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Resisting Impulsive Spending

Oct 19
Written by: Taylor
 

As Time Magazine points out in this week’s issue, women have had a huge impact on the economy and our buying power has grown greater than it’s ever been before. However, we’re also bombarded by more things to buy with that money than ever before.
 
In actuality it doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or girl. The problem of overwhelming product selection for everything from brand names to generics has been stalled a bit by the recession, but it’s still a problem. During the “Don’t Go Over in October” challenge I’ve been able to curb my spending by simply not putting myself in a situation where I’ll be spending. But when it came time to buy birthday presents last week, I wasn’t sure if I’d get through it without a becoming victim to an impulsive buy or two.

Breaking the Habit of Impulsive Spending

Impulsive spending has been about the only bad spending habit I’ve ever had. I’ve learned over the years to keep receipts and tags on purchases because there’s a good chance after I’ve had time to think about it that I’ll return them.
This past week I had to buy birthday presents for both my niece and a close friend. I knew as soon as I walked through the store that I’d be met with an onslaught of advertisements and alluring displays. Fortunately, I’d already mentally prepared myself for this, and the imaginary blinders were already in place.
 
I underestimated how much this mental preparation would help me fight the urge to splurge. Instead of going into a glassy-eyed spending stupor, I was more alert and aware that I was being persuaded to spend on things I didn’t need. It became obvious that the harder sales pitches were reserved for non-necessities, which of course were featured right at the front of the store.
 
It was a success. I left the store with two presents, and neither of them were for me. My willpower was tested and I came out victorious, which gave me reassurance that I would get through the next 2 weeks of the challenge unscathed.
There were a few other tricks up my sleeve that helped me avoid making an impulsive purchase. Use the tips below to put marketing in its place so you can make your buying decisions based on need, not impulse.

Tips for Overcoming Impulsive Spending

  • Make a list – and stick to it.
  • Keep receipts and tags intact. This gives you the chance to change your mind and really decide if the purchase was a wise one or not.
  • Shop on your own. In the last blog post I discussed the impact that friends have on your spending, and often times it’s not very positive.
  • Don’t use credit cards. Besides the fact that interest charges could make the purchase much more costly, we also tend to spend more when we don’t actually see the cash being spent.
  • Understand what makes you spend impulsively. Are you an emotional shopper? Do you shop to reward yourself? Once you know what triggers your impulsive spending it’s much easier to rein it in.
  • Comparison shop first. If you take the time to price your purchases, it reduces the impulse factor so you can really decide if it’s worth the expense.
  • Only shop when you have money to spend. Discretionary spending every now and then isn’t that bad as long as you have extra spending money and set a shopping budget. One way to make sure you stick to the budget is to bring only the amount allotted with you in cash. Once it’s gone, no more spending.

  

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