1.              Thou shall not clip coupons for anything unless it involves items that go in kitchen…and are edible.

2.              Thou shall not visit locations in the region of Amazon that reside online.

3.              Thou shall not go window shopping and come home with window treatments.

4.              Thy wallet shall not contain any plastic, magnetic strips, or otherwise inflationary devices that could detonate in the shoe aisle.

5.              Thou shall not rationalize any splurges in the name of “I deserve it.”  You don’t, you already did, and now look at you.

6.              If it isn’t perfect for your monthly budget and can be paid in full before you leave the store, it isn’t “just perfect” for anything else.

7.              Thou shall not bend the rules of defining what going shopping means.  From this point forward, “shopping” shall be defined as the act of clicking, picking, checking out in any environment (virtual or brick and mortar store). 

8.              Rock bottom prices and sales shall also not serve as rationalization for savings when spending.  Do the math…if you purchase an item for 100.00, put it on a credit card with a 22% interest rate, and don’t pay it off in full, you’ve likely paid more or broke even on any savings you have may have realized.

9.              Under no circumstances should you answer “yes” to any cashier questions at checkouts that begin with “Would you like to save 5% or 10% off this purchase?”  It’s a trick question.

10.          If all else fails, look at your long-term budget and credit card balances.  If you are still feeling vulnerable, round up all of your flexible credit critters and shred immediately to avoid future infestation of spending bugs that have no vaccine and can result in quite a long recovery time.