Use these 6 tips and mental tricks to avoid making impulse purchases this Amazon Prime Day

There's a good chance you've already come across marketing around Amazon Prime Day and Prime Big Deal Days. These popular sales take place from July 8 to 11 and from October 7 to 8 this year. While some consumers may have already planned out exactly what they want to buy, there's a whole other customer base that knows they'll be making impulse purchases the day of.

So you don't overspend on things you don't really need here are six tips and mental tricks from financial and behavioral experts.

With both Amazon Prime Day and Prime Big Deal Days lasting for multiple days, you can put an item in your cart on the first day and wait 24 hours before deciding to go through with purchasing it. This gives you more time to sleep on it and decide if you really need the product instead of just buying it in the moment.

"Prime Day is such a risk because it creates a sense of urgency," Lauren Anastasio, certified financial planner and director of financial advice at Stash, a popular investing app, tells CNBC Select. "In reality, you should be taking your time."

Anastasio suggests considering how you would feel about the purchase in a month. If you can look ahead and imagine the expense meaningfully impacting your life, it's probably worth it. However, if you anticipate any buyer's remorse because you wish you had saved the money or spent it more wisely, it's best to refrain. If you were to check your bank statement and see that charge, contemplate how you'd feel about it.

Perry Wright, a senior behavioral researcher at Duke University's Common Cents Lab, wants consumers to also take a pause and think about why certain products are on sale.

According to Perry, illusions of forced choice and scarcity normalize us feeling as if we're being savvy consumers by taking advantage of Prime Day deals, but the heavily discounted items we see may in fact just be the result of supply forces. For example, a tech gadget we're currently lacking can seem enticing, yet it might only be discounted because of an upcoming hardware update.

The item you're about to purchase on Prime Day might actually be cheaper at another online store, so be sure to compare prices across multiple websites to ensure you're getting the lowest price.

"Amazon notoriously changes their prices on a daily basis," Anastasio adds. This means the list price of an item on Prime Day may be higher than the list price was several days before, making the discount less than you're being led to believe.

Not to mention, other big-name retailers typically have their annual sales during the same Amazon Prime Days, which means the idea of price comparison is even more important.

Target Circle™ Week, for example, is starting on October 5 this year, and customers can score deep discounts on everything from electronics, toys and beauty to home goods, apparel and groceries.

Dan Egan, managing director of behavioral finance and investing at Betterment, a popular robo-advisor app, recommends setting limits beforehand, including both a dollar amount and a quantifiable item amount, come Prime Day. Even if this limit is self-imposed, it can successfully trick you into staying within your budget.

According to Wright, Amazon Prime Day is best described as a "sushi conveyor belt of items" that is sometimes distracting and difficult to sift through.

Since the abundance of discounted items can be overwhelming to those who visit on Prime Day, make sure you're logging on with a purpose.

Know exactly what you want to type into the search bar rather than browsing through random departments you never intended to shop in — this can look like searching a general category such as "snacks" vs. searching for more specifically, as in "savory snacks in bulk."

To try to stay on track with what you plan to purchase, Egan recommends turning off Amazon notifications from appearing on your phone so you aren't tempted to buy anything else.

One trick Egan recommends is to say what your intended purchases are out loud, saying that you're less likely to splurge on an unnecessary item if you say, "I am buying this because..." Doing so forces you to ponder the purchase on another, deeper level.

Even if you explain the potential purchase to a rubber duck, it should help you avoid overspending, Egan suggests. Or you can speak to yourself in the mirror to both see and hear yourself say what you're buying and really have it soak in.

Amazon's "buy it now" feature makes it all too easy to get your shopping done quickly, but can also mask just how much you are spending since you're buying things as one-off purchases instead of adding them to your cart and seeing the grand total.

Come Prime Day, Wright advises against using the "buy it now" button so you don't go overboard. "We tend to lose track of individual purchases in large bundles of purchases," he says.

While the six tips and mental tricks outlined above can help Amazon shoppers avoid making too many impulse purchases on Prime Day, those who want to take advantage of the sales event to finally buy something they've been wanting should definitely do so.

When you're ready to make a Prime Day purchase you've prepared for, consider using a top credit card for all your Amazon Prime Day shopping. Also, remember that you have to be an Amazon Prime member to be eligible for Prime Day sales. If you aren't currently a Prime member, there are ways to get a membership at a discount, or even for free.

For avid Amazon shoppers and Prime members, the Prime Visa card (see rates and fees) offers up to 5% back on Amazon purchases, plus Prime members will receive a gift card upon approval, no spending necessary. The card offers the highest consistent rewards rate at Amazon, and it also earns cash back on gas, at restaurants and more.

For flat-rate cash back rewards on all other spending, the Citi Double Cash® Card makes a good addition to anyone's wallet, with 2% cash back — that's 1% cash back on all eligible purchases plus an additional 1% cash back once you pay your credit card bill.

If you want to earn a chunk of credit card points, use your Prime Day shopping as a way to help meet a card's spending requirements for a welcome bonus. If you're interested in some valuable Chase points, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees) is offering 150,000 bonus points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. While that's definitely a loftier goal, you can break it down over time, and Amazon sales can help you reach that target.

Catch up on CNBC Select's in-depth coverage of credit cards, banking and money, and follow us on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay up to date.

We may earn commissions from qualifying purchases made through Amazon links.