Before the 26-year-old Indianapolis-based communications professional buys anything she asks herself a series of questions， such as， “do I need the item？” and “will it be useful in the long run？”

Once quite the spendthrift， Kumok blew through her budget， buying items on sale that she didnt need and spending too much money dining out. While she didnt max out credit cards or bury herself in debt， Kumok was spending above her means.

She now has a list of products that she absolutely will not buy， including books， notebooks and office supplies—three things she doesnt need， but used to love to spend money on， to the detriment of her bank account.

A big part of the problem： impulsivity. When Kumok moved to London for a year， for instance， she bought every guidebook she could find， including specialised titles like A Book Lovers Guide to London and obscure guides to specific areas of the city. She couldnt help herself.

Kumok didnt read a single one of the guidebooks and had to pay $150 in extra baggage fees to bring them home.

Impulse spending is a big problem for many people. A 2012 Bank of Montreal survey， for instance， found that Canadians spend， on average， CAD $3，720 （$2，987） each year on impulse buys. A 2014 Creditcard.com survey found that 75% of Americans had made an impulse buy， with 10% of people spending more than $1，000 on a single item. A Nielsen study， conducted last year， found that impulsivity led 52% of people in Thailand， 48% of people in India and 44% of people in China to buy something they didnt need.

Why are people so prone to making split-second money decisions， many of which are detrimental to their bank accounts？ And how can you resist the urge？

The scarcity impulse

Ryan Howell， an associate professor of psychology at San Francisco State University in California in the U.S.， said the impulse to buy， in part， is a survival instinct. Back in our hunter and gatherer days， when people saw something they wanted， theyd grab it， even if they didnt need it， because it was likely they wouldnt come across that item again.

“If you see something that seems to be running in short supply， youre going to get it，” Howell said.

These days， such scarcity isnt an issue—we can buy nearly anything we want if we have the means—but we often still approach life like our ancestors did， especially when it comes to a sale. When we see a 50% off clearance price tag， that scarcity impulse kicks into gear， Howell said. The feeling is， if we dont buy that item now， its going to be gone forever—or at least at that good price.

Theres another reason why people buy things on a whim： it makes them feel good. Scott Rick， an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Michigan in the U.S. has found that the concept of retail therapy is a real thing. For some people， if theyre feeling sad， shopping will make them happier because it restores some control in their lives. Its making the choice to buy or not to buy that helps people feel more in control.

Some research has also looked into how touch impacts our money decisions. In 2003， in the U.S.， Illinois state attorney generals office issued a statement around the Christmas holidays warning consumers to be careful about holding an object as it might encourage them to buy it. It might have been one of the odder public service announcements， but research indicates that touching an object increases feelings of ownership—and we dont like to lose things that we own， Rick said.

This partly explains why we simply must have that car we just took for a test drive or why losing a house to another bidder can be so devastating. Often， the moment we sit behind the wheel or walk through a place， we want it.

But， we dont immediately hand over our credit card in exchange for car keys because theres a lot more work that goes into purchasing a vehicle or a house than a video game or a pair of trousers. In the case of the former， theres a built-in time lag between when we want something and when we buy， Howell said. “It takes a lot of time and effort to think about a house and to pull the trigger，” he said.

However， we still make bad decisions during bidding wars. Its surprisingly easy to drop an additional $5，000 on a house， even if its over the price limit you had set. The worry？ Its scarcity fear again. If we dont get this house， another one might not come along.

“There are a lot of physiological variables that go into a bidding war，” Howell said， including the fact that it is exhilarating and emotional to bid and win.

Ultimately， our bad split-second money decisions come down to one thing： we dont take the time to think. If that bidding war was done over days or weeks， rather than minutes or hours， its unlikely youd keep hiking up the price of that house， Howell said.

Resist the urge

Can you counteract your natural tendencies？ With a bit of discipline， its possible. Howell suggests waiting 24 hours before making any would-be impulse purchases， big or small. Of course， that means you need to recognise when youre being tempted. If you still want the item the next day， then buy it if you can afford it. But most likely youll have forgotten about it or the intense must-have feelings will have dissipated.

Another trick： start monitoring your spending and pay with cash. If you are able to see just how much youre parting with， you are more likely to end up only buying the things you really want.

Purposely over-examining purchases and ruling out certain categories of items altogether has worked for Kumok. By running through her list of questions， she delays her purchasing decision and thinks hard about whether she needs an item. She buys almost no books these days and instead checks books out of the library， buying only tomes she really wants to own forever.

Of course， the urge to spend hasnt disappeared. Just a few weeks ago Kumok walked into a store and saw a box of chocolates with a yellow tag on it. She thought the tag meant it was a sale and the familiar “buy now” feeling came over her. When Kumok got closer， she saw that it wasnt a sale tag after all. Would she have bought the chocolates if they had been on sale？ Probably， she said.

“Those little tags really do crazy things to peoples minds，”Kumok said.

這位26歲的印第安納波利斯傳播專家買任何東西前都會自問一連串問題，如“我需要這件商品嗎？”還有“是否可以用很長時間？”

庫莫克曾經(jīng)是個揮霍無度的人，常常超出預(yù)算，買她不需要的打折商品，在外出就餐方面花費太多。雖然沒有刷爆信用卡，不至于負債累累，但庫莫克花錢比賺錢快。

現(xiàn)在她有一張清單，上面記錄著她絕對不會買的東西，包括書、筆記本、辦公用品——這三種東西是她不需要而又曾很喜歡花錢買、有損銀行賬戶的。

其中一大問題是：沖動。庫莫克就是一個例子，她曾到倫敦生活一年，一到那里她就買了所有她能找到的旅游指南，其中有針對性明確的，如《書蟲倫敦指南》，也有對倫敦某個地方作粗略介紹的。她控制不了自己。

那些指南庫莫克一本都沒看過，但卻要另外花150美元的行李費把它們帶回家。

沖動消費是很多人的一大問題。例如，2012年蒙特利爾銀行的一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，加拿大人每年平均花3，720加元（2，987美元）在沖動購物上。2014年Creditcard網(wǎng)站的一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，有75%的美國人曾沖動購物，其中10%的人曾在一件商品上花費超過一千美元。去年尼爾森的一項調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，沖動使得52%的泰國人、48%的印度人和44%的中國人買了他們不需要的東西。

為什么人們?nèi)绱巳菀自诮疱X決策上魯莽行事，而大多數(shù)決定對他們的銀行賬戶不利？你怎樣才能抵擋這種沖動？

稀缺沖動

瑞安·豪厄爾是美國加利福尼亞州舊金山州立大學的心理學副教授，他說購物沖動是一種生存本能。在狩獵和采集年代，人們看到想要的東西就會去拿，即使他們不需要，因為他們很可能不會再見到這件東西。

“如果你看到某種東西缺貨，你就會去買，”豪厄爾說。

現(xiàn)在，這種稀缺已不成問題，只要有能力，我們幾乎可以買到所有想要的東西，但我們?nèi)猿３Ｒ宰嫦鹊姆绞缴?，尤其是碰到打折的時候。我們看到五折的清貨標簽時，稀缺沖動就起作用了，豪厄爾說道。這種感覺就是，如果我們現(xiàn)在不買這件商品，以后就沒有了——至少沒有現(xiàn)在的優(yōu)惠價了。

人們沖動購物還有另一個原因：他們會因此感覺良好。斯科特·里克是美國密歇根大學的市場學助理教授，他發(fā)現(xiàn)購物療法這個理論是可行的。對一些人來說，如果他們情緒低落，購物會讓他們開心點，因為這讓他們重拾對生活的掌控。做出買或是不買這樣的選擇讓人們感到生活在控制之內(nèi)。

一些研究還探究了觸感對金錢決策的影響。在2003年，美國伊利諾斯州的司法部長辦公室在臨近圣誕節(jié)時發(fā)表了一份聲明，提醒消費者注意手里拿著的東西，因為它可能會讓你買下它。這可能是一份奇特的公共服務(wù)告示，但研究表明觸摸一件物品會增加擁有的感覺——而我們不喜歡失去所擁有物件的感覺，里克說。

因此，我們試駕后就要買那輛車，房子落入另一個投標人手中會讓我們?nèi)绱穗y過，這就是其中一個原因。通常情況下，開過那輛車，走進過那套房子，我們就會想擁有它。

不過，我們不會馬上遞上信用卡，換取車鑰匙，因為買一輛車或房子比買游戲機或褲子要復(fù)雜得多。在前一種情況中，在想要和購買之間有一段拖延時間，豪厄爾說?！拔覀円ê芏鄷r間來認真考慮一套房子，才會決定買下它?！彼f道。

然而，我們?nèi)詴谕稑舜髴?zhàn)中做出錯誤的決定。我們很容易就會多花五千美金來買一所房子，雖然這超過了自己定下的價格上限。我們在擔心什么呢？還是稀缺恐懼作祟。要是不買這房子，可能以后就買不到了。

“投標大戰(zhàn)中涉及許多生理變量，”豪厄爾說，其中包括，投標和勝出讓人興奮和激動這個事實。

歸根結(jié)底，魯莽錯砸金錢可歸結(jié)為：我們沒有花時間去思考。如果投標大戰(zhàn)持續(xù)幾天或幾周，而不是只有幾分鐘或幾個小時，你就不太可能會不斷推高那房子的價格，豪厄爾說。

抵抗沖動

你能抵抗自己的內(nèi)在沖動嗎？運用一點自制力是有可能做到的。豪厄爾建議在任何可能的沖動購物前先等24小時，不管金額大還是小。當然，這意味著你要在被誘惑時有所知覺。要是你第二天還是想要這件商品并買得起，那就買吧。但很可能你已經(jīng)把它忘了，或者“必須擁有”的感覺已經(jīng)消失了。

另一個方法：開始關(guān)注花費，并用現(xiàn)金支付。如果你看到你花出去多少錢，你可能只會買真正想要的東西。

有目的地多加審視購物行為，排除某些商品種類，這兩個方法在庫莫克身上可行。她給自己提出了一串問題，延遲購買，認真考慮是否需要。她現(xiàn)在幾乎不買書，取而代之的是到圖書館查找，只買那些想要永久收藏的經(jīng)典巨著。

當然，花錢的沖動不會消失。就在幾周前，庫莫克走進一家商店，看見一盒貼著黃色標簽的巧克力，她以為這個標簽是打折的意思，那種“買買買”的熟悉感覺再次涌現(xiàn)，但走近一看并非如此。如果這些巧克力確實打折了，她會買嗎？很可能會，她說。

“那些小標簽真的會讓人頭腦發(fā)熱，”庫莫克說。