The millionaire founder of Nasty Gal uses a simple mind trick to avoid impulse buying
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Stores have a way of weakening your willpower and scoring the sale - so even if you seriously regret last week's impulse purchase, chances are, it'll happen again.
Nasty Gal founder Sophia Amoruso, who built her $100 million-plus clothing business without borrowing money, offers a simple mind trick to avoid doing exactly what stores want you to do: "If you're tempted to buy something, just imagine that those new shoes were actually made out of crisp $20 bills," she writes in her book "#GIRLBOSS."
"Do those $20 bills look good getting dirty on the sidewalk? No, they do not. That's because money looks better in the bank than on your feet."
Keep this strategy in mind, particularly when you get a raise or bonus. As earnings go up, purchases tend to creep up as well, but "a big no-no is increasing your spending as soon as your income increases," the self-made millionaire warns.
In fact, when Amoruso's personal bank account reached the $1 million mark, she didn't buy anything right away. Rather, she focused all of her energy on growing Nasty Gal, which left little time to even think about spending money.
"Even if I had wanted to drop $500 on a pair of shoes, I was just too busy," she writes. "When your time spent making money is significantly greater than your time spent spending money, you will be amazed at how much you can save without even really thinking about it."
Of course, this isn't to say you should never spend, Amoruso notes:
"It is natural, at some point, to realize that it's worth it to spend a little extra (if you can afford it) to get something that's just right. This is true when it comes to buying clothes and it is true when hiring employees - sometimes it pays to spend a little more than you bargained for on real quality. Spend money because it's an investment in your own well-being, not because you're bored and have nothing else to do."
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