I know it's exciting to get an item on sale. But if you're buying for the discounts and not because it's something you need or want—either for yourself or for a gift—you're going about things the wrong way.

Think of it this way: Saving 30 percent is great, but if you didn't buy at all, you'd be saving 100 percent, which is even better. Before you're at the register, ask yourself if you'd still be swiping your card if the item were full price, or if the sale price was, in fact, the full price. You'd be surprised how your brain works when facing temptations. If you take a moment to reconsider, you may find that you wouldn't buy that DVD boxed set without the sale sign, no matter what the price tag says.