These Three Questions Will Stop You Buying Things You Don’t Need

It's no surprise that rampant consumerism does not make us happy.

The novelty of buying something new quickly wears off and the void it leaves is never satisfied - no matter how often we (wisely or otherwise) give our credit cards a workout.

"The more we think we want, the more prescriptive the expectations we carry for the present moment become," explains New York-based psychotherapist Katherine Schafler. "And the more easy it is to become disappointed by each moment we experience."

Instead, she says we should separate out what we like from what we really want.

Wanting, Schafler tells Business Insider, should be thought of "as an expression of a deeply powerful urge. Ideally, wanting comes from the heart. When you really, truly want something, it's a real challenge to find a replacement for that something".

Liking, on the other hand, "can be thought of as coming from the mind. Liking something doesn't feel as deeply ingrained as wanting, and what you like today can easily change tomorrow".

So, you might like the tiles of the hot new restaurant you and your friends are quaffing cocktails in - but that doesn't necessarily mean you want them for your own home.

By developing awareness of what we really want, versus what we merely like, Schafler says we can cut down on the amount we buy.

The process of thinking it through will allow more clarity as to what makes us really satisfied - so we won't be caught in that endless circle of desire-buy-disappointment (a first world problem but nevertheless one that rings true for many people).

It will also help us to be more grateful for the things we already have; and gratitude, as we all know, is a cornerstone of happiness.

"Because when we really think about it, we actually don't want so many of the things we like," says Schafler. "What we truly want has so much less to do with acquisition and so much more to do with gratitude."

Cut down on your impulse to buy, buy, buy by asking yourself these three questions:

And that, folks, should make you more content AND give your wallet a breather in the process.

Because, as Sophie Kinsella wrote in Confessions of a Shopaholic, "We all fail to appreciate each day just how much we already possess. Light, air, freedom, the companionship of friends."

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