I stumbled upon this today at http://fivecentnickel.com  and thought it was a good, practical tool to help avoid buyer’s remorse or frivolous spending.

Save Money by Questioning Your Purchases

Today I just wanted to highlight an excellent comment that I recently received. In response to “Quit Shopping, Save Money,” a reader named ‘sekishin‘ said:

“When considering a purchase, picture a stranger offering you [the cash value of the purchase] or the item in question. Which is of greater value you? Which would you choose?”

This is a great piece of advice, and one that could save us all a lot of money. If someone walked up and offered to give you $1000 cash or that new HDTV you’ve been drooling over, which would you choose? If you’d rather have the cash, then you better think twice before trading your hard-earned cash for that shiny new TV.

The point here is that simply stopping to question your buying decisions can go a long way toward cutting down on frivolous expenditures. If the purchase is still worth it to you, and if you have room in your budget, then go ahead and buy it. If not, then you should turn around and walk away before you change your mind.