I almost bought a PlayStation 3 this week.

There aren't any PlayStation 3 games currently available that I want--and the PlayStation 3 games I do want won't be available for a few months--but I haven't purchased a new video game in almost two months and it doesn't look like there will be another game I will want for a few more months.

Whenever this happens I get the desire to buy a new game console.

I didn't buy a PlayStation 3. Common sense didn't set in; an oversight in an Internet retailer's checkout system prevented me from purchasing one. I received a $100 American Express gift card, which is treated as a credit card, over the holidays. I was going to use this card as part of my payment, but the checkout system allowed only one credit card per purchase.

Pointless, expensive purchase averted.

For now. The desire to purchase something expensive for no reason is still there, and I have two potential excuses to purchase something expensive for no reason.

LensCrafters sent me a catalog in the mail that shows a pair of glasses I really, really like. I got a new pair of glasses in October, so my current pair still looks trendy, but it hasn't prevented me from lusting for another.

And Banana Republic, a luxury clothing chain, is having a sale. I can always find lots and lots of clothing there that I want. (More on this later.)

The last time this happened was last summer. I hadn't purchased a new game in months, and there wouldn't be a new game I would want until September, so I desired an Xbox 360, despite that Oblivion was the only Xbox 360 game I wanted to play.

Spending enough money on clothing at Banana Republic (over a few months) to pay for a PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii combined and then some ended my desire to get an Xbox 360.