We’re all tempted to make impulse buys. Sometimes we overspend on impulse shopping especially when we buy things we don’t really need. The average American spends over $5,000 a year on impulse buys. A recent study may have found an easy trick to help you avoid that habit, and save some real money.

The next time you’re about to buy something, take a few seconds to think about something you ALREADY own. Think about the reason you like it  and how often you use it. It doesn’t even have to be similar to what you’re about to buy. Rice University studied about 150 people and had some of them reflect on things they owned, and describe how they use them. Then they showed everyone 5 products: a sweater, a watch, a chair, a box of chocolates, and a coffee maker.  They were then asked how much they would pay for these items. The people who’d just thought about something they already owned were 14% less willing to buy the items than people who didn’t do the exercise. “Retail Therapy” can be fun and helpful but try this trick next time you are tempted while shopping.