11.11 Shopping Plan: Beat Impulse Buys in 24 Hours

The best way to survive 11.11, Black Friday and 12.12 without regret is to decide what you need before the sales start: write a shopping list with a budget, park every tempting deal on a wishlist, and wait 24 hours before buying anything that is not on the plan. A simple to-do list is enough to run the whole system.

Big shopping festivals are designed to make you feel rushed. According to Gulf News (opens in a new tab), 11.11 began as a student celebration in China before Alibaba turned it into a shopping event, and today platforms such as Lazada and Shopee run their own 11.11 campaigns in Southeast Asia, as The ASEAN Post (opens in a new tab) reports. Countdown timers, flash sales and personalised recommendations are all built to shorten the time between "I like this" and "Buy now". Your job is to put a little time back.

Why sales make us overspend

Impulse buying is common. Money.com, citing Capital One Shopping data, says 89% of shoppers have made an impulse purchase and 54% have spent more than $100 on a whim (opens in a new tab). Treat these as survey figures from a commercial source, not as universal truth, but the pattern will feel familiar to most of us.

One useful explanation is delay discounting: people tend to prefer a smaller reward now over a larger one later. Zurich's money-mindset lesson (opens in a new tab) uses this idea to explain why a short pause helps. A discount feels like a reward you get right now, while the money you save by skipping the purchase feels distant.

A second trap is guilt. A purchase that clashes with a saving goal can feel exciting first and stressful afterwards. Planning in advance removes that clash, because the purchase was either part of your goal or it was not.

Step 1: Set a sale budget before you open any app

Decide on one number for the whole shopping season, for example from 11.11 to 12.12, and write it down. Keep it separate from your normal monthly spending so the sale does not quietly eat your rent, food or savings money.

A quick way to choose the number:

1. List your fixed costs for the month (rent, food, transport, bills).
2. Decide how much you want to save first.
3. Whatever is left and truly optional is your ceiling. The sale budget can be smaller than that, never bigger.

Put the budget in the title of a task so you see it every time you open your list, for example "Sale budget: 1,500,000 VND, do not exceed".

Step 2: Write a "need list" and a "want list"

Open a fresh task list and create two groups.

• Need list: things you were already planning to buy, such as a replacement phone charger, winter clothes, or a gift for a family member. Add an estimated price and a deadline to each one.
• Want list: anything that caught your eye. Items go here first, never straight into a cart.

Money.com suggests keeping a wish list instead of filling a cart (opens in a new tab) and reviewing it a few days later, because you may remove some items. That is exactly what the want list is for.

Step 3: Use the 24-hour rule for anything unplanned

The 24-hour rule says to wait a full day before buying a non-essential item. According to Money.com (opens in a new tab), the pause helps you step back from fear of missing out and from the pressure of "limited-time" deals. You can also make it flexible: apply it only above a threshold such as a set amount of money, and wait longer for bigger purchases.

Honest note: we did not find controlled studies proving the rule works. The evidence is mostly personal-finance writing and individual stories, so think of it as a practical habit rather than a scientifically proven method. Even so, it costs nothing to try, and waiting is rarely a bad idea when the item is still available tomorrow.

Here is how to run it in a to-do app:

1. When you see a deal, add a task to the want list with the item, the price and the link.
2. Set its due date to tomorrow, at a calm time such as the evening.
3. When the reminder appears, ask three questions: Do I still want it? Is it in my budget? What will I stop using or not buy instead?
4. If the answers are yes, move it to the need list. If not, delete the task and enjoy the small win.

Step 4: Plan the dates, not just the items

Sales have dates, and so do your bills. Use a calendar view to see the whole picture at once.

Do not rely on memory for vouchers or deadlines. Create a task for each one, with the exact time written in the title, so you are not racing the clock in the last minutes of a sale.

Step 5: Reduce temptation

You do not need extra willpower if you make the environment calmer. Personal-finance guides repeatedly suggest the same small changes, according to The Motley Fool (opens in a new tab) and Capital One (opens in a new tab):

• Unsubscribe from marketing emails and mute shop notifications during the season.
• Remove saved cards from apps so checkout takes one more step.
• Browse with a purpose, with the need list open beside you.
• Be careful with influencer promotions and urgency messages.

Step 6: Review after the sale

After 12.12, spend ten minutes on a review. Compare the budget with what you spent, mark which purchases you are glad about and which you regret, and write one lesson for next time. If you keep notes, you can reuse them for your year-end review, and the savings can feed your goals in the last 60 days of the year.

Example: a one-page sale plan

• Budget: set a fixed amount for 11.11 to 12.12.
• Need list: 3 to 5 items, each with a price limit and a due date.
• Want list: unlimited items, but every one waits 24 hours.
• Calendar: sale dates, voucher expiry times, review day.
• Rule: nothing outside the need list is bought on the same day it is found.

If you are short on time, an Eisenhower matrix can help you sort the list: important and urgent items go first, and "urgent because the sale ends tonight" is not the same as important.

FAQ

Is the 24-hour rule realistic during a flash sale?

Sometimes the deal will be gone, and that is part of the point. If an item is truly important to you, put it on the need list ahead of time. For everything else, a deal that disappears overnight was designed to pressure you.

How much should my sale budget be?

There is no universal number. Start from what is left after fixed costs and savings, then choose a smaller amount that you would be happy to spend. Adjust it next year using your review notes.

Does a wishlist really help?

It moves the decision away from the checkout page, which is where urgency is strongest. Money.com recommends it as a way to review items a few days later and drop some of them.

What if I need to buy gifts for many people?

Make a separate group for gifts with one line per person, a price limit and a deadline. Gifts are planned purchases, so they belong on the need list.

Make the plan easy to follow

Simple Todo can hold the whole system: task lists with due dates and reminders for the 24-hour pause, a calendar view for sale dates and vouchers, and recurring tasks if you want a weekly money check-in. Try setting up your need list and want list today, before the first sale banner appears. You can start from the Simple Todo home page.

Cover photo: Photo: HutchRock / Pixabay