Conscious versus Uncounscious Spending

One of my vices, and therefore something I can improve upon, is that I make impulsive purchases.  I have a bad history with buying things on a whim, from unhealthy food that ends up making me feel guilty or sick to ill-fitting shoes that I thought were a good idea because they were on sale.

I thought I had started to overcome this nasty habit of mine with my most recent, well-researched purchase.  I bought 2 pairs of shoes, both online, after reading reviews, trying on in the store, and finding which color and style I preferred best.  Needless to say, I am excited to get my new shoes in the mail!

mine are gray

But with every triumph over old habits, come pitfalls.  Today, Alex and I went whale watching.  The tickets were purchased via eversave.com (more about my couponing later) for Alex's birthday as something we could check off of our Boston Bucket List (things we want to do while living in Boston before the big move).  I had done a bit of research on what the best restaurants in town were before heading down to Plymouth.  I found The Cabby Shack and decided that the clam chowder was going to be on our agenda for today.  We were lucky and got a quick seat, but only had 30 mins to order and eat before getting in line for the boat.  Both of us ordered the clam chowder in bread bowl, which should have been enough, but in my infinite greediness, (and Alex's eyes-bigger-than-his-stomach-syndrome-which-on-rare-occasions-I-can-talk-sense-into) ordered more.  Fried calamari and (nasty, soggy) french fries to be exact.  We had to take the food to go, and weren't even hungry for it anyways. To boot-- it was gross, if you ever head to The Cabby Shack just have the clam chowder, which was fantastic.

yes, I used "halloween" font for the other food

Long story short, I feel foolish.  I wasted $14 on a plate of food that we threw out half of.  We could have bought ice cream cones (which I banished myself from having on principle) once we got back from whale watching.

I am slowly learning the merits of thinking before you purchase and imposing popular waiting methods upon myself.  Though I have proven that I can succeed when I am not pressured under time constraints (Europe is a month away and I already have shoes!), I am not quite on the ball yet when it comes to on-the-spot decision making and the ever tempting lure of fried food!