Do you always spend your hard-earned money wisely? Or do you sometimes (or always?) impulse buy things on the whim that you don't need? Shops are very good at making you do that with their beautiful window displays, product packaging, dressing up mannequins in the latest fashion pieces, friendly staff, or placing items next to the till so you grab them at the last minute just before you pay.
The first challenge in the Three Challenges Community in 2025 is Impulse Buying
I'm normally very good with my money, but sometimes I buy things because they're on sale, or because it's a new product, or because everyone is raving about it on social media and there's a feeling of FOMO. The worse is when I go on holiday, I often fall into the impulse buying trap. Today, I'll share three of my impulse buys with you.
Before I do that, look at this beautiful packaging. You'd be forgiven for buying them without knowing what it is. They would make a perfect present, or you can keep the entire box for yourself because it's too pretty to give away. Do you know what it is? Have a guess, and I shall tell you at the end of the post.
Rolling pin from Poland
The other year I attended the Hive Bee Con in Krakow, Poland. One day I was walking around town and saw a shop selling wooden rolling pins. They had loads of different designs displayed in their shop and I couldn't resist not going in to take a look. The patterns were intricate and beautiful and every one of them was different. Imagine how beautiful the biscuits would be if I made them with one of these rolling pins.
I spent a long time looking at each one in detail, trying to make up my mind which one to buy. They weren't very cheap, I think maybe something like Euro 12, but they were made of wood and very unique. I like to bake and even though I very rarely bake biscuits, perhaps I will after buying one of these beautiful rolling pins. In the end I decided on this one. There was some logic to my choice. This is a random pattern, after rolling it on the biscuit dough, I could cut random size or shape biscuits and still have a pretty pattern on my biscuits. See!! I have thought it all through.
This was back in October 2023, I still haven't baked any biscuits yet.....
Coca cola from Spain
I enjoy drinking Coke, but it has to be the original flavour. None of the silly zero coke, diet coke, or the weird cherry vanilla, raspberry or lime stuff. And the best coke has to be in glass bottles. Plastic bottles or cans simply don't have the same "fizz". A few years ago I was on holiday in Spain, and saw this 1 liter glass bottle of coca cola in the supermarket. I can't remember the last time I saw such a big glass bottle, Unlike many coke fanatics, I don't collect any coke memorabilia but maybe it would look cool on my kitchen shelf. Afterall, Coca Cola is such an iconic brand. I bought a bottle, and took it all the way from Spain back to the UK.
Since then it's been sitting inside the cupboard at home because I don't like putting too many things out on display in the kitchen (I sort of forgot about that when I bought it). I guess I could drink it but if I do, a glass bottle of coke isn't a glass bottle of coke when there is no black stuff inside.
Back in the cupboard you go now.
Olive paste from Portugal
Did you manage to guess what the product was in the first image? Colour paint? Lip balm? Hand cream? WRONG!!!! They are olive paste.
It's the first time I've come across olive paste, and the shop assistant was very patient in explaining the product in detail. According to her, the olive paste is made from 100% Portuguese organically grown olives. They can be used as a condiment to cheese or bread, and for many other uses, but I forgot what now. During our conversation, I found out that she spent some years in London previously, and have visited by city before! She was ever so nice, and let me try a lot of different flavours. Each little spoonful was quite intense, a little salty but packed with flavour. The texture was quite muddy, and to be very honest when you squirt something darkish green out from a tube, it doesn't look exactly the most appealing.
The olive paste can be bought as a single tube, or packs or 3 or 6 in different sleeve designs. They have some pre packed flavours, or you can choose your own.
I choose a pack of three, the original flavour, chilli because my husband likes it, and one with fig. We both liked that. I choose the black sleeve with a rooster, I know it's very Portugese but don't know why. The sleeve has Portugal written on it in case people don't know this is from Portugal. I loved the design. The shop assistant said I made some excellent choices and wished me a happy holiday as I left. Isn't she so nice 😊
Of course she's nice!!! She wants me to buy stuff off her!!! I'm not a very cheesy person, and I don't eat cheese often. When I do, I always forget I have the olive paste hiding in the cupboard. The paste is quite salty so I can't really spread it on bread. One time I squirted a lot into my pasta, it was ok. I still have two tubes left. Any ideas on how I can eat it?
What about you? Have you ever bought anything on impulse and then realised you don't need it? It could be from when you're on holiday, or from your local shops or market, or even from someone knocking on your door. Let me know, and make sure to post it in the Three Challenges Community.
We have also hosted the previous challenges, there is no deadline for them, feel free to join in anytime
My Three Favourite posts challenge
My Three most valuable possessions
The three most .... streets
Fight procrastination and accomplish three tasks
Three favourite food
Three photos of you being a teenager
100% with you on the original Coke flavour vs the light stuff - if I'm drinking unhealthy, might as well go for the original stuff! :)
As for with the rooster, it's the famous "Galo de Barcelos" - it comes from a legend, that goes more or less like this: in ancient times, in the city of Barcelos, a man was accused from a crime, and was taken to the presence of the city's governor, that was having a banquet. The man kept saying he was innocent, but the governor was mocking him, and said something like "it's as likely that you are innocent as this rooster that I'll be eating gets up and sings"... and the rooster that was being served in the banquet got up and sang.
I probably butchered most of the details, but I'm sure if you search for the legend's name you'll find a decent description; and now you know the origin of our traditional portuguese cock! :))
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I impulse buy stuff quite frequently, but it is usually not more than $10 USD or so. Anything more than that and I generally have to make a spreadsheet to see if it is worth buying!
A spreadsheet? Do you run some sort of program to see if it passes the buy metrics 😁
No, just pros and cons, measurements if necessary and comparisons to similar or already owned products if it is replacing something.
Me I tend to dither and dally do I want it do I need it, the voices in my head just will not shut up. In saying that I have just spent 50 odd quid online with Farmer Gracy, buying a load of exotic bare roots for the garden. Oh and this morning I spent £40 in the garden centre on Dahlia corms. I shall hopefully see the benefit of my day come summer
Is it time to start planting stuff already? I'm still be in hibernation mode. Damn, I'd better start as well 😬 I want to make the most of the growing season this year
LOL no panic!!! they won't be planted until may, but stocking up on ones I lie the look of before they sell out.
I saw that the boxes said "paste" but I wouldn't have guessed that it was olive lol
It's quite a creative package and I guess keeps it fresher than in a jar
This is not a bad purchase at all.
Jams and sauces in a tube. phenomenal.
You put this in your backpack and don't worry about not having anything to snack on on the trip.
I often buy unnecessarily.
A pantry full of such things 🙂
I think I have material for a post 😀
That's a good point, it will be very handy for picnics or camping, much lighter than a jar. And I imagine it's very versatile for the creative cooks
Look forward to your impulse buys!
I laughed when I was reading this post: the universal scripts we tell ourselves to justify buying something.
I thought you were going to say that you had drank the coke and spent ages experimenting with cold tea to get the right dark brown liquid to refill the bottle. 😂
I do try to buy souvenirs when I visit places: I seem to like crystal glass with a bud vase from Prague, paperweight from Venice, candlestick from Waterford - all serving their purpose.
But I also have two silk woven mats from Tangier that I am terrified to put on the floor in case they get damaged. They are languishing in the top of the wardrobe.
You could give your olive paste away to a foodie and have a postcard back for your lovely collection!
That's a very good idea. I also have soy sauce, maybe that and tea may do the trick.
Depending on how big your rugs are, maybe you can hang them on the wall
Funny, I can't drink the original coca-cola anymore. It's just so sweet. Coke Zero gives me the flavor I remember without so much sweetness. I don't drink soda much these days, actually, but when I do, it's usually coke zero.
I hear you about impulse buys. This is why I do as much of my shopping through amazon as possible. I don't like Amazon, mind you, but my money is limited and I waste less of it if I buy just what I need on Amazon. Going into the shops always opens me to the threat of impulse buys.
Just make sure you never go on Temu, their stuff are ridiculously cheap, my sisters keeps on adding random stuff to their basket because they only cost a couple of bucks
haha I can imagine. When I first came here, I did the same at all the ¥100 shops. It seems like they have such good stuff, and it's all so cheap!! Only later do you realize most of the stuff from those stores is cheap, as in very very low quality, and most stuff from there tends to break quickly, making it quite the waste.
Daiso is very good, I love it. I thought the ones in Taiwan are very good, but the ones in Japan are even better. Some of their product design are very good. It's a pity we don't have them in UK
I didn't even know there were so many rolling pins in this whole world, and with such beautiful patterns. 😍 Maybe if you bake biscuits and roll them out with your super cute Polish rolling pin, then you also open the bottle of Spanish Coca-Cola? 😁
Wouldn't guess those were boxes of olive paste.
So... I can't remember now if I impulse bought something recently... oh yes, one pair of shoes that were on sale, but I will need them for performances so I think it doesn't count.
You mean you don't have a rolling pin collection? How disappointing 😉
Perhaps I can add some Portuguese olive paste to my polish made biscuits when I drink my Spanish Coke
Are you performing dancing now 🤔
😂
Crikey, I have never seen a glass coke bottle so big!!
Glass bottle cokes are a bit of rarity now. Sometimes I see them in supermarkets, I reckon it's more of a nostalgic thing, but never a big bottle like this
Finally! I'm tired of telling people that diet colas suck and none of them understand. They all say it's 0 calories and just as delicious as the original. No! It never is and it tastes awful.
By the way, I thought the stuff in the top photo was coffee or beer because one of the cans had “taste” written on it haha.
I think it's paste, not taste 😉
High five!! Original coke all the way!!
My bad then 😂
第二张图片好特别😃用这个做饼干，还是挺罕见的
All the things you bought appeal to me visually, except for the coke... because I don't like any fizzy drinks. I only like malt.
However, I'm not a compulsive shopper for many reasons...
And well, olive paste with crackers and cheese, or with toast, tomato and garlic... I guess you can eat it.
If you make sleeping black beans, drop some on them haha....
Ok. Confession time. I do impulse buy from time to time. Books are quite often such things. Records another. Food items abroad, it depends. I still have a pack of tea I bought in Funchal the year before last. There are a couple of things we bought in Mexico including a shirt that I may never actually wear.
I believe we all make impulsive purchases at some point in our lives. Although I haven’t made so many recently, I’m not sure if it’s because I've experienced those years of economic crisis in Venezuela where it was almost impossible to buy anything you didn’t need. Or perhaps as we age we tend to focus more in experiences than material things. But in my 30s, I made so many purchases that I never used, and it’s quite amusing to think about it now.
Here in Bogota, I don’t have any so far, good for me LOL. However, when I return home in a few weeks, I’ll have plenty of things to choose from, haha.
By the way, I also like the Portuguese rooster:) And those olive pastes are something I probably would have fallen into buying too.
The rolling pin looks lovely, back in time, when my mother worked in clay I would have bought her one as a gift. Or maybe it would have ended up forgotten in the drawer because I don't usually bake, hehe.
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STOPBack in my earlier years (Before 25) I bought plenty of useless things, most I don't even remember or too ashamed to think about it. I'm much wiser now.
I'm trying to remember... but my mind won't let me go back there !LOL
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Well knowI once bought a treadmill because I convinced myself I was going to become that person who wakes up at 6 AM, runs a couple of miles, and starts the day feeling all fresh and accomplished. You know, the kind of person who posts about their "morning grind" with a sweaty selfie.
I set it up in the corner of my living room and even used it twice. But then I realized I didn’t love running nearly as much as I loved the idea of being someone who loves running. Slowly but surely, it started collecting dust—and clothes. These days, it’s basically a deluxe laundry rack.
Every time I pass by it, it’s like the treadmill is silently mocking me. “Remember when you thought you’d have a six-pack by now?” it seems to say. But hey, at least it’s good at holding my sweatshirts, right? 😅
I think I would have bought without a doubt a Polish rolling pin...what beauties!!!! In my case it would be for decoration because I have never baked a cookie 🤣. The design of the olive paste wrapper is a delicacy, the shop assistant must have been soooo nice 😁, Maybe you can eat it with pasta, eggs, meats...🤔. Un abrazo 🤗
The Olive paste packaging is very Portuguese, and really lovely! I'm not a big Olive fan, can imagine the paste to be very concentrated. Perhaps would be nice added to a pizza topping?
I love that rolling pin and would definitely use it. I bought a silicone cover for a rolling pin when visiting my son, but it doesn't fit so I can't use it😒 Will share it in a post.