How it works
When you want something, add it here instead of to a cart. Pick how long it should wait: the tool suggests 24 hours for things under 50, 7 days under 200, and 30 days for anything more. That's our rule of thumb, not a scientific threshold, so change it whenever you like.
While it waits, the tag cools from hot red, through amber, to a calm blue. When the wait is over it asks one question: still want it? Buying it is a perfectly good answer. If you let it go, its price joins the total of money you didn't spend.
"Remind me" downloads a calendar event, with an alert, for the moment the wait ends. Open the file to add it to your calendar, and your calendar does the reminding. Everything you add stays in this browser on this device.
Questions people ask
- What is the 30-day rule for spending?
- Wait 30 days before buying something you want but don't need, and buy it only if you still want it then. It's a rule of thumb, not a tested method. This list suggests a wait from the price (24 hours to 30 days), and you can set your own, up to a year.
- Does waiting before you buy actually help?
- Nobody has shown how long a wait works best. What we know is what people ask for: in a 2019 study, 151 online impulse buyers said they wanted tools that slow purchases down and make costs visible, not ones that shame them. This list is built that way; whether it changes what you buy is for you to see.
- Does the FTC cooling-off rule cover online purchases?
- No. The FTC's Cooling-Off Rule gives you until midnight of the third business day to cancel certain sales made at your home or at temporary locations, but not sales made entirely online, by mail or by phone. Online, the store's return policy is what protects you.
- Where is my list kept?
- Only in this browser on this device; we never see it. Use Export in Settings to keep a copy or move it to another device.