HELP! Mustache Emergency!!

[Tacosrocket]

Monday will be a 40% discount for employees at my store. Some of you may have heard of Ross dress for less, if so you know how incredibly hard this is! It's lasting 4 days straight. I don't think I can get through this one, guys. I just don't know if I'm strong enough yet.

[wtjbatman]

This is your second mustachian crisis in four days. You need to buckle down and focus on growing your stache before we find a clippers and shave it off.

[lexie2000]

Is there anything that you REALLY NEED?

We do not keep extra linens.  We take the sheets off the bed, launder, and put them right back on the bed.  I noticed that our sheets, that we've had for several years, have sprung a small hole.  I am hoping they last another year without much growth of the hole, but if I had your discount, I'd take a look/see for replacement sheets.  Our bath sheets are also showing their age, but I'm hoping they hold out for another year too.

How often do they do the 40% employee discount?  If there's nothing you NEED now, take a pass and wait for the next one.

[Tacosrocket]

This is your second mustachian crisis in four days. You need to buckle down and focus on growing your stache before we find a clippers and shave it off.

I know, I'm so embarrassed. This is on going even f I don't work in a store. I have reason to believe it's more than just a bad habit, like someone who binge eats all the time. They can't tell themselves to buckle down and expect it happen, I should probably take it somewhere else instead of crowding the forum, I'm sorry.

Is there anything that you REALLY NEED?

We do not keep extra linens.  We take the sheets off the bed, launder, and put them right back on the bed.  I noticed that our sheets, that we've had for several years, have sprung a small hole.  I am hoping they last another year without much growth of the hole, but if I had your discount, I'd take a look/see for replacement sheets.  Our bath sheets are also showing their age, but I'm hoping they hold out for another year too.

How often do they do the 40% employee discount?  If there's nothing you NEED now, take a pass and wait for the next one.

No, I don't need anything, I have over 30 dresses in my closet. I can't crowd the form every time I panic, so I have to find somewhere to turn. I hope I can be like you and not keep any extra fabric things, linens, cloths, whatever. How do you do it?

[horsepoor]

It must be difficult working in a store and trying not to spend, especially with the additional discount!  I don't know what to tell you except that employees who don't buy anything get a 100% discount.  And that pony backpack would only be $10.79, but yeah, it's a gateway drug to real ponies, and then you'll end up horse poor like me, spending your money on hay and vet bills, no FIRE in sight.

Hang in there and pretend the discount doesn't apply to you.

[Paulie]

Just think about the 60% you DO have to pay!

[libertarian4321]

No, I don't need anything, I have over 30 dresses in my closet. I can't crowd the form every time I panic, so I have to find somewhere to turn. I hope I can be like you and not keep any extra fabric things, linens, cloths, whatever. How do you do it?

Crap you don't need is still crap you don't need, even at a "discount."

It's just clutter that will fill up your closets, to say nothing of the cost.  Most likely that "discount" dress you buy today will be in the Goodwill donation bin 3 years from now, having only been worn a couple of times.  Not a good use of your money.

When the "sale" starts, pick up a good book, read, and ignore it.

[BlueMR2]

Learn to enjoy watching other people getting all the new stuff.  Dresses are meaningless to me personally, but I really like cars.  I've learned to appreciate other people's new cars while sticking with my same old ones that I know and like (and aren't costing me tons of money in depreciation and interest).  :-)  Focus your desire towards the objects towards helping others with them rather than buying them yourself?

[lexie2000]

This is your second mustachian crisis in four days. You need to buckle down and focus on growing your stache before we find a clippers and shave it off.

I know, I'm so embarrassed. This is on going even f I don't work in a store. I have reason to believe it's more than just a bad habit, like someone who binge eats all the time. They can't tell themselves to buckle down and expect it happen, I should probably take it somewhere else instead of crowding the forum, I'm sorry.

Is there anything that you REALLY NEED?

We do not keep extra linens.  We take the sheets off the bed, launder, and put them right back on the bed.  I noticed that our sheets, that we've had for several years, have sprung a small hole.  I am hoping they last another year without much growth of the hole, but if I had your discount, I'd take a look/see for replacement sheets.  Our bath sheets are also showing their age, but I'm hoping they hold out for another year too.

How often do they do the 40% employee discount?  If there's nothing you NEED now, take a pass and wait for the next one.

No, I don't need anything, I have over 30 dresses in my closet. I can't crowd the form every time I panic, so I have to find somewhere to turn. I hope I can be like you and not keep any extra fabric things, linens, cloths, whatever. How do you do it?

I figure that I can only use one set of sheets at a time, so why have an extra set always sitting in the linen closet?  Ditto for a lot of other stuff that people keep.  This is not to say that my closets are not full; they are.  I have filled them with non-perishable household products (TP, laundry detergent, toiletries, etc.) when I was able to get them for free at the drug chains.  All of the products will gradually be consumed.

So now that you've determined that there is nothing that you NEED, realize that if you do buy something, it will just be more unneeded stuff taking up space in your home with less money going in the bank.  Good luck and BE STRONG!!

[G-dog]

Monday will be a 40% discount for employees at my store. Some of you may have heard of Ross dress for less, if so you know how incredibly hard this is! It's lasting 4 days straight. I don't think I can get through this one, guys. I just don't know if I'm strong enough yet.

Can you identify anything you absolutely need during the 4 days of this sale that you cannot get at a better price (value) elsewhere?  This requires a few key definitions including:
Need vs. want
Price vs. value

There will be another sake, if you do not need anything now, you can wait for the next sale and then do this assessment again.

I suspect you are sucked into the thrill of the deal!  It is easy to fall for this.  But you can resist. My guess is at least 99.99% of us have fallen for this at least once in our lives! It sounds like your goal is to reduce the at which you buy something you don't need - this is a great place to start.  This does get easier over time as you better define your needs and their urgency, and you start valuing your savings or long-term goals versus short-term acquisitions.

Good luck.

[centwise]

This is your second mustachian crisis in four days. You need to buckle down and focus on growing your stache before we find a clippers and shave it off.

I know, I'm so embarrassed. This is on going even f I don't work in a store. I have reason to believe it's more than just a bad habit, like someone who binge eats all the time. They can't tell themselves to buckle down and expect it happen, I should probably take it somewhere else instead of crowding the forum, I'm sorry.

I think the forum is the perfect place to bring your concern about this! No one is scolding you for bringing it to the forum; I think they just want to be firm with you (which is, I think, what you are seeking from us). Better to bite the bullet and face your embarrassment in a public forum than to hide it, buy secretly, and regret it later.

I suspect you are sucked into the thrill of the deal!  It is easy to fall for this.  But you can resist.

+1 to G-dog. I'm guessing that you also enjoy the camaraderie with your work-friends, and get caught up in the excitement when they are preening and showing off their "amazing deals". But a cheap price for something you DON'T NEED is still money down the toilet. Take it from me, centwise, whose house is full of thousands of books that I acquired cheap (or free) and just "couldn't pass up". Even the free ones aren't worth the clutter they cause, most of the time.

Try this:
1. Go to the mirror and practice these responses: "Wow, that's beautiful! What a great deal for you! No, not this time. I don't need anything. No, really, I have enough dresses/ scarves/ shoes/ accessories. Maybe next time. But wow, you really did well!"

2. If you feel yourself weakening: Every time you see something that you feel you can't pass up, take the cash that you would have spent and put it in a special pocket in your purse. Think about the good feeling associated with accumulating money in that pocket instead of stuff in your closet. At the end of the day, see how much money you saved!

3. Even better: Leave ALL your cash, debit and credit cards at home during the days of the sale.

Good luck! Come back and post updates as you work your way through the ordeal. This could be a turning point for you.

[Exflyboy]

Tobi,

Firstly your posts always make me smile..:)

I suspect that this desire to be a spend-aholic is a bit like trying to scratch and itch you can't reach!

 This of it this way.. say you do buy all this crap (like I'm sure you have done many times before). How long will it be before you realise that the extra stuff does not make YOU feel any more fulfilled then before you bought it?

Buying stuff is a fleeting sense of pleasure at best.. usually followed by a sense of remorse that in my case sets in before 24 hours post purchase.

A bit like a lot of other vices I'm sure we could all come up with.

Remember you can do three things with money

1) Service debt
2) Buy stuff
3) Buy freedom.

If your not already FI.. i.e "Free" then doing 2 directly hurts your ability to get to stage 3!!!

Remember the simple numbers about how much a single purchase costs you in future dollars?...

We all want you to get to FI... you have to stop yourself wandering off the path.. How will you find a great MM boyfriend otherwise?....;)


Frank

[meadow lark]

Tobi- you can do this!  Be strong, I am rooting for you!

[EK]

I know, I'm so embarrassed. This is on going even f I don't work in a store. I have reason to believe it's more than just a bad habit, like someone who binge eats all the time. They can't tell themselves to buckle down and expect it happen, I should probably take it somewhere else instead of crowding the forum, I'm sorry.

As someone on this forum with ongoing struggles to stop shopping and not buy useless crap I can definitely relate.  Your posts are very cute, don't take them elsewhere! This is a ver good place to get talked out of buying things.

FWIW, the only thing that really seems to help me break the wasting-all-my-money-on-useless-shit pattern is to take a month or so where I'm just not allowed to buy anything (except, like, food.). When I just flat out don't give myself the option to buy things I can finally feel free from the shopping obsession and it's so wonderful.  Maybe a spending freeze of 30 days or so could help you clear your mind a bit.

Hope you stay strong and resist the sale! I'm pulling for you! There's probably nothing you need there anyways.

[hybrid]

Value is a hard concept to appreciate when faced with the lure of discounts.  If you have 30 dresses and they are all perfectly acceptable to wear, then a nice dress for even $1 has absolutely zero value unless you can then sell another dress from your wardrobe for at least $1, and even then you will have spent some time on the exchange.

At some point you have enough clothes. When something is no longer wearable for whatever reason and you truly do need to purchase a replacement, then and only then keep your eyes out for a bargain.