If you are here for the first time and want to read about racing, running and training, come back tomorrow when I am focused and on task. Or read on at your own risk. Today I’m sidetracked.
I do not know what happens or why, but it happens every single time.
I go to Target for three things:
- Paint roller
- Windex
- Printer paper
That is about $13 or so dollars of stuff.
But, somehow by the time I get to the register, I have 23 items for a grand total of $83. I managed to find 20 extra items and to spend 70 extra dollars. I admit it - I am weak. I have the mental strength to run a marathon, but cannot stick to my list at Target.
{source}
It’s not like I go through the aisles and try to find crap to buy. The stuff I got was actually damn necessary – Timothy hay for the Guinea pig, water balloons for the kids (yes, no summer is right without these), bananas, Hot Tamales, half and half…the list goes on. Do not let me get stranded without my half and half. It gets ugly.
I asked the clerk, “Do people tell you this all the time? They come in here for three things and leave with fifty things?”
“Yes,” she said, nodding knowingly. “It is a sickness. A first world problem that seems to be spreading like STDs in Las Vegas.”
Okay. She didn’t say that, but she did agree with me.
By my account, the only way to avoid this sickness is to not go to Target. Or, to send Ken. Somehow when I give him a list, he sticks to the list and buys almost nothing else. He might splurge on some yogurt covered pretzels, but that is it.
I know there are all sorts of ways to avoid impulse buying and over spending. Let’s face it, they are boring:
- Ask yourself, do I really need this? Yes, my children will be deprived without water balloons.
- Could I find it cheaper online? Not with shipping costs.
- Does this money need to be spent right now? Yes. Target might run out of water balloons and then what will I do?
BOOORRRING! But, practical for sure.
Clearly, this is not a post about running, but a post about real life. Does it count that I thought about running while I was shopping or that I stopped to talk to a runner friend I ran into? Voila! Now this is a post about running.
Do you stick to your list?
If you send your significant other, do they stick to the list?
What’s your best tip for having discipline and not regret while shopping?
SUAR