[riverrchic]

I def do the "mental accounting" thing, but in a different way. If I think about buying something, but then choose not to, I'll mentally file it away for future use. Then, when I'm thinking of buying something else, I can recall the amount that I *would* have spent before, but didn't spend, and then use that to justify this new purchase.

It's rather perverse, but this works on many levels: for example, if a friend buys me dinner, I can file away that $10-20 (or whatever) amount as "$ I would have spent on dinner"... Then, next time I want to buy something somewhat frivilous, such as $10 for a book that I don't need & could get from the library, I can think "Well, I didn't spend $10 last night for dinner, so I can spend it here."

However, while I did a lot of this growing up & in college, I'm doing it a lot less now that I make more then enough money to live off of.

I also am very financially sound otherwise - I always "pay myself first", don't spend a ton of money on not-needed items, etc. So, if this is the best way for me to treat myself, I'm going to continue doing it...