The [almost] impulse purchase

We had the opportunity to catch up with some good friends this weekend, and it was during our visit that seeds of an impulse purchase began to take root!  After dinner we headed into the living room for a couple rounds of Sequence (with the Winter Olympics on in the background, of course), and as we were playing, I noticed a new beautiful pair of speakers that I hadn’t seen before.  (From what I could tell from searching on Amazon after the fact, they appeared to be Polk Audio Monitor 30s, just in case you were interested.)  Sure enough, they were a Christmas present to the couple, and I found myself immediately covetous of their good fortune.

Now, I’ve been wanting a pair of speakers for some time now, and particularly so since we made this special purchase just before Thanksgiving.  That being said, I think I’ve done a good job keeping at bay the impulse to somehow force this into a new “electronics we definitely need” category in our monthly budget.  Then I saw those nice little bookshelf speakers with their cherry wood cabinets and trendy updated Polk Audio logo, and all I could think was… I want.

That was Saturday.  I mentioned it to Julie on Sunday, and she suggested maybe setting up a search for similar speakers on Craigslist or eBay.  A totally reasonable suggestion, to be sure, and I even went so far as to take a look at both sites.  The problem is that their is no finality in that process for shopping.  No, the stereotypical masculine shopping plan was quickly rushing into action, and this is how it tends to go for me:

1. I know what I want.
2. It is my perception that I have the means to make the purchase.
3. The purchase is made.

Translation: I want some stuff, I have the cash money, and now I’d like for said stuff will be mine.

So, I ran out of time and energy to think about it any more on Sunday.  Didn’t come to mind on Monday.  Then Tuesday came.

One of my favorite sites to frequent is Deals.Woot, and I thought I could maybe set up a search for bookshelf speakers on there.  I did a quick search, and up pops up those darn Polk Audios in their pretty goodness.  Must. Discuss. With. Wife.  Knowing that these are the types of decisions we make together, I passively-aggressively emailed this deal to Julie and indicated that we could talk about it later on.

The discussion arrives, and we decide that the funds are available in our household category, so I’m feeling free to make the purchase.  I log on to Amazon, and nothing.  I can’t even bring myself to add those beauties to my shopping cart.  The desire to have them make their way to our house has completely left me, and I realize that it was not meant to be, for now.  I had been bitten by the impulse purchase bug and miraculously recovered before our debit card could do its thing.  Read back a little ways on EGS, and you’ll realize that this was not always the case.

So, if you ever hear that little voice in the back of your head that’s asking you to ask yourself a very important question, let me offer a little advice: listen.  It’s asking you the question: do you really need this?