By Ann Coleman (TMF AnnC)
April 13, 2000

I had two quite normal experiences today that, because they were in close proximity to each other, got me to thinking about shopping. The first was reading The Washington Post's Home section, where the interior decorating scheme of the latest mega-mansion was detailed, the second was a trip to Kmart.

You see, I don't like to shop. In fact, I rank shopping right up there with filing my brokerage account statements, something I do religiously every year or two. I guess my hunter-gatherer gene got blocked somehow. When I was a kid I always took a book on shopping trips and begged my mom to let me stay in the car and read.

On the other hand, I do like the idea of designing a home. I definitely got the nesting gene and that Post article sent it into overdrive. I would have been safe if I hadn't used the wrong wax on my hall floors. Kids (and a few adults) are using the throw rugs to throw themselves into walls. I figured a lawsuit is pending, so on my lunch hour I went shopping for rug pads. Which were located next to the kitchen section. Which is full of things that appeal to my nesting instinct. Consequently, I spent an inordinate amount of time wandering the gadget aisles and comparing various meat thermometers. I spent more than I intended and came home with three bags of stuff, at least half of which I don't really need.

It occurred to me that everyone has a weak spot. I'm actually rather proud of my non-shopping. I feel a bit "above" people who view shopping as recreation, and I tend to get judgmental about how they waste their money on things that they not only don't need, but probably won't even use that much after the new wears off. Yes, I'm an anti-shopping, anti-consumer snob. Until something pushes the right button.

I've bought stocks because they pushed the right button, too. Stocks that I thought were "on sale" but turned out to be on the ropes. (If you are prone to that mistake, see Bill Mann's excellent commentary "Buying on the Dips.") Others were supposed to be the latest fashion but turned out to be a fleeting fad. Stocks that were going up like a rocket ran out of steam and couldn't even manage a controlled glide -- they crashed and burned.

An impulse purchase is bad enough when it's a rowing machine that is used only for exercising your vocabulary after you stub your toe on it, but when it's an investment that was supposed to help ensure your family's financial future that wrecks your compound annual growth rate (CAGR), it can lead to gut-grabbing depression.

I won't make that mistake again -- I'll make a different one next time. I'd like to say I'm immune to impulse buying, whether it's at Kmart or E*trade, but I suspect I still have a few buttons left unpushed.

Fool on and prosper!