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To try and control impulse shopping, I immediately grab an item I think I want.
I will continue shopping for things I actually want/need, until I look at or feel for the thing I originally grabbed. I will lose sense of interest of grabbing it and put it back.
It takes practice and time. Especially works if you know, are low on money anyways. The idea of this is, to get you thinking about what it is about that thing that made you want it and whether it would have any use or make you happy having it.
If it doesn't after the time you've been having it around, be it holding it or in the cart, then it wasn't meant to be. It was simply an impulse.
For a stronger version, don't buy it this time, just take a picture. If you really want it, then you should be motivated to come again to get it.
Ya, and if you shop online put purchases in your shopping cart and let them sit for a few days.
I have heard this can cause the retailer to email you a discount code/coupon, but that's never happened to me so I can't corroborate.
As big as my Steam backlog is, it would be 100x bigger if not for the Wishlist. I try to limit myself to 100 games in the Wishlist and trim it every once in a while when a game has been sitting in it for more than a couple years. It's the same psychology here. Put it in a cart and let it sit there for a while. If you don't really want it put it back.
Why would you ever have a backlog in the first place? Why would you buy a game and then not play it?
Put the games you want to play in the future on your wishlist. When you're ready to play a new game, pick one from your wishlist, buy it, play it.
The games aren't going away, they're not going to run out of digital copies. Why would you ever buy it before you're ready to play it? It doesn't matter whether it's sitting in your wishlist or your hard drive, so let them sit in your wishlist, where it's a lot cheaper for them to sit.
(Okay, sure, games go on sale on steam occasionally, and you might want to pick one up while it's on sale. Even then, though ... games tend to get cheaper over time as they get older. Just waiting and buying it later might ultimately be cheaper than the 'on sale' price.)
I don't know why, but i think we all do it, lol. I feel like people only need about 2 or 3 good games that they can keep on coming back to, and this takes away all our time to explore the free steam handouts or games we grabbed from sales.
Some games i paid for that I haven't played through:
spoiler
All of those are highly lauded games but somehow i have felt no compulsion to try them... i guess too much choice is a bad thing. 90% of my steam library reads like negative space to me, and I'm compelled to continue projects on the three games currently in my circulation
This is a black and white view on backlogs. Yes you can just not buy a game when you're not ready to play it. That's not usually how it always plays out. Yes I do buy games while they're on sale and have been out for 5+ years. I buy games with the intention to play them. That doesn't mean right away as soon as I buy it.
Most games I buy I fire up at least once. For the rare handful of games that I bought and never tried it's not a big deal because I only paid a few bucks for these games. If it doesn't click right away but I want to keep trying it goes on the back burner. If it doesn't click at all, I refund it. If it's a game I started and liked but fell off of for something else it goes in the backlog. Sometimes I just want a game in my collection. I know I won't play it right now but if I have the means to buy it, I'm gonna get it so it's in my collection and I don't have to worry about it later. That's a more rare situation and most games like that will sit in my Wishlist for years, but it does happen.
Sometimes games do go away. Command & Conquer wasn't on Steam for years and then all of a sudden the whole collection showed up. Same as Dino Crisis in the last couple days. I used to have physical copies of the games but they got lost to time, be it giving them away to friends who wanted to play them, or losing them in moves, or selling them. Some of my backlog is older generation games that have been freed from their console shackles. They just announced MGS4 for PS5 and PC. I last played that game almost 15 years ago on PS3. I would love to play it again in the future. Even if I wait for a sale, I know I want it in my collection.
Games don't always get cheaper as they get older either. Most Japanese games stay above $35 these days when not on sale. Even classics that are multiple generations old at this point. If I think a game is worth it at full price, I will pay full price.
Lastly my Wishlist isn't just a catch all for games I want to play in the future. If that was the case there would be thousands of games on it. It's a little bit more curated than that. It's mainly for smaller games I do wait for because they're in early access. Most big AAA games on my Wishlist are waiting for sales. The majority isn't released or I'm waiting for reviews to see the quality on. Yes there are games I'm interested in but are not 100% sure I would play. That's why I cull the list every few months or so.
I kinda do this, except I don't pick it up. I'm just sick and tired of having useless junk lying around, so when I see something I want I consider if I'm actually going to use it or if it will just be relegated to a drawer somewhere. If I haven't been missing it (ie. it's an impulse purchase) I will almost always just leave it be and move on. I don't need all this junk.
If it is something I decide I need, then I consider if it should be this thing, or if I should try to find a good quality version instead, since what I usually find is in the supermarket where it's almost universally cheap junk. That also grants me more time to decide that no, I don't need this thing after all.
Or take the opportunity to check the second-hand market for it! Craigslist/FB marketplace, thrift shops, ebay (used, private seller), garage sales, etc. Tends to be a lot cheaper, great for the environment (because less resources needed for new production and less stuff in landfills), and keeps your money away from evil corporations.
I do the same thing, sort of. I think about where I will put the item and if I don’t have a good place for it, then I won’t buy it.