Impulse spending is the bane of any well-developed budget. No matter how carefully you plan your budget, if you impulsively diverge from your spending plan, your budget will be worthless. Controlling impulse spending is imperative if you are going to live frugally.
Getting away from the impulses that urge you to make unplanned purchases is often an exercise in trial and error. The system that works for one person may not work for another. Fortunately, there are several different methods of curbing these impulses. Try one of these to see if they help you.
Avoid temptation. Stay away from your weak points that tempt you to make impulse purchases. If you are compelled by the attractive window displays at your local mall to buy the featured items, you can choose not to go into the mall. Likewise, if discount stores like Wal-mart and Target are your weakness, make a shopping list and send your spouse to the store.
Get off the mailing lists. Catalogs often inundate people with temptation to buy something. Maybe the catalog featuring clothes for next seasons is simply too good to pass up. Maybe the clearance items compel you to make a bargain purchase. As these catalogs appear in your mailbox, call the customer service number on the back and ask to be removed from the mailing list. Then, throw the catalog away before it can tempt you.
Make it hard to make purchases. Carrying only the money that you need each day will make it very difficult to make unplanned purchases. If you don’t have the means to buy anything, you simply can’t do it.
Leave credit cards at home. Credit cards make it easy to make purchases without worrying about the financial consequences of your purchase. You won’t feel the pinch of credit card purchases until the monthly statement arrives at your house. If credit cards are your Achilles’ heel when it comes to spending, leave them at home. When you plan to use your card, you can remove it from its hiding spot and return it after the purchase is complete.
Get inspired. Dieters use motivational pictures all the time to help them work towards their goal. If cutting impulse spending out of your life is your goal, find something that inspires you and keep it in your wallet. Maybe your family is saving for a vacation to Disney World. If that’s the case, keep a picture of a Disney character with you. Then, every time you open your purse to buy something you’ll be reminded of your goal.
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I like making a big list of things I want. I thought this would be huge, but it turned out to be just two pages (if I put it in two columns and put it in a small but not tiny font). So, I print it on the front and back of one piece of paper that I can take with me everywhere. If it’s not on the list, I don’t look for it. This method has worked shockingly well for me.
While you’re making your list, think of what you actually do and what you wish you could do and what kind of annoyances you might be able to fix. (I also include books that people recommend to me so I remember what to look for in the library.)
Another thing that helps me quite a bit is to get very picky. For things you don’t need, you can afford to do this. For example, I now have plenty of clothing to get me through the week and even (now that I finally have a little black dress) to get me through just about any activity. So I won’t buy any more clothing unless it:
* fits me perfectly
* goes with things I already have
* can be worn for activities I actually do
* flatters me
* has pockets (for things from the waist down)
* is affordable
* is well made
* is comfortable
* is better than something I already have that I would be using if I didn’t have this new item
Other good traits to look for (or insist on) when buying things include: good design, durability, extremely useful, high resale value, you just love it, and easy to clean, maintain and repair.
Things I often say in stores include “I’m not cleaning that” and “please tell me why I need this.” (The latter is for pretty things I can’t think of any use for, hoping someone can think of a use for it! They almost never can, so sad, so I don’t get to buy it.)
Another idea I like is saving your receipts and periodically looking at what you’ve bought and seeing what you turned out to like and use. (Sadly, you can’t always tell this in advance.) After a while, you get an idea of what kinds of things lure you into buying things you don’t need. For example, I really like whooshy skirts and dresses, but I don’t enjoy wearing the ones without any pockets. So, I just don’t buy those anymore, no matter how awesome they otherwise are.
In the past I’ve actually done two things that have helped me curb impulse buying. Actually the first wasn’t to curb it but to plan and allocate money for it and to some extent I still do this.
The second thing I’ve done is really taken a hard look at my spending and I realized that most of my non grocery spending was not something I needed but wanted. Being able to ask myself if the purchase is something I need or just want can help dissuade me from buying it.
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