“BING! Looks like you left something in your cart! Check out now before time runs out!”
Often, we found ourselves buying things that we don’t necessary need. Items that we didn’t knew we purchased simply because we might have just used it once or twice before putting them aside. Simply because these items were – Impulse purchases.
Impulse purchases not only lead us to spending unnecessarily, but also loses our focus on the financial goals that we might have set for ourselves.
Let’s find out how we can stop impulse purchasing today!
What is Impulse Purchasing?
Impulse purchasing is the purchase of items that we weren’t planning to.
Often, we think impulse purchase as expensive item such as a shiny new phone or watch. But it can be as simple as just grabbing a bar of chocolate before checkout or paying for the extra express shipping for your purchases online.
How Can we Stop It?
“Wahh where did my money went this month?”
If despite budgeting we still found ourselves overspending, impulse purchases might be one of the culprit in our financial journey, and here is how we may be able to stop it.
1. Come Out with a Shopping List “Hmm… let’s grab one of this too… and this too!”
The reason for Impulse purchasing can be simply because we didn’t know exactly what to buy. We end up getting more than what we need.
With a list of what we need, this may prevent us from making Impulsive purchases on things that aren’t in the list.
2. Procrastinate!
That’s right, procrastinate! If you are really a procrastinator, this might be the right time to put it into good use.
When making unplanned purchases, the one best method to prevent regretting on our purchase is to give ourselves some time. Procrastinate on making the purchase and delay the purchase date.
Most of the time, you may find that the urge to buy that one unplanned item may slowly fades away a couple of days or weeks later.
See! Procrastinating just save you some money eh!
3. Treat Yourself
Even the buff lords in the gym have got cheat meals! So do we as financial warriors!
No matter how discipline one can be, there will definitely be a time when we want to treat ourselves to something that feels terrible for our wallets – our ‘cheat meals’
One of the ways we can avoid progressive impulse purchases is to set ourselves a budget for our wants.
It can be as simple as a budget for our favorite card collection or our favorite Starbucks drinks.
4. Have an Accountable Partner
Whether you are shopping for Christmas gift or getting a wardrobe makeover, having an accountable partner not only gives you a second opinion but can also remind you to get what you have planned for.
Maybe treating him/her to a tea or coffee would be much better than spending so much more on an impulse purchase eh !!
5. Commit to a Financial Plan “The easiest way to start is to start with a commitment”
One of the best ways to stop impulse purchasing can be as simply as committing to a financial plan.
A dedicated financial plan such as a budget that helps with saving before we spend our monthly income could help us with our spending habit and avoid impulsive spending.
In addition, committing to a financial plan can be saving and investing for future expenses such as purchasing a house or for our retirement.
Ready to conquer impulse purchasing as a financial warrior?!
We hope these tips has help you in your financial journey moving forward.
Still feeling loss on how to get started, we can help you on your financial journey too
Chat with us
C x D
Learning about financial literacy can also be fun and easy ! Stay with us in this financial journey one post at a time to find out how ! If you haven’t already, you can check out our other work down below too, happy learning and reading !
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