Everyone is familiar with the experience of being tempted by impulse purchases because, frustratingly, stores are specifically designed to encourage it. This can quickly become expensive, and to help know how to give such purchases a miss, here are some tips for you.
Avoid Shopping When Emotional
If you enjoy shopping and tend toward doing it as a coping mechanism, avoid shopping while feeling stressed, sad, or bored. Otherwise known as “retail therapy,” this can lead to impulse purchases, as your judgment is clouded by your emotions. As an alternative, try to find other activities that you can enjoy to manage your emotions, such as exercising, reading, or socializing with friends.
Limit Online Shopping
As we mentioned earlier, online shopping can be even more tempting than regular shopping, as it’s far too easy to simply click the “Add to basket” button. This makes impulse buying scarily easy, so to mitigate this, limit your browsing time and unsubscribe from promotional emails. This reduces exposure to tempting offers and helps you stick to planned purchases.
Use Cash Instead of Cards
Another great way to save money by avoiding impulse buying is to always use cash, as this helps you to be more conscious of your spending. Unlike credit or debit cards, cash is tangible, and seeing it physically leave your wallet can make you think twice before making unnecessary purchases. Best of all, you can simply leave your card at home, making impulse spending impossible.
Set a Budget and Stick to It
Ramsay Solutions advises that the first step to avoiding impulse buying is to set a budget and stick to it. This simple financial plan will outline your income and expenses, allowing you to allocate funds for essentials and savings. Therefore, if you encounter a tempting purchase when you’re shopping in a store online, simply refer to your budget, and you’ll know whether you can afford it or not.
Use a Shopping List
Before heading to the store, consider writing down everything you need on a shopping list, keeping you focused on purchasing only the essentials. This will greatly reduce the likelihood of overspending when you’re in the store. While few people do it, it’s worth doing this for online shopping too, which can be even more tempting.
Implement the 24-Hour Rule
Next time you feel the urge to make an unplanned purchase, consider waiting 24 hours before deciding whether you’ll buy it or not. This cooling-off period allows you to assess whether the item is truly necessary. Often, the impulse fades, and you realize you can do without the item.
Set Financial Goals
It’s also a great idea to establish clear financial goals in your life, such as saving for a vacation or paying off debt. By holding these goals and keeping them in your mind, you’ll have a motivating reason to avoid impulse buying. Any time you are tempted to spend money unnecessarily, you’ll think about that goal and remember that it’s just not worth it.
Practice Mindfulness
One of the most common reasons for making impulse purchases is when you are living in auto-pilot mode, something that being mindful can prevent. Practice mindfulness by actively paying attention to your thoughts and feelings in the present moment, something that meditation can help with greatly. Apply this mindset to your shopping habits, and you’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to practice your willpower.
Avoid Shopping for Entertainment
Just like with retail therapy, it’s a bad idea to head out shopping for entertainment if you’re trying to save money and avoid impulse buying. When you shop out of boredom, you are far more likely to make impulse purchases because that’s ultimately what you’re seeking out. So, find alternative activities to fill your free time, such as hobbies, exercising, or spending time with loved ones.
Shop with a Purpose
Every shopping trip should have a clear purpose; when you leave the house, make sure you know exactly what you need and why. This focused approach reduces the likelihood of being swayed by attractive displays or persuasive sales tactics, keeping you on track with your spending. As was mentioned earlier, having a shopping list will help with this a lot.
Be Wary of Sales
While sales and discounts may seem like good bargains, they’re often just designed to entice you to buy items that you wouldn’t otherwise. Try to keep this in mind when you see the glitzy banners and advertisements, and remember that even if the sale is a bargain, it still involves spending money.
Wait for the Right Moment
Believe it or not, timing your purchases can make a significant difference when it comes to impulse buying. Wait for seasonal sales, end-of-season clearances, or major shopping events to do most of your shopping because not only will this save you money, but it will also allow you to delay shopping trips and avoid opportunities to impulse buy.
Avoid Tempting Environments
A lot of people find that certain environments, such as shopping malls or specific websites, can encourage impulse buying. If you know these places trigger unnecessary purchases, avoid them whenever possible. Spend some time considering where these might be for you, and instead, shop in more controlled settings where you are less likely to overspend.
Plan Your Purchases
Before you even make your shopping list, it’s smart to plan your purchases meticulously, helping you to avoid spur-of-the-moment decisions. Research the items you need thoroughly, compare prices, and read reviews before buying. This preparation ensures you make informed choices and reduces the likelihood of regretful impulse buys.
Keep Track of Your Spending
Perhaps the best way to save money by avoiding impulse buying is to regularly review your spending habits, which can help you identify patterns of impulse buying. Use a journal or financial app to record your purchases and categorize them; after a while, you’ll start to understand where, when, and how you are most likely to make impulse purchases, which is the first step to stopping.
Limit Exposure to Advertising
As we have discussed in this list, advertising is designed to trigger impulsive buying behavior, so if you limit your exposure to adverts, you can avoid this nasty trick. Watch less TV, use ad-blockers online, and unsubscribe from marketing emails, and you’ll most certainly feel a lot more free from the grips of pesky advertisers.
Practice Gratitude
Sometimes, we make impulse purchases without truly realizing what we already own, so it can help to practice gratitude for what we already have. Take some time to reflect on your possessions, the reasons you value them, and how lucky you are to own them. This helps to shift your focus from acquiring more to appreciating what you already own.
Reward Yourself Wisely
Another common reason people make impulse purchases is when they have achieved something, and they want to reward themselves. Obviously, it’s nice to treat yourself once in a while, but there are better ways to do this than shopping. Consider rewarding yourself with experiences rather than things, such as a nice meal. These non-material rewards can be more satisfying and memorable, reducing the urge to spend on impulse.
Shop with a Friend
Sadly, some people just cannot stop impulse buying, even when they try the strategies on this list. If that sounds like you, it’s worth bringing a friend along with you as an accountability partner. Express your problem in advance, and they can help you stick to your shopping list and avoid unnecessary purchases.