Found a guide I wrote in my own notes on how to stop overspending, so I'm posting it here to share.
- Purpose: To stop myself from impulse buying and establish a quantified basis for assessing purchases.
- Necessity Assessment: Prioritize, or see if it fits multiple criteria simultaneously:
- Is it immediately needed for work, research, or study?
- Health-related.
- Related to skill exploration.
- Entertainment or interpersonal relations.
- Lifestyle decoration or aesthetics.
- Just wanting to explore a new use or function?
- Do I already own a similar item?
- Is the wear and tear of the old item to the point where it is about to break?
- Are the existing functions of the old item no longer sufficient?
- Will replacing it with a new item increase life efficiency?
- Prioritize items that have been on the list for a longer time and have undergone careful planning.
- Items not on the list are just a spur-of-the-moment whim.
- Price Range:
- Set a basic spending limit for a single month.
- For items with a unit price exceeding a certain value, do not concentrate multiple purchases in one month.
- If it is a planned purchase and the unit price exceeds 10,000 (NTD), make good use of installment payments to spread out the cost.
