (because why on earth would you get an Iphone without unlimited data access?).  The price also includes a standard phone for my wife.  Currently we pay about $55 for two phones (including fees) so this would be a drastic increase in cost.  Is it worth it?  I don’t know but I’ve got a few months to decide.

Last night as I was watching Seinfeld episodes on my Tivo, I decided to surf the web with my laptop.  Last weekend I DJ’d a  party at our lake community and it was a BLAST.  I’ve done this a couple times before and always really enjoyed it.  I started thinking last night, "It sure would be cool to have some lighting effects next time".  Without hesitation I was off to Ebay to look at what was out there.  I searched for "DJ lights" and found a ton of very cool lights.  My favorite are the LED versions that move around and throw tons of light on the floor.  The good news is that they are only $69 plus shipping.  I didn’t buy one.

I was able to squash all of my shopping impulses yesterday but I have to admit there were a few close calls.  I need to come up with a method for shocking myself back in to reality.  Sure, I’d love to have any of these things but I’d love to have my house paid off even more.  A new laptop or DJ light won’t help me quit my job earlier.  It certainly won’t help me pay off my house sooner.  I think I might make a card with a simple question on it.  "Will this purchase help me meet my financial goals?" 

Got any ideas for a better question for the card?