Do you like shopping? Wait, I don’t mean managing expenditures before purchasing something but having fun and buying things you like. If you say you don’t, I won’t believe you. I guess if you don’t like shopping, all those numerous and mostly useless “best money saving tips” you can find on the Internet won’t be so demanded.

One of my best friends has never been good in managing, though she tries all the time. Of course, we discussed this topic many times and finally agreed that one of the main reasons why we fail to save money is that we like to lie ourselves while spending it. The funniest thing is that we really do and very often don’t even notice that. Here are five “innocent white lies” we like to tell ourselves when making spontaneous purchases.

1) Apart from everything else I need this. This lie is an absolute winner.

2) I’ll buy it because anyway I will able to cancel it, if I don’t like it. This is a great lie and even better trap. This lie can be used practically in all situations and this is why it can cause real mess.

3) I’ll buy this now and start bringing my own lunch to work to save money. Sounds good but it turns out to be really difficult to get out of old habits.

4) It’s on sale, so I will save good dollars. Sure, we buy on sales and mostly not because we need stuff but because of appealing % OFF.

5) I can afford it now because I’m sure that I’ll get promotion next month. This lie is really tricky, so don’t spend money you don’t have yet.

No matter whether you obsessed with a new cell phone or trendy shoes, don’t lie to yourself. Let yourself doubt. Write your wish on a piece of paper and put it somewhere you will see it hundred times per day. If in 10 days, you don’t want X as much as you used two a week ago, don’t bother with “white lies”.

Image credit: Southampton Shopping Spree!