Article Summary
- Impulsive buying is purchasing something without prior planning, often driven by stress, pressure, or emotional triggers. It can lead to overspending and accumulation of unnecessary items.
- There are valid reasons for impulsive buying, such as avoiding missing out on sales, buying the last available item, or the opportunity to buy in bulk. However, it is important to recognize when these reasons are justifications for overspending.
- Strategies to curb impulsive buying include creating a budget, shopping with a purpose and a list, avoiding shopping when upset, taking only the amount of money you want to spend, and recalling your financial objectives. Additionally, limiting exposure to social media can help avoid the constant temptation to spend money on advertised products.
Impulsive buying means purchasing something without planning and although many people see impulsive shopping negatively, there are several valid reasons why you might buy something immediately.
Some of the reasons why people buy something immediately may include the wish to avoid missing a sale, not wanting to overlook the last available goods, an opportunity to buy a large quantity, or not wanting to mean a great deal. Lastly, you feel there is only one place to purchase the product.
This is termed impulsive because they are made on a whim or under stress or pressure. While we might not be entirely sure why we purchased certain things, there is something like a force that pushes us to buy them. Some of these products are clothing, shoe, makeup, beauty product, devices, gadgets, etc.
Here are some suggestions to help you if you are trying to curb your impulsive spending:
Create a Budget
Determine your budget before you start shopping. You could believe you are saving money by purchasing inexpensive goods, but in the long run, you might pay more than anticipated. List everything you intend to buy and tally up your actual spending capacity.
The worst part is that you have to follow through with it! The magic wand of a budget will only magically make some of your money behave. It would help to decide where your money will go each month and then carry out your plan.
Spending money should only be made if it has been budgeted for. Yes, it is that easy and challenging. However, you are capable of completing this.
Go Shopping with a Purpose
One of my favorite strategies for avoiding impulse purchases is to decide what you want to buy and how much money you’ll spend before you ever step foot in a store. You will be less inclined to cave into impulse purchasing if you have a plan.
If you know what you want to buy before shopping, you can make a list to avoid buying impulsively.
Avoid Shopping When You Are Upset
Don’t let your emotions dictate your purchasing habits—we recently discussed this, but it is worth repeating! You can have a great day and decide to buy something on the spur of the moment.
Or perhaps you’re having a bad day and convince yourself that you deserve something good or that buying this stuff will cheer you up. Each of us has experienced this situation before. It is relatively simple to do. How, then, can it be fixed?
Avoid making purchases when your emotions bounce around, whether you are happy or trying to cheer yourself up.
Take Only the Amount of Money You Want to Spend
Determine how much cash you need to buy the desired products, and only take that cash. Even better, leave your debit card at home to avoid tempting yourself to make additional purchases.
You won’t be able to make an impulsive purchase if you adhere to your shopping list and don’t bring any extra cash with you for shopping.
Stop using social media. It’s true: using social media won’t help if you’re having issues with comparisons. If you know that scrolling past everyone’s highlight reel makes it difficult for you to be content, address the issue’s root.
I’m not suggesting you have to give up social media permanently, but give Instagram and Facebook the boot for a week (or more) and see if anything changes. Even if you don’t find yourself slipping into the comparison trap, social media is one giant advertisement for impulsive purchases.
Someone is attempting to convince you to spend money everywhere you scroll. However, if you aren’t using the app, you won’t be able to see all the brands with flashy sales and new products for you to spend your hard-earned money on.
Recall your Objectives
It may shock you, but giving in to an impulsive purchase won’t help you reach your financial objectives, whether they be paying off debt, paying off your mortgage, or saving for the future.
Impulsive purchases and overspending will devour any extra money you saved to put towards those fantastic goals. Don’t put yourself in danger by doing this. Reminding oneself of the significant objectives you are pursuing will help.
In a nutshell, Impulse buying is one of the most common reasons we spend too much money and accumulate too much stuff. If we want to avoid this problem, we must recognize our triggers.
While everyone experiences impulsive buying differently, there are certain things you can do to acknowledge those impulses and help prevent overspending.
