Like everyone else, I am not immune to wanting many things I see advertised, but it is impossible to have it all. You have to know how to choose and only buy things that contribute to our life (comfort, happiness, experience, learning, or whatever is important to you). With so many ads it is impossible not to fall for it from time to time and buy things out of fashion or temporary desire.
Something that has worked for me not to rush to spend like a zombie every time I get paid and go around suffering at the end of the month, is that every time I go to a mall or see advertising on my social networks and something catches my attention, instead of buying it at the moment I ask myself: Do I really need it? Will it bring me something good and lasting or is it just a momentary desire? I also ask myself some secondary questions like: Where am I going to put that, do I have space? Will it bring me more secondary expenses? For example, if you buy a guitar, you will need somewhere to put it, you will have to buy a stand, drills to install it or have it installed, strings from time to time, maybe a tuner and other accessories.
With this I am not saying that I never buy something I don’t need, nor is it bad to give ourselves a luxury from time to time, otherwise what do we work for? An example is the Macuahuitl I just acquired, which was also a burst of emotion because they are the weapons the army uses in my book, but doesn’t it look cool? 😁.
Beyond showing off (but seriously look at it, it’s really cool 🤩!), usually after asking myself these questions I realize that I don’t need most things. Sometimes I end up buying them anyway and I have to go back to the store 😑, but in most cases, the emotion dies down after asking myself the questions and in the end, I save that or spend it on more important things that do contribute to me.
To complement, I recommend a book that hits the nail on the head with this idea, its name is “Do You Really Need It?”, by Pierre-Yves McSween.