Impulse buying

[Meadbh]

I went shopping today for a briefcase (planned). My favourite leather store was having a sale. I met a couple who had come in to buy gloves for DH but left with a beautiful leather jacket for his sister. (It was a bargain at $199). The conversation turned to impulse buying. It turned out that DW had accompanied DH to his automobile's oil change, and while waiting, had bought a CAR.

What's the biggest impulse purchase you have ever made? Or are you Puritan LBYMs always capable of restraining yourselves in the face of [-]iniquity[/-] temptation?

 

[RetireeRobert]

I went shopping today for a briefcase (planned). My favourite leather store was having a sale. I met a couple who had come in to buy gloves for DH but left with a beautiful leather jacket for his sister. (It was a bargain at $199). The conversation turned to impulse buying. It turned out that DW had accompanied DH to his automobile's oil change, and while waiting, had bought a CAR.

What's the biggest impulse purchase you have ever made? Or are you Puritan LBYMs always capable of restraining yourselves in the face of [-]iniquity[/-] temptation?

Candy bars are my temtation. I think that likely leaves out of the Puritan class.

 

[cube_rat]

I went to return a shirt at Old Navy about 5 years ago and bought a new car on the way to the store. I promised myself to never buy a car on impulse again...although I am looking at a 2007 BMW 335i as I type this. Someone help me please.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Went looking for cock-a-poo dog with DW. Came home with a Doberman.

 

[AltaRed]

I don't recall any instances of impulse buying of material things in day-to-day life, but have done so when touring or on vacations (on attractions, events, entertainment, dining experiences). Material purchases, other than items <$100, have been planned.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

What's the biggest impulse purchase you have ever made?

A drink for a pretty blond which, with additional required investments turned out to cost about $35,000 over a couple of years. Good dividend payer though.

But I lost all my principal at the end.

 

[Nords]

We go to open houses to get a feel for the market and to pick up home-improvement/décor tips.

We've bought two houses that way, neither of which we really intended to own but each that gave us the screamin' gimmes in its own way and at the worst possible times. One fell through escrow and I'm sitting in the other one now.

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/showpost.php?p=357990&postcount=40

Here's what the quote looked like before CFB's edits:

But I lost all my [-]principles[/-] principal at the end.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I have to learn how to edit faster...

 

[Callie]

I went to look for new flooring for my kitchen about 10 years ago, the kitchen place was closed, so I stopped and bought a new car on the way home.

 

[Meadbh]

You guys are way more impulsive than I am!

I stopped in at Pier 1 Imports today on the way home from the leather store and spent $40 on gifts.

Still driving the 12 year old Honda and living in the 85 year old house!

Keep 'em coming!

 

[Goonie]

I've done some impulse buying over the years, but it was kind of planned ahead of time......whenever I've gone to my favorite hobby shop, I've always put a blank check in my wallet in case I would spy out something I 'needed'. I've NEVER returned back home with a blank check.

Still.....living in the 85 year old house!

My house was built in the very early 1900's (1908 IIRC), and has been in the family for almost that entire time. Only out of the family for a few years in the late 40's. My Mom, who is 80, was born here.

 

[W2R]

The only thing that I buy on impulse is art, and then only if it fits roughly into my budget. You can't just say "today I am going to pick up the perfect sculpture (or painting) down at the corner store" and actually find it that day. It takes months of looking before I stumble across something that is just right, because I only look at the cheap stuff under $100 and because I am very picky and need art that I adore and relate to on a personal/emotional level, not just stuff that looks right from a decorating point of view.

I guess the most expensive impulsive art purchase was an Italian statue of Napoleon ($140). I didn't buy it, went home, felt tormented with longing for it, and went back, haggled until I got the price down considerably, and bought it anyway. It was worth every penny to me, though more than I would normally pay (being a cheapskate at heart).

But otherwise, I don't recall ever making an impulsive buy, to tell you the truth.

 

[pilgrim555]

Almost ashamed to reveal my/our impulse purchase...."A BUBBLE MACHINE" further discomfort...$79.00! Vacation in Stowe,VT and saw bubbles pouring out of a gift shop...Thought the grandkids would love it...they do and all the halloween trick or treaters enjoy bubbles also...frivolous with a capital F

 

[NotSoonEnough]

I once stopped at the Nissan dealer to have a look at a Sentra, just wanted to get some info, maybe go for a test-drive, all part of my "research". At the time, the Sentra was a great little high-mileage vehicle for about $13k with all the bells and whistles. I drove home in a nifty new Altima SE with all the bells and whistles (including a "moon-roof") for about $25k.

Nope, won't do that again. I now drive a used Chevy Blazer on weekends to get to the hills, ride a bicycle to do errands around town during the week.

 

[Helena]

Speaking of briefcases... I found a beautiful natural eel skin
briefcase at an estate sale for $3. The catch was... it had a
combination lock... and no one knew the combination... but
I bought it anyway... I put it away for a few weeks, then one
night I was determined to open it... so I began at 000 and one
digit at a time I moved the lock up to the 600s before one side
opened... then I had the same fun with the other side... but I
finally opened it... unfortunately, there were no valuables inside...
but it was brand new and beautiful inside... and all for the cost of
three bucks... along with some time, patience and sore fingers.

 

[Texas Proud]

Let me define impulse buying IMO.... it is buying something that you had no intention of buying and do not need..

So, my answer is nothing big.. sure, have bought some food and other groceries that I was not intending to buy when I went in the front door, but nothing ever big...

If I see something that is great.. I just leave to see if I really need it... do some research and go back if it fits in....

Now, I do buy stuff on Woot which is a one product a day site... but only things that I had been 'wanting', but have not yet bought... they have some good prices... but have missed some that I would have liked to buy since I did not 'jump' quickly... got to take the step back... and sometimes it cost you.

 

[bssc]

A half gallon of ice cream perhaps. I guess I am too obsessive to just buy something without researching it. I admit to being one of those people who check out places like Fry's Electronics but end up buying the item online.

 

[Twinkle Toes]

About 6 years ago, we went to the store to buy dog food...wound up buying a RV. We got a great price and we are still enjoying our impulse buy. I should note that we have been avid RVers since our early 20s and I had been wanting one with slides anyway. BTW, the dog food was at a specialty store and it was closed by the time we got there!

 

[Tadpole]

I went to return a shirt at Old Navy about 5 years ago and bought a new car on the way to the store. I promised myself to never buy a car on impulse again...although I am looking at a 2007 BMW 335i as I type this. Someone help me please.

Me too - in 1985. We went out to buy my husband a new baseball cap for his birthday and came home with a Chevy truck. Actually, we never regretted it. That truck was our favorite possession for years until a deer laid claim to it.

 

[Martha]

I have a problem with impulse buying but in general because I know that to be the case, I can control it.

However, I confess that I recently made a needless and impulsive buy as a result of this forum. Al was talking about microwave containers. A while later, CFB posted a link to Fatwallet, showing that Amazon had a "four sets for three" deal on pyrex glass containers. I bought four sets.

Now I have pyrex coming out of my ears and they don't even make nice presents.

 

[dm]

Cars are my problem. Ive bought four old Porsche's in the last few years and have found myself saying "if you want to get rid or it, let me know" to a fellow with a MGA the other day, I would have bought it on the spot if he would have given me a price. I hope he dosn't call.

 

[Sandy]

I am with W2R - art, generally in a higher range - about $300, and didn't leave, but got them on the spot. I still have these pieces and am glad I bought them. Most other things that I can remember other than small stuff, has been discussed/considered prior to purchase, but it may be the timing that differs.

Of course, this is probably selective memory and I am sure I made some huge wasted/impulsive purchases in the past that I can't/don't want to remember now.

 

[MikeD]

Speaking of briefcases... I found a beautiful natural eel skin
briefcase at an estate sale for $3. The catch was... it had a
combination lock... and no one knew the combination... but
I bought it anyway... I put it away for a few weeks, then one
night I was determined to open it... so I began at 000 and one
digit at a time I moved the lock up to the 600s before one side
opened... then I had the same fun with the other side... but I
finally opened it... unfortunately, there were no valuables inside...
but it was brand new and beautiful inside... and all for the cost of
three bucks... along with some time, patience and sore fingers.

My grandfather was a great scavenger. He found a brand new Sesame brand combination lock at the landfill when we were kids. He didn't know the combination but tried everything he could think of while sitting on his porch watching the cars go by. He was retired. Finally, he threw it in the trash and said to my brother "If you can open it, you can have it." My brother picked it up and decided to triy every single number starting from 0000. Pop, it opened on 0000, the first try. Boy, was grampa pissed.

Mike D.

 

[RunningBum]

My worst impulse buys have been stocks that I either heard good news on and tried to jump on, or tried bottom feeding when they took a dive, without properly researching them. But the results probably haven't been that much worse than my educated stock picking, and it's easy enough to see if I get buyer's remorse.

I can't think of anything else over $100 I've bought on impulse.

 

[Robert the Red]

In 1997, just after we closed on our new house (about twice the price of the old one), we walked through it with the glow of pride, and then went for coffee. Across the street from the coffee place was a Persian carpet place -- so we bought a $3300 rug. Had to keep it rolled up for several weeks since we were having hardwood floors put in the new house (to replace the horrible orange shag carpet which had turned off several previous buyers). The rug looked wonderful on the new floors -- practically an advertisement.

We did also get the coffee, while we mulled over the purchase for 10 minutes.