I’m not sure when my wife and I started using the expression.  I imagine we were shopping at the mall and trying to decide whether or not to splurge on something that might or not prove useful.  It started pretty innocently I’m sure, but quickly became a trusted decision rule that has saved us thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

They are four simple words:  if you “Don’t Know, Don’t Buy“.  We’ve repeated them hundreds of times while shopping at clothing stores, furniture stores, grocery stores, and more.  One summer we even talked at length about purchasing a speed boat, but before we got to far into July “DKDB” settled the question.

It works remarkably well.  When shopping at any kind of store, we are all faced with a myriad of potential purchases.  Very few of them get more than a passing glance.  The items we engage with are often on the shopping list, habitual purchases, or perfectly fit something we have in our mind’s eye.  Other things catch our attention by surprise and we ponder whether or not we should acquire them or not.  It’s sometimes hard to decide.

“DKDB” solves the dilemma for us.  Quickly and easily we can move onto what we came to buy, or things we truly “must have”.  It works because the emotion of “lost opportunity” seems small relative to the emotion of “buyer’s remorse”.  If you decide later you really wanted that thing, for the most part it’s easy to go back and get it.

Try it yourself: next time you are shopping and asking yourself “should I”?  Answer “DKDB”.  You’ll move on and be much richer in the end.  You’ll save major dollars over time.  As easy as four words!

Image Credit:  Pixabay