I'm not normally a big fan of "money-saving" tips, as they are often quickly out of date (I recently read through a 1999 book of "money-saving" tax tips, at least two of which are already illegal!) or highly-dependant on your own personal life circumstances (saving 10% of your income is potentially lousy advice if you're racking up 20% of your expenses in debt).

However, there is a distinction that I particularly like and have found to be fairly universal:

Shoppers go into a store to buy something;
Shopaholics go into a store to see if there is anything to buy.

Today's Experiment:
Here's a simple way to tangibly save money in the next week.

1. For the next seven days, before you go into any shop, decide what it is that you are going to buy. If you cannot clearly state out-loud specifically what it is you intend to buy, don't go in!
Example: For the purposes of this experiment, I would suggest "I want to buy a lawnmower" is specific enough (i.e. you do not need to have pre-decided on the brand, make and model number); "I want to get some stuff for the garden" is not!

2. Once in the shop, if you see something you really want but was not on your list, leave it (for now). Once out of the shop, you can make the decision to buy it and go back in with intention!

Bonus Tips:
1. If you are "comparison shopping", or "just trying to get a feel for what kind of car/computer/TV/lipstick/mutual fund" you'll want when you're ready to buy, be honest with yourself.A good way to know whether you were telling yourself the truth is whether or not you left the store/website without having spent any money. :-)

2. The less you think this tip applies to you, the more money it will probably save you!