I got a big surprise one day at the mall. I was with a young lady, Shawna, and we came across a big glass ant farm for sale in the middle of the hall. My surprise was not the ant farm—although one never sees them these days. My surprise was that Shawna started to buy it.
I said, “What? Shawna, you can’t buy that now. Because then it will be an impulse buy… You have to walk around the mall for half an hour and then see if you still want it.”
So we browsed and no, she didn’t want it—who buys an ant farm? Except on impulse. I’m not surprised the farm wasn’t tucked off in the corner of some store.
While some of us are old enough to know better, some of my fellow senior citizens in my condominium are impulse buyers. They appear perfectly normal by day, but then around midnight, when their fingers are cold, their hearts lonely, and their self control weak, they go online and engage in “retail therapy.” If you ask, “Are their credit cards paid off every month?” Then I will answer with another question, “Is the Pope Jewish?”
Too bad the Yankees have their horror of socialism, never knowing that social places that empower people, like CARYA, a social services club by the plaza, are a Good Thing. (Link)
Before me is a plastic wallet card from CARYA, headlined Look and Listen!
If you’re about to spend money on impulse, ask yourself and answer:
Do I WANT or NEED this?
Am I buying this ONLY because it’s on sale?
Would I buy this if I had to pay cash?
Am I buying because I’m upset or feeling down?
Tomorrow, will I be happy that I bought this?
If I charge this to my credit card, will I be able to pay it off at the end of the month?
How else can I make myself feel better NOW
Further Thoughts on Money:
My family was poor but honest. Our parents taught us financial literacy: we grew up eating jam and rice for both lunch and supper some days, the lesson being that we would do whatever it takes to stay ahead and on budget. NEVER any end-of-month debt.
As a grownup, every time I waltz into my “financial institution” the first thing I say, after “Hello,” is “Let’s fix up my Visa.” So that I never disappoint myself at the end of the month.
The bank tellers know me—those ‘hello’s’ come in handy—so they’ll phone my house if a cheque is going to bounce so I can rush down and pay it by closing time.
Setting aside the issue of my other savings accounts, so I don’t bore you, in my main account I “pay myself first.” At one time this happened every paycheque, now every Friday. And with this newfangled online banking I can check for myself, on Thursday night, to ensure I will be safe on Friday. Because I can sprint down early next morning to stand in front of the doors clutching my piggy bank.
For me, the main thing is “pay myself until it hurts” in terms of set Friday investments, and bills, which means all my other spending for that pay period, impulse or otherwise, is guilt-free. Say it again: guilt-free!
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Sean Crawford
Queen Elizabeth II Highway
July
2025
Fun Resource: For more on life and fiscal sanity, see any of the Youtube videos by “According to Nicole” a young Canadian, with a nice dog, who owns a home in Toronto.
What a great reminder, Sean. Impulse buying is what previously got me into debt. I’m much more careful these days about what I buy. I love the idea of walking around before buying.
Cindy, I like how at any year in life we can change our money habits.
For years I used to stock up on second hand books so that when I became a starving senior citizen I would have books to read. (Not to mention the dopamine rush of buying books I would “someday” get around to reading, like folks who record more TV shows than they will in reality get around to)
I want to say this weekend I have gone into my storage locker downstairs and purged lots and lots of books.
My new life-style is to say that I’m not starving, not poor, and I can afford new books as needed: In fact, I’ve been ordering books brand new from Owl’s Nest bookstore.