Impulse Spending: How to Break the Habit and Boost Your Savings

Impulse Spending: How to Break the Habit and Boost Your Savings

Blog Article

We’ve all experienced it—you pop into a shop for one thing and end up leaving with a basket filled with products you never intended to purchase. Buying on impulse is one of the largest challenges to building savings, and it can quickly derail your budget if you’re not careful. The good news is that overcoming spontaneous purchases is possible, and with a little self-control and a few helpful tricks, you can start saving more money and making smarter financial decisions. The key is to identify the triggers behind your spending and shift those behaviors with positive, money-saving behaviours.

The first step to reducing impulsive buying is to create a budget and follow it. Knowing exactly how much money you have available for discretionary spending each month can help you fight the temptation to make unplanned buys. When you see something you want to buy, take a break—pause for 24 hours before making a purchase. This gives you time to evaluate whether you actually need the product or if it’s just an unnecessary desire. In most cases, you’ll find that the want to spend lessens, and you’ll keep your money free online financial money advice in your pocket.

Another useful idea is to reduce opportunities for temptation. If buying online is your downfall, unsubscribe from promotional emails and delete stored payment info from your favourite shopping websites. If you tend to buy without thinking in person, shop without credit cards and shop with cash instead. By creating barriers to spending, you’ll have more time to consider what you’re buying and avoid falling into the impulse spending trap. Breaking the habit may take time, but the benefits over time—increased financial security and reduced money anxiety—are worth the discipline.