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It's Sunday and I know many of you have headed out to the malls for all those fantastic summer sales.... Designer Ella points out this article with tips on controlling your impulse buys.  And yes, ladies, I do practice what I preach! 

Ok, here are the tips...or read the whole article here...

• Remember, there's always another sale. Take a look around most stores. We learned to be attracted to discounts because discounts (like diamonds, for instance) were rarities.
• Take a break. Manhattan psychologist April Lane Benson, who operates stoppingovershopping.com, pointed out that you often just need to put a little distance between yourself and the cash register to figure out if this is a transaction you really want to complete or if you're simply succumbing to the moment.
• Try to always have a couple of longer-term, larger financial goals (a new house, a great vacation) so that you can give yourself a reason not to make the smaller buy. Also, if you can't answer the question: What will I do with this (where will I put it) if I buy it, it's not something you should be spending any money at all on.
• Ask yourself, are you spending to save or spending because you need it? Determine why you're about to hand your credit card over to the cashier. Was this an item you went specifically looking for or are you shopping on impulse?

One thing I like to ask myself is:  How many hours do you have to work to buy this item? When I put it into that perspective I realize that sometimes it really isn't worth it.  (You mean I have to work 20 hours for that Coach bag?  Yikes!)