We all love to spend money, but there will be times when it becomes an unhealthy habit, and you realise you need to rein it in bit. Whether you’re hit with a financial emergency that you can’t afford without the help of short term loans, or you simply realise that your lifestyle isn’t sustainable, you’ll hopefully want to make a change for the better. However, even if you manage to kick your habit of overspending, you might still be in the clasps of impulse buying. So, if you want to say goodbye to your impulse buying habit for good, keep reading and find out what simple steps you can take!
Stop Before You Buy
It may seem obvious but take a moment to think before you buy something. If you spot something that you feel like you just have to have, physically remove yourself from the situation and start to question if you really need it. The blame of impulse buying can’t all be placed on you, as marketing is used for a reason. So, taking yourself away from the item you want alone can work wonders. When you start to think about whether or not you really need something or if you can even afford it, you’ll soon realise that the urge starts to fall away, and you may not want it so badly anymore. The number one tip to avoid impulse buying is to stop before you buy, and it will soon become second nature to you.
Make It Hard To Do
One great way to stop yourself from impulse buying is to make it extremely hard for you to do so. If you find that you’re always scrolling on shopping apps on your smartphone, delete them off so that you aren’t even able to look through them. It’s also smart to unsubscribe from any marketing emails you may have signed up to. Even if you don’t have the apps, you may be tempted to log onto the computer or redownload them if you get an email saying there’s a sale on. You might want to delete your credit card information off of your favourite sites too, as this makes it harder for you to impulse buy. Instead of quickly buying something with all your details prepopulated, you’ll have to go and find your card and actually have some time to think about what you’re doing. Some people go as far as only using cash, so they can’t even impulse spend online. And when they go out, they only take what their budget allows them, ensuring that they physically can’t overspend on a rash decision. So, don’t let impulse buying be something you can easily do, and you’ll find it much easier to avoid it.
Save Up Instead
If you still feel like you just have to have that one item, then don’t buy it outright. Instead, save up for it and make yourself work for it. That way, it will feel that much more rewarding when you do eventually buy it, and you’ll know that you haven’t gone over your budget. You may find that once you’ve saved up for it, you no longer want to buy it anyway, so you’ll just be left with a good amount of savings to do with what you please. So, don’t buy anything on impulse unless you save up for it first, and you’ll soon start to notice that the feeling to do so doesn’t happen so often.
Give Yourself A Budget
Budgeting is a great way to avoid impulse buying, as it prevents you from just buying what you want and worrying about the consequences later. You shouldn’t stop yourself from spending any money at all, as this just makes the temptation even greater. Instead, create a realistic budget that you can live on and enjoy some little luxuries with, but doesn’t allow for impulse buying. Learning to live with a budget means that you’ll have a better handle on your money, and you’ll actually feel reluctant to waste one whole week’s worth of your budget on one impulse buy. Don’t feel as though you can’t ever have anything nice ever again, but just try to factor things into your budget. You’ll soon find that using a budget to manage your money is extremely effective at reducing your impulse buying, especially if you give yourself targets to reach. Before you might have just bought something for the sake of it, but if you know that you’ve had a great week at staying on track with your budget, you’ll probably feel less inclined to ruin it.
Distract Yourself
If you genuinely find the temptation of impulse buying too much no matter what you do, then try to distract yourself in the moment. For example, if you’re in a shopping centre and spot a pair of expensive sneakers that you want, physically remove yourself from the store and go somewhere else like a coffee shop. Similarly, if you’re at home and are trying to resist the lure of an online sale, turn your phone off and put it away in the drawer. Then head outside with a cup of tea and get some fresh air for a few minutes. Then when you head back in, try not to use your phone for at least an hour and do something productive. Whether that’s cleaning the bathroom or sorting the laundry, make sure that it’s something that keeps your mind and hands busy. By the time you’re done with the chores, you’ll soon find that your temptation has dissipated, and you no longer feel the need to splurge.
Shopping is extremely fun, and we all love treating ourselves and our loved ones to nice things now and then. But when it becomes a regular habit, it can wreak havoc on your finances. However, there are ways that you can stop yourself from impulse buying, and they aren’t that hard to implement. Deleting shopping apps, removing yourself from the situation, or distracting yourself with chores are all brilliant ways to do it and they don’t take much effort at all. So, if you want to reduce your impulse buying, try to utilise these top tips and you’ll soon see the difference they make to your bank account!
