One day, I decided that it would be to have a fish tank. The more I thought of it the more enamored I became with the idea. I read articles online about the best fish for beginners. I joined a fish tank forum site. After putting all that time in researching, I even convinced my parents to let me keep the fish tank in my bedroom. But this is not a cheery tale. I learned about my own impulsiveness and important financial lessons along the way. It became clear to me that impulse buying isn’t always done in a moment, sometimes it follows hours of research. Here’s what happened, and what I do now to prevent another fish tank debacle from occurring again.
Step 1: Inspiration, Research, and the Snowball Effect
I can’t tell you what first put the thought in my head. I had a couple Beta fish growing up, but I was never particularly good at caring for them (thanks Mom and Dad). Maybe it was from walking by a particularly cool aquarium store at the mall. However the idea sprung from my mind doesn’t matter, it took hold. So I started googling.
The research phase took over from there. I found a 20 gallon tank in the basement from when my siblings and I won a bunch of goldfish at a fair. My research centered around that, looking into the best beginner fish and the fish that could fit in my 20 gallon tank. A lot of it was interesting information, like did you know that a 20 gallon tank can only fit two goldfish? Then I started settling on what kind of equipment I would need. I wanted tropical fish, so I needed tap water conditioner, a water heater, a filter, a thermometer, and a water testing kit. I could get those online for about $100. After that, I decided on the kind of fish I wanted. But I wasn’t satisfied with just searching for them online. I decided to get a book on keeping fish to teach me about all of the different species that I had available. At this point, before I ordered the equipment but after I bought the book, I could have walked away. But now I was committed. The idea had snowballed into a plan.
The book is really informative, it’s an interesting read
Step 2: In Too Deep
The plan was easy to execute. Once you get excited about an idea, it’s difficult to emotionally separate yourself from it. This emotional connection to a potential purchase is hard to overcome. Buying things produces a wave of endorphins that reinforce your desire to purchase things in the future as well. For this reason, many frugal people subscribe to the 72 hour rule. The rule is simple: when you feel that you really want to buy something, wait 72 hours. After that time, if you still feel like you need the item, you are allowed to buy it. Unfortunately for me, the fish tank debacle occurred before I knew about the 72 hour rule. So I was helplessly wrapped up in the emotions and excitement of the planning and purchasing.
I mentioned above that I spent about $100 on equipment for the fish tank. There were other purchases as well. I had to buy little rocks for the bottom of the tank. I bought some real plants to grow in the tank. Then I bought some decorations for the fish to swim in. Finally, I bought a light for the tank. The light was the most expensive thing about the tank. That alone was $80. I was so excited about the prospect of having this aquarium that I didn’t really pay attention to these costs. Finally, each fish cost about $3. I bought 5 of them to start off and didn’t stop there. At one point, I had three different types of fish in the tank. Each species had 4-5. I got a couple snails to eat the algae that grew on the side of the tank. I even bought some little shrimp that didn’t live long because the other fish ate their food. If I had stopped at one type of fish and waited to buy anything else, I could have avoided a lot of unnecessary spending.
The fish tank, day one of operations
Step 3: Regret
It wasn’t long before I started to lose excitement with my fish tank. This is common for purchasing highs. The excitement wears off and you start chasing that feeling. It’s how shopaholics are made and it’s how I ended up with shrimp. A couple things accelerated the fall from grace that my fish tank experienced. First was the noise. Filters are not quiet and they have to run 24/7. As the fish tank was in my bedroom, I had to get used to sleeping with the filter running. It got annoying but I put up with it for the year and a half/two years that I had my fish tank. Second, the maintenance was annoying. Every week or every other week I had to vacuum the bottom of the tank, dump the dirty water, and treat new water to pour in the tank. And no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to get rid of the pesky algae that was growing on all of the surfaces.
I was losing interest in the tank. Finally, one incident ended my fish tank experience forever. I bought a couple new fish for the tank from Petco. I couldn’t tell, but they were carrying a disease. I tried the treatments listed online but to no avail. My poor fish died. Luckily for some of the fish, I had returned some of them to the fish store so that I could try a different species. No, I didn’t get any money back. After losing my fish, I unplugged the filter and enjoyed the first quiet night in a long time. The next day, I cleaned out the tank and brought all of the stuff down to my parents’ basement, where it resides to this day.
The Lesson Learned
The main lesson here is to separate emotions from purchasing. With very few exceptions, it’s best to use the 72 hour rule before making a discretionary purchase. Stores, online or otherwise, will do their best to make you decide on the spot. This is where emotions rule, increasing the likelihood of an impulse buy. Sales make it more enticing. Yeah, you could save $30 by buying an item on sale but you could also save $70 by not buying it at all. Short duration sales can make resisting more difficult, but if you didn’t know that you needed something before, chances are you don’t need it now. This is the situation that the 72 hour rule is best in. I try to take advantage of the 72 hour rule in all of my purchasing. To date, it has stopped my from buying a kayak, a jet ski, a new computer when I didn’t need one, and countless other small things. Now, when I get excited about something and jump into doing a lot of research on a hobby or a product, I use the 72 hour rule after I finish researching. That way I have time to sit on the information and decide if it’s really worth buying. Most times, I find that it’s not.
Have any other tips for eliminating impulse spending? I’d love to hear it!