Stop Impulse Buying

Ah, the impulse purchase — that momentary thriller, that ruiner of budgets. The impulse buy is a nefarious beast. No matter how good we are at saving and living frugally, sometimes, it can be hard to resist that impulse purchase. But fear not! These strategies can help.

I've seen this defined as something as small as the "one hour rule" and as big as the "30 day rule," but the idea is the same — when you see something that you want, make yourself wait a certain amount of time before purchasing it. The longer you can go, the better. If you still strongly want to make the purchase at the end of the time period, only consider doing so then.

Don't Shop When Upset

It's easy to look for a product (whether it's food, clothing, or something else) to cheer you up when you're unhappy. One of my worst impulse purchases ever happened at a liquor store. While I was there picking up a bottle of wine for a friend's party, I received a call with some bad news. Now, I'm a bit of a cocktail geek — if I'm going to have a drink, I want to enjoy something with good, interesting ingredients — and in an effort to cheer myself up, I purchased three kinds of liqueurs I had been wanting to add to my bar. Oops.

Consider Changing How and Where You Shop

One of the things I love about shopping online is that it's much easier to ignore extraneous items — I go to Amazon, put what I need in my cart, and check out. But I know if I try on clothing in a store, I'm much more likely to happen upon a dress that I suddenly really want. The solution? Except for groceries, pharmacy items, and thrift-store finds, I rarely shop in physical stores.

Don't Shop With the Wrong People

If you have impulse-happy shopping buddies, it can be easy to let them convince you that all the outfits you just tried on look greaaaat, and you should TOTALLY buy them. If you want to shop socially, do it with people who have also frugal spending habits (and if they happen to be able to tell you when a dress really looks great on you, well, all the better).

Give Yourself a Splurge Budget

You're much less likely to make big impulse purchases if you allow yourself some smaller discretionary spending. Whether it's budgeting for one new clothing item a month, allowing yourself a fancy coffee every now and again, or giving yourself spend-it-however-you-want cash, give yourself some room so you don't feel like a penny-pinching miser.

Only Buy Things You Can Return

If you really have a problem with impulse purchases, at the very least, buy from stores with good return policies. One impulse spender wrote about made herself take a three-day "Do I really need it? Cooling-off period after a purchase, and then would return several items she bought.

Remember to Not Be Fooled by Sales

Sales with huge markdowns can make impulse purchases very tempting. I tend to think of products I've bought on sale as falling into two categories — "I really wanted this" and "Oh, I could use this!"

The trick is to only buy things in the first category. For years, half my shoe collection was made up of shoes I only sort of liked, but had found on sale. Remember, if you see a product on sale, you will always save more money if you don't buy it at all.

Disclaimer: The information on this POST is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional advice. The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. All content, including text, graphics, images and information, contained on or available through this article is for general information purposes / educational purposes only, and to ensue discussion or debate.

Thank you …Leave the credit cards at home! If you have a set, limited number of dollars in your wallet, you'll really give it a second thought before spending!

Two other suggestions:

1) Always try to shop with a buddy! Help each other out by stopping each other from impulse buys and asking each other if you really need it! If you're alone, get a "Shopping Lifeline Buddy." Someone to call when you're in a store about to make a purchase, and they can talk you down!

2) Get in the habit of not buying anything on impulse. Instead, take a pic of the item and write down the date and price of the item. Then go home and do some research online to see if it's cheaper. As long as you agree not to buy the item THAT second in the store, giving yourself that time to reflect and compare prices at home, will put enough distance between you and the impulse.

Managing finances (and life, for that matter) is about balance.

Sacrificing all enjoyment today in order to save money for tomorrow is a losing proposition, begging for an act of financial rebellion that destroys your progress in one fell swoop. (Or worse yet, a life lived in vigil for a future that may never come to pass).

But ignoring our future needs in favor of wanton impulsive spending now (especially if it's on things that don't add some form of value to our lives) is also financially irresponsible.

So how do we navigate the corridors of life — lined with instant-gratification incentives, and media messages that constantly tell us we aren't happy or hip if we don't spend more money now — and feel satisfied at the end of each day?

Liked what you just read? 

Want to add a word or two…? 

We live in a society where people want what they want now, regardless if they can afford it or not. Come on, we're adults here.

Your comment …..?

How conscious is your spending?

 Do you have your wallet out before you consider whether the money you're spending is adding value in some proportionate way to your life?

 Or do you keep your credit cards in the freezer and think long and hard before spending money