Psychologically Savvy: Mentally conquer spending habits

School has begun. Sometimes I find myself in varying stages of sleep-deprivation doing some strange things. Last week I was in the checkout line for my groceries and tried to pay for it with my plastic subway card. Just yesterday I was almost lured into buying some "organic cotton, good-for-the earth," but bad for my budget yoga pants.

So when I came across LearnVest's slideshow on "10 Biggest Spending Excuses and how to Squash Them," I could relate. I know you probably can too.

You know you aren't supposed to grocery shopping when you're hungry, because you will automatically let your guard down and buy more (usually unhealthier) food than you normally would if you were satiated.

Similarly, be conscious of how your shopping when it comes to other items. Remember that the store spends thousand, sometimes billions of dollars to figure out how to best get you to spend your money. This sometimes mean "marking down" items to give an illusion of savings, and touting the latest Fall fashions like trench coats, must-have sweaters, sexy scarves, and of course, more boots!

This is not to say that spending money and supporting businesses is a bad thing--it's not. However, whenever you want to splurge on that handbag or that $25 tube of mascara, ask yourself if the final price (ignore the original retail price before it was put on sale) fits into your budget.

Don't forget to check out the slideshow above!

*Editor's Note: Learnvest released another article that is a follow-up to this one. It's entitled "9 Secret Ways Stores Seduce Us into Buying" and discusses everything from manipulating dressing room mirrors, to the notorious in-store credit card. An interesting read!