One source of unhappiness for people is feeling out of control of their spending – and this is a problem that's far more widespread now than it was a year ago. Feeling regret about having bought something is a very unpleasant sort of unhappiness.

　　乱花钱会让人不快乐——这个问题比一年前波及面更广了。买了东西又后悔让人感到非常不愉快。

　　Being an under-buyer, as opposed to an over-buyer, I don't generally have much trouble avoiding overspending. I have more trouble prodding myself to make the effort to buy things I actually need.

　　身为一个“少买”而不是“多买”的人，我很容易制止自己乱花钱。我的问题在于如何说服自己去买该买的东西。

　　Nevertheless, even with my under-buying ways, I sometimes come home with something I didn't really need to buy. Stores use extremely clever strategies to winkle customers into making purchases. Here are some strategies to make sure you don't make purchases you regret:

　　然而，即便像我这种“少买”的人，有时还是会买回一些不需要的。商店采用极其聪明的手段引诱顾客购买。下面这些方法能让你买了东西不至于后悔:

　　1. Be wary of the check-out areas. There are lots of enticing little items here; ask yourself if you really need something before you add it to your pile. How many times have I picked up a jar of Balmex?

　　留心收银台区，那里有许多诱人的小商品。在把它扔进购物车之前，问一问自己是不是确实需要这件东西。有多少次我拿起了一罐Balmex尿片？

　　2. Get in and get out. The more time you spend in a store, the more you're likely to buy. Even better: don't even go in the store. Then you definitely won't buy.

　　速战速决。你在商店花的时间越多，买的就越多。最好连去都不要去，这样你就不会买了。

　　3. Question the need for an upgrade. You might want that device with a slick new function, or to get the improved version of what you have now, but do you really need it?

　　对“升级”的需要提出质疑。你想买那个有花俏新功能的东西，或者用升级版替换掉你现有的那个，但是，你真的需要吗?

　　4. Be polite to salespeople, but don't feel like they're your new best friends. Don't buy something because you're worried about hurting their feelings or having made them do a lot of work helping you or explaining products to you. (At the same time, be respectful of clerks' efforts. The other day, I was in Gap Kids, and I saw someone rifle through a pile of beautifully stacked shirts in a way that meant that they'd all have to be re-folded. Was he malicious or oblivious? I couldn't tell.)

　　对销售人员要礼貌，但别把他们当成你新结识的最要好的朋友。不要因为担心伤害到他们的感情而去购买，也别因为他们的努力帮助或解说就非得买某样东西。（同时，还是要对店员的努力表示尊重。几天前，我在Gap Kids，发现有个人把一堆叠得整整齐齐的衬衫翻得乱七八糟，弄得每件都要重新叠过。他是恶作剧还是不自觉? 我不知道。）