We get constant emails and messages from people asking for ways to stop impulse spending. From the looks of it, this seems to be an area that a lot of people struggle with.
You may not believe it, but years ago, I learned a valuable lesson about impulse spending myself:
Do. Not. Do. It.
My Mistake
In the first year of our marriage, I bought a flat screen TV while Dannie was out of town for work. 🤦🏽♂️
You might be wondering, “Why is that such a big deal?”
Well, it’s a big deal because it was the definition of an impulse buy. We already had a TV for our house and hadn’t even discussed buying another one. I just happened to be in a store looking for something else when a TV caught my eye as I walked by the electronics section.
I justified the purchase by convincing myself that we needed this TV.
“Our TV is only 32 inches…”
“This TV is HD!”
“Ooooh, AND it’s a Samsung!!”
What was I thinking?
Literally, NONE of these were good reasons to buy a $500+ TV on a whim. I found this out a little later when I got the chance to talk to Dannie on the phone.
While I was rambling on and on in excitement about “our” new TV, I couldn’t help but notice that the other side of the call was pretty quiet.
Until…
“Wait… YOU DID WHAT?!”
I could literally feel the flames coming through the phone line!!! 🔥🔥🔥 In hindsight, my naivety of how bad that purchase was says a lot about my mindset surrounding money at the time.
This was just one purchase but it highlighted a few big mistakes because of the fact that I:
- Put a $500 non-essential purchase on a credit card
- Didn’t discuss the purchase with my partner first
- Didn’t shop around for the best deal before making a major purchase
In other words, I was:
- Stupid
- Stupid
- Stupid
Afterward, I realized that these are all huge No-Nos if you want to keep your marriage in good standing. Especially since fights about money are one of the leading causes of divorce in America.
This led us to eventually include “blow money” in our budget. We also created a rule that any purchases exceeding $100 would have to be discussed and agreed on before any money is spent.
Do you struggle with impulse spending?
You’d be surprised at how common it is for people to go out to a store for one thing and then return with waaay more than they planned on purchasing. Or better yet, making excuses for why you should buy certain things even when you know that you have other more important things to pay for.
The definition of impulse buying is actually tied to our emotions. How you’re feeling at the exact moment you see a particular item in a store can be a huge influencer of whether or not you decide to buy it.
Feeling sad? Maybe buying this thing will make you feel better.
Feeling happy? Maybe you deserve to buy that thing you just saw.
See how dangerous this can be?
Here are just a few things you can do to try and change this habit:
Only carry cash
When you carry cash, you’re less likely to overspend because you can’t physically spend more cash than you’re actually carrying. This method is tried and true (for obvious reasons) and works really well for most people.
I say ‘most’ people because we ended up ditching cash and using a digital envelope method to basically do the same thing. Your results may vary but it’s an option to consider!
Create & follow an actual budget
I can’t stress this tip enough. If you aren’t using some type of budget already, you are essentially saying:
“I don’t know where my money is going and I don’t really care.”
Please, don’t live like this. Creating a budget helped us stop living paycheck to paycheck and eventually led us to debt freedom. It holds you accountable and shows you where you’re overspending so that you can make adjustments.
Truth be told, the real danger of impulse spending is found in all of those small purchases we tend to ignore. Those cups of coffee on the way to work each morning and going out for lunch every day can really start to add up if you aren’t paying attention. We figured this out when we actually started tracking EVERY SINGLE PURCHASE we made throughout the month.
Also, when you have your categories set and you are determined to stick to them, you’ll find that your urge to spend extra money is greatly reduced because “It’s not in my budget” will be your new favorite phrase!
Weigh the opportunity costs
Something that really helps me save money these days is putting everything in terms of how much sushi I can buy if I don’t impulsively spend money.
For example, impulse buying a new video game for $60 is going to cost me two nights of sushi eating.
I’d rather have the sushi (if it’s in the budget, of course)…
Use whatever calculation you can as long as it makes an impact on your decision:
- 12 hours of your work salary
- 1 year of retirement
- 2 car payments
- 3 months added to however long it’ll take you to become debt free
Always have a plan for your purchases before you go out
If you know you have a problem with impulse buying, you can avoid shopping stores altogether or do yourself a favor and carry a list whenever you go shopping.
It seems like a simple idea, but you really feel a tremendous power when you go out shopping armed with your list. You know exactly what you need and it’s a lot easier to avoid getting anything that isn’t part of the plan.
Sleep on it
If you see something you really want while you’re out, take a picture of it and go home. Put a reminder in your phone to research the item later and then revisit the idea of buying whatever it is after you’ve had ample time to think about it.
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Usually, once you’ve put a few nights of sleep between seeing an item and buying it you’ll drastically reduce the chances that you’ll even buy it.
***
These days I don’t have any issues with impulse spending. That doesn’t mean I don’t feel the urge every now and then, but I am definitely better equipped to fight off those feelings and keep my money in my pocket!
I’m certain that I probably left off plenty of other useful tricks for ending the impulse buying cycle. What things have you done to stop buying on a whim? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
— $tay Wealthy Friends!
