From the author: An excerpt from the book “The Seven Deadly Sins or the Psychology of Vice.” In order to control your natural greed and protect yourself from disappointment, before buying you need to ask yourself five questions: 1. Why do I want to buy this? Here it is very important to understand not only the conscious motives for purchasing, but also the deep ones, which we sometimes are not aware of, since they lie in the unconscious part of our psyche. Thus, at one of my seminars, the participants of which were women, I suggested that they model such a situation: “You saw a beautiful fur coat in the store and really wanted to have it, but you don’t have enough money for it. And now, you understand that the desire to wear this fur coat has not left you for several days, and you are worried about it - in general, you are experiencing real stress. What can be done in this case?” The participants of that seminar gave the following answers: 1. By an effort of will, abandon the goal (I can’t afford this fur coat). 2. Connect new resources (borrow money, find overtime work, save...).3. Devalue the target (this fur coat is too light and will get dirty, or it is too long and will be stepped on in transport). 4. Adjust the goal in accordance with your capabilities (instead of a fur coat, buy a dress that you have enough money for).5. Figure out what is behind this desire, find the root cause and work with it (not to freeze in winter, prove to your neighbor Klava that you are cool enough too, attract the attention of your husband who has stopped paying attention to me or attract the attention of a work neighbor with whom you want to flirt ...).6. And a few more options... After the first stage of work, we, together with the seminar participants, came up with very interesting things. It turned out that solving the problem with warm winter clothes is one thing, with the faded love of a husband is quite another, and with low self-esteem when you have to compete with a neighbor who has the coolest clothes is a third. We remembered how in the novel “12 Chairs” by Ilf and Petrov, Ellochka’s friend chose an American millionaire as her rival, and what came of it. So, after discussing this particular case, we all came to the understanding that in order to reduce the level of stress, we should thoroughly understand our deepest desires, life goals and attitudes. 2. What will this give me? This question means that BEFORE purchasing, we must imagine the end result in every detail: what we will do with this thing and what feelings we will experience when we get what we want. Simulate for yourself the possession of this thing, and it is possible that you will experience only mild satisfaction. In this case, after the purchase you will begin to regret that you spent your money in vain. If the mental possession of a new thing fills you with long-lasting joy, then you really need it. 3. Can I afford this purchase? This question can be transformed into several other questions: What will I have to give up because of this? What more important thing can I buy for myself with this money? Again, mentally make several purchases - the thing you are thinking about and several others of similar value. Which ones will make you feel more joy? When will you feel regret? 4. Can I do without it? A very important question, which can be formulated differently as follows: What terrible (bad) thing will happen if I don’t buy this thing? You lived without this thing before, and did not die, did not become depressed. So maybe you don’t need her as much as it seemed under the influence of the impulse of greed. As one wise man said two thousand years ago while visiting the market: “Lord, it turns out there are so many things that I can perfectly well do without!” 5. When should I buy this thing? Now, after a certain period of time, or when I have free money? If we ask ourselves these five questions before every major purchase, we will become much more economical and save ourselves from many hardships in the future, as well as from thoughtless loans. Latest,