Impulse Buying

I spend lots of time on the internet, and that allows the internet to track me and target ads. It's a little pathetic, like a neglected puppy, I show the slightest interest, and a product / product type is all over me. Sometimes, it's amusing. Sometimes, it actually works on me. I am very suggestible, I have money, I have time, I have endless optimism about whether I'll use something, and I'm always seeking the new and novel. In fact, I subscribe to some emails (including Wirecutter from the NYTimes) so I'm getting "push" into my mailbox. If I didn't want to buy anything, I wouldn't do this.

For budgeting purposes, I have a list of possible big purchases (defined as over $100) and things have to be on the list for a while before I act. I have to do at least some research, and be sure I want it. But there is an amazing array of things one can get for less than a hundred dollars, and I have been known to just push the button and buy. I try not to - I will go so far as to put things into my shopping cart on a site, and then close the browser thinking I'll come back tomorrow with a clearer mind. Sometimes that even works and I don't buy the thing. But more often than I like to admit, I do.

Clothing is an obvious category. For me, its not so much party or dress up clothes, or any kind of bling. Things that catch my eye are specialty clothing for adventures I hope to have some day. So recent purchases include a merino wool tshirt from Woolx ("the only tshirt you will ever need") and, in contrast, a quick-dry cooling long-sleeved tshirt from Arctic Cool ("like wearing an air conditioner"). They are nice. I already own a bizillion tshirts. Now I have a bazillion plus two.

Anything to do with travel catches my eye. Gadgets, of course, luggage, purses. I have disposed of enormous numbers of suitcases and bags and backpacks, and yet I'm constantly browsing, looking for something new. The ideal is small, has a million tiny but capacious pockets, holds everything, weighs nothing, and transports itself. Such a thing, The Luggage, exists in Discworld (by Terry Pratchett). But I keep searching in this world. Each trip planned is likely to generate some wistful looking, if not an actual purchase. Right now, I have storage space set aside for all the bags and backpacks and suitcases I own, but any more purchases will drive another round of purges. I also have bags to put in bags, of course, more than a few. Which leads, when traveling, to endless hours of unzipping things to see what is each one. I just went through all that have, got rid of the most tatty, and washed all that remain. Ready to go someplace!

Lately, I've been tempted by food things. A young blogger, Athena Scalzi, has written of several things she has tried and I've jumped in behind her. I got Honey Pops (a Maryland company, Waxing Kara, makes them) and found them a lovely treat - not one I want all the time, but something to savor. I got a "box" of treats from Japan. It was so fun: the whole family sat around after dinner and sampled the twenty things in the box. Weird and sometimes wonderful, great entertainment.  This strikes me as really expensive for what you get, but this is not food to shovel in mindlessly, but to taste and explore. The whole package - literally packaging and all - makes for a lovely experience.