Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Wednesday 15 May 2019
A25

Millennial Money: 3 ways to curb a shopping urge

By COURTNEY JESPERSEN mentally before you shop.
Associated Press If you “ride the wave” and
Shopping can be a form of confront the emotion driv-
relaxation, an entertaining ing why you want to shop,
way to spend time or even you can teach yourself self-
a hobby. But it can turn into control, he says.
an expensive habit. “Ultimately, you’re teach-
Whether you sometimes ing your brain a new as-
give in to a weakness for sociation. Meaning I can
designer handbags or think of a store like Target
brand-name shoes, here or Costco or Ikea and think
are three ways to help you that it doesn’t compel me
manage the urge to spend. to shop per se. It’s just an-
Pick the tactic that works other store.”
best for you: postponing He compares the strategy
the purchase, making a to overcoming a fear of el-
plan or doing something evators.
else instead. “Say I have an elevator
1. PRETEND (OR POSTPONE) phobia. Well ultimately, at
If you want to feel like some point, I have to con-
you went shopping with- front an elevator,” Chap-
out spending any money, man says. “But the way
do everything you would you do it is you don’t throw
when you really shop, but someone into an elevator
stop short of actually buy- In this Feb. 20, 2019, file photo Saks Fifth Avenue shoppers pass through the luxury handbag and say, ‘sink or swim.’”
ing anything. section of Saks’ flagship store in New York. Instead, you prepare so
Browse online, pick out a Associated Press you know what to expect.
shirt in your favorite color nate consumer decisions in This might be enough to But pretending isn’t always As it pertains to shopping,
and even add it to your an emotional state. work the urge to buy out of a reasonable solution. At Chapman says to formu-
cart. If you’re in-store, go This often leads to impulse your system. But just in case, some point, you will surely late a “game plan.”
window shopping without buys.” eliminate any remaining need to buy something. Recognize that you have
your wallet. Then wait. That delay period will vary temptation. And that’s OK. a tendency to overspend.
“Have some type of cool- from person to person, but “Delete those items so that It’s actually best to still go Create both a budget
ing off time period before Steinman suggests waiting they are not waiting for to stores, rather than avoid- and a list before you go
you commit to purchasing at least one day. Depend- you in your shopping cart ing shopping altogether, shopping (in-store or on-
the item,” says Ross Stein- ing on the purchase, you only one click away to pur- advises Dr. Kevin Chapman line). Then, hold yourself
man, a professor of psy- could wait a week or even chase the next time you vis- , a licensed clinical psy- accountable to that list
chology at Widener Univer- a month before deciding it the online retailer,” Stein- chologist in Kentucky. That and feel a sense of con-
sity in Pennsylvania. “You whether to buy the item in man says. is, as long as you’re proac- fidence that results when
should attempt to elimi- question. 2. PREPARE tive and prepare yourself you succeed.q

China’s auto sales fall 17.7% in April, extending slump

By JOE McDONALD Drivers in the industry’s big- Jittery consumers are less by 5.2 percentage points to ing 4.1% from 2017 to 23.7
Associated Press gest global market bought willing to make big pur- 37.1%. Purchases of electric million. The downturn has
BEIJING (AP) — China’s 1.6 million sedans, SUVs and chases amid a tariff war and gasoline-electric hy- prompted suggestions Bei-
auto sales sank 17.7% in minivans, according to an with Washington and un- brid SUVs and sedans rose jing will cut sales taxes or
April from a year earlier, industry group, the China ease about China’s eco- 18.1% to 97,000. That was a offer other incentives.q
the 10th straight month of Association of Auto Man- nomic outlook. bright spot for the industry
decline amid trade tension ufacturers. Total vehicle Growth in the second-larg- but well below growth rates
with Washington and an sales, including trucks and est global economy held of as much as 100% in pre-
economic slowdown. buses, fell 14.6% to 2 million. steady in the latest quar- vious months.
ter but that was supported Beijing has promoted elec-
by government stimulus trics with billions of dollars in
spending and higher bank research grants and buyer
lending. subsidies. But subsidies are
The downturn is squeezing due to end next year and
Chinese and global auto- regulators are shifting the
makers that are pouring burden to automakers by
money into meeting gov- imposing mandatory sales
ernment targets to devel- targets for electrics.
op electric vehicles. So automakers need to
Auto sales for the first four develop electrics that can
months of the year are off compete with gasoline-
14.7% from a year earlier powered vehicles.
at 6.8 million, according to Sales of SUVs fell 15.8%,
CAAM. CAAM said, without giving
Sales by Chinese brands in a total.
In this April 16, 2019, file photo, Chinese automaker Geely Auto April plunged 27.9% from a Last year’s auto sales suf-
displays a sedan from its new electric brand Geometry during
the Auto Shanghai 2019 show in Shanghai. year earlier to 585,000. Their fered their first decline in
Associated Press market share contracted nearly three decades, fall-