Lately, I’ve found it more satisfying to discover a reason not to buy something than to actually go through with a purchase. Now if I get an amazing deal on something that I really need, that's also nice, but most of the time it's just more rewarding to avoid buying unnecessary crap.
I regularly attend auctions because I buy, restore, and sell vintage woodworking tools as a side gig.
The number of people who buy things only because the deal was really good is astounding. You didn't save any money if you don't need the thing you spent money on. I do not, have not, nor will I ever understand that mindset.
My family, unless the thing we need is an actual emergency, writes it down on a whiteboard on the fridge. If we still need it 30 days later, we start setting price alerts and cruising eBay and other auction sites. If it survives the month long cooling off period, if we can't find it for half price we definitely don't need it.
And as a bonus, we've gotten really good at finding things we actually do need for cheap when we actually need them (like school supplies or food and the like).
