The Ultimate Hack to Avoid Buying Shit You Don't Need - stop relying on willpower

[deermeat]

Note: this works best for people who have no dependents and who aren't in a relationship with someone who enables your bad decision making.

I thought of think when wondering how to break my goyslop addiction since I work at a goyslop gas station chain, thus making it hard to resist. I already stopped eating other bad processed shit (fast food, soda, frozen meals, etc) so this would really be my last bad food habit to break.

You got a debit card, I know you do. You got a credit card too, more than likely. And said debit/credit card more than likely comes with an app.
1. Always keep them locked. Meaning if you wanna buy something, you'd have manually unlock it.
2. Download the Freedom app or any app blocker that has a Locked mode to where you can't unblock said app until the time runs out. I mention the Freedom app because its actually the app that helped me quit my social media addiction.
3. Take a SMALL amount of money out to the ATM for the week, small enough to where if you did spent it on something you don't need you'd be screwed.
4. Set it up to where you can block your banking app in advance. I go by a day to day basis. On Freedom, there's a way to create a schedule to where you can set it to be active for a certain period daily. That or you can have it set up to where as soon as you get the urge to buy something, you can simply activate it for the next couple hours with a click of a button then focus on doing something else, preventing you from giving into temptation. DO NOT be a dumbass and recklessly set it up to where you know you will need it in the future outside of the funds you put aside yet can't access it, though if you do you can always call the company and they will unlock it. Again, it's all about breaking the cue that tells you to recklessly spend.

For anyone who potentially says this is dumb and that you should just rely on creating a routine or budgeting, etc. Willpower only goes so far. Studies show the most successful people don't rely solely on willpower, they merely put themselves in positions where they don't require it as much. Using this, you can start budgeting and a routine way more easily.

I will admit, my situation is kinda different. I pay rent and all that but I don't really spend my disposable income on stuff other than food and hygiene, I used to be the complete opposite, I used to buy useless junk all the time. Yet after life events forced me to be a minimalist, that bad habit naturally faded. But I am sure this method helps with all needless purchases.

Anyways hope this helps. Also here's a cool video further explaining the science behind willpower and how flawed it is for people to rely on it.

 

[MrTroll]

If you need all this shit to be responsible with money, I recommend finding the nearest group home for retarded adults and begging them to take you in.

 

[Eadred]

Just being poor and not having funds to afford anything is easy easier than jumping through all those hoops man

 

[Lapsus of the bepsus]

any adult who isnt a complete retard should be able to understand why wasting money is a bad idea. like nigga do you ever want to buy a house or retire and not starve or leech off your kids?

Just being poor and not having funds to afford anything is easy easier than jumping through all those hoops man

credit cards are unfortunately very effective at "solving" that problem

 

[Nicholas Gur]

Leave debit card at home. Only keep credit cards with set spending limits on your person. Dump the rest of your savings into gold.

 

[Ibanez RG 350EX]

Willpower only goes so far.

Apparently my willpower goes very far because I don't do any of this and never feel the need to buy stupid shit. I suppose it's probably very difficult if you're a manchild who feels overwhelming temptation to buy children's toys and junk food.

 

[rel=alternate]

Studies show the most successful people don't rely solely on willpower, they merely put themselves in positions where they don't require it as much.

That's just wrong.

Most successful people don't have to stop themselves from buying random overpriced bullshit. If you're actually successful, the money itself is not even a deterrent at all.

Maybe that's true for the most successful people in the pool of people who have serious impulse issues?

If you have to go to these lengths, you should probably see someone. It's not normal.

 

[deermeat]

Maybe that's true for the most successful people in the pool of people who have serious impulse isissues

Niggas be really posting about how stupid this post is and trying to flex about oh so smart they are in the same section of the forum meamt for improving heath. Same part of the community discussing quitting addictions like alcoholism and food addiction

"Jump through all these hopes"
"oh just leave your card at home"
Why go through all the mental effort and financial cost of constantly relapsing when you can just... Not? All by blocking your ability to relapse.

This whole talk of "successful people never had to go through this", way to discredit people who overcame bad habits and yaknow, improved their lives. But nah I guess thats impossible. You should be able to have self control naturally, guys. Otherwise you're screwed and nothing will get better, you are doomed to be a failure.

Also what do you think professional help does? Do you think they magically cure you without reducing your need to rely on willpower?
Do you geniuely believe in the Big Pharma lie where the only way a person can get better is to became entirely reliant on psychiatrists or institutions? I guess thats why mental health and addiction is at an all time high despite resources being available everywhere.

Why waste hundreds of dollars ontop of already wasting money through your vices while waiting to possibily be "cured" when you can just put in the mental effort and sacrifice comfort in order to get your shit together? Its not a long term situation.

Even then I feel like this method is good for even minor bad habits that involve paying for something. Its really not that much effort and if you think it does that says more about you than anything. You can skip the ATM part and still keep your card locked, still have the app blocker ready if you need it in the moment. I just mention the ATM part for those who say "well what if I wanna use my card while out", you don't need it.

The majority of America struggles with self control regarding their finances in some way, from harmless impulse buys to full blown addiction to various things. The world is full of marketing trying to get you to buy stuff you don't need.

Why shit on something if it could help people?

 

[rel=alternate]

Niggas be really posting about how stupid this post is and trying to flex about oh so smart they are in the same section of the forum meamt for improving heath. Same part of the community discussing quitting addictions like alcoholism and food addiction

I am not trying to flex. And I am far from perfect, have my own issues. My apologies if it comes across like this.

But I think it's also fair to also be honest. This is a temporary fix if money is the only thing holding you back. It also mostly applies for people who actually care about the money they spend.

Maybe that's a good way to approach it if money is an issue for you, but in absolute it's not a solution to stop over spending.

That's my opinion.

 

[We Are The Witches]

I think willpower is the ultimate solution, if you can pull it off.

When I was very young, I could not stop biting my nails, it was its own thing, almost like an addiction. Some of my relatives even noticed and told me that there were "tricks" to make it stop, like putting certain bitter pigment in your nails, so that it would remind you that it's a bad thing, and the bitter taste as a deterrent. Never used that.

However literally one day I decided that I would do so no longer, and no longer I did ever again.

 

[Neo-Nazi Rich Evans]

one thing i find that helps me, if it isnt something i need right now, then i try to make myself wait for at least a week before i buy something. if i see something online or in stores and i dont need it right now, i leave it be and think about it for a week or so, i find that after a week my temptation to buy it tends to die down. though this method does still require a bit of willpower.

 

[Lapsus of the bepsus]

You should be able to have self control naturally, guys. Otherwise you're screwed and nothing will get better, you are doomed to be a failure.

this is not about self control, this is about survival. what you are describing is the financial equivalent of jumping off a cliff. if you ABSOLUTELY NEED TO HAVE a phone app to remind you that you should not jump off a cliff because it might harm you and you feel insulted when people point out that self control has nothing to do with this, you are a fucking spastic who shouldnt be in charge of any sum of money until you LEARN how to budget and manage spending without putting your continued life at risk.
if you manage your money right, self control becomes a complete non-factor. at that point pulling out your life savings to buy a gaming pc or a shelby gt500 just to crash it like a junkie lawyer or whatever the fuck is not a failure of self control, it is SUICIDE, period. if youre that dumb nothing and no one can help you.

niggers and other low iqs are almost invariably completely incapable of doing this because paying back the lifelong crushing debt they get themselves into in a span of 15 minutes is a completely different future niggers problem so they dont need to worry about it. thats how america gets its consumer debt statistics.

 

[Nique la mere de Macron]

My problem was online shopping, mostly bc I hate the fucking French so much that I will overpay to order things online instead of interacting with rude (at best) local clerks. What helped me was to delete my card numbers from my problem sites and put the card in my purse and put the purse as far away from my computer as possible. I literally cut down on the shopping by like 95% that way. In retrospect I was probably doing it to feel less unhappy here or some shit like that.

 

[Cougar Pump]

I assume you're saying that because you work at a gas station the risk of grabbing a twinkie in a moment of impulse is ever-present. I think most people aren't in quite such a situation, so your advice for handling it might not be that widely applicable. The underlying idea about rendering tempting things unavailable though is pretty sound. If I have beer in the fridge, I will drink that beer. If I don't have beer in the fridge, I won't go out of my way at 6pm to drive out to somewhere and acquire it. So I limit my access by just not purchasing it. This works because the impulse (to drink beer) and the opportunity (to buy beer) are always separated, since I can't crack a cold one halfway down the supermarket aisle.

Alternatively, there's advice that smokers are given to quit that you have to cultivate the idea that 'I am no longer a smoker'. Once you do that it no longer becomes a battle of willpower as you sever the habitual thought/behavior patterns with a simple kill switch idea. I had to apply that logic to giving up things I discovered I had an allergy to. It ended up being quite a lot of things in my regular diet, and stopping was a big hassle. I shortcutted the lot with the simple mantra that 'I am no longer someone who can consume X'

I have no idea if these methods are any more useful to anyone than yours, but they seem a bit more widely applicable.

 

[Val Bach the Cobbler]

If I have beer in the fridge, I will drink that beer. If I don't have beer in the fridge, I won't go out of my way at 6pm to drive out to somewhere and acquire it. So I limit my access by just not purchasing it.

This guy gets it, I use my own laziness as a way to limit myself. With specific things I have trouble with, I try to just cut them out totally. I have always had a really big love of cookies, specifically chocolate chip. I would eat so much at the dining hall in college.
As an adult, I literally just don't buy cookies to keep in the house. I DON'T have the willpower to say no to cookies so I just don't buy them. This then saves me money to buy other stuff, and prevents me from killing my diet with unneeded extra calories. Those two positives are what keep me from buying cookies. But still if somebody comes over with cookies, I will still eat them and keep any leftovers.

 

[Your Mother Should Know]

Willpower is for gigachads, and restrictioncels envy those whose minds are powerful enough for it.
However, few people (including me) buymax. I recently cancelled about 10 orders, tried to refund 3 games, and am currently contemplating whether or not I want to refund one.
This is my mantra, at least in theory.

1.) Only order what I could use at some point in time, just in case my cancel request doesn't go through. Not what I might be able to find use from (like rechargeable batteries, candles, perfume, sketchbook paper, lotion, PC parts, studded bike tires, or induction burners), but what I can (like gud clothing, bulk essentials, and 40w equivalent LED bulbs).
2.) Only spend a lot if it'll be a good long-term investment (EG this high-quality clothing brand I know of, counterexample PC parts [unless I do my research to futureproof]).
3.) Figure out what function it serves (EG quality clothing will protect me better, but PC parts only give me about 40 more FPS, faster rendering, and faster file transfers).
4.) Ask myself how long I would have to store something before it becomes useful (EG winter clothing is in-season, but 40 watt equivalent bulbs are arguably useless).
5.) Determine how good price-to-performance is (EG I got a good 100 dollar UPF fishing shirt with many pockets, but 300 dollars in PC parts only gives marginal watt saving).
6.) Think about whether or not I'd probably like the product (EG perfume can make me sick or feel extraneous, but I like most clothing).
7.) Ascertain how often I'd use and/or think about it (EG I'll actively use the clothing for a long time, but I may regret PC parts later if I don't play newer games and barely render).
8.) Be gay about the environmental impact/overconsuming TikTok brain (EG I don't need to purchase crap lotion in plastic when I'd get silky from good bulk bar soap in paper).

 

[MerriedxReldnahc]

I am slightly neurotic about money management but it's worth it to be (or maybe I'm just justifying my neurosis) I will spare you the autism about how my cash is organized with color-coded paperclips.

I keep a pretty limited amount of money on my card, mostly because if it gets lost or stolen I'm only out a small chunk of change. I actually never have it on me at work, I bring a smaller wallet to work stocked only with cash and change I get from tips. That way any lunches and treats I buy have to be within that amount. I work in a weeb shop so the temptation to buy Sanrio stuff and Pokemon cards is strong, but its worth it to remember that for the price of one Kuromi keychain I can get TWO mediocre hotdogs.

All purchases, paychecks, side-gig money, Ebay sales, money I got beating up a leprechaun, etc, goes into a spreadsheet organized by month and you better believe that shit is color-coded.

But also at the end of the day I'm also the kind of person who uses things like tablets and phones that are held together with rubber bands and faith in the Lord rather than buy a new one. I had to psych myself up for a $400 tablet purchase though in the end I'm happy I did.

 

[⋖ cørdion ⋗]

What? "Willpower is for losers so limit yourself with 8 kinds of restraints like some kind of BDSM play"? I have two cards on me at all times, the same as I do my phone, and I use neither things all that often. Shit, I WISH I could just buy my worries away. New paycheck, larger than normal, time to uh.. put it into savings. And that one $30 release game I know is gonna bomb so that's $30 saved.

I feel like all these "bloomer" anti-doomer type posts, vlogs and novels act like people are so fucking willpowerless they need someone else to hold the keys. I watched a video from some generic chick vlogger who was gonna try to use her phone for 15 mins or less every day. Within 2 days she had reduced that to 30 seconds. And she worked remotely at home. If anything, throw out all the shit you don't use and uninstall all the apps you open once a week. Look out the window instead of opening some fucking tetris app. Do the dishes instead of doomscrolling.

All these methods to regain control never talk about the fundamental ability to build willpower. I have doomer friends who do this kinda shit: Overdose on hopium, want to go full-on organic, and then relapse 2 days later cause they didn't start out slowly.

 

[Thiletonomics]

Just being poor and not having funds to afford anything is easy easier than jumping through all those hoops man

So that's why Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro made Venezuela into the shithole that it is today! They were trying to save their own people from consoomerism!

 

[Mound Dweller]

Tips and mental tricks are a good substitute if you're a mental negroe incapable of not making your own decisions but that's not the problem, why do you buy the slop? it is because you want to and you want to enjoy the processed slop in your gullet more than you want to enjoy a future house deposit because it is what you want.
It is not a matter of willpower, it is a matter of what you actually desire, pretending it's a moral failing or some sort of lack of discipline when what you're actually doing is what you wanted to all along is a cope for concealing from yourself why it is you do what you do.