Answer: Food (70%)

Questions:

• Why do you think that food tends to be the largest impulse purchase?
• What kinds of items do you consider impulse purchases? 
• Do you have strategies to control your impulse purchases?  Explain. 
• What are some ways you can still treat yourself without blowing your budget?

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (from Insider):

Most of the respondents — about 70 percent — said food was their biggest spontaneous buy...."They are seduced without knowing it by retailers who know the best way to get people to do what they want them to do: spend more," Klontz told INSIDER. "It is like walking down a carnival midway — the games are all rigged against them and for the retailer." These impulse buys can lead to waste, overspending, and accumulating debt, he said. "These short-term impulse buys can mean missing out on the things we really want to achieve big-picture [like] buying a house, taking a vacation, or starting a family," O'Connell told INSIDER

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On the subject of food, here's an NGPF lesson to help your students Plan A Food Budget. 

About the Authors

Danielle Bautista

Danielle is a native of Southern California and a recent graduate from the University of Maine, where she braved the frigid winters—a feat in and of itself—and earned her Bachelor's degree in International Affairs. She has a passion for working with non-profit organizations and serving populations in underprivileged communities. When Danielle isn't writing NGPF blog posts, spearheading various outreach projects, or managing contests and flash surveys, you can find her doing some sort of outdoor activity, learning a new hobby, or cracking what she thinks are witty puns!

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Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

More posts by Tim