Seven Ways To Reduce Impulse Spending

I’m one of those people who know their way around a budget but I battle with impulse spending a bit. I used to be the kind of person that would buy anything I fancied when I went into the shops and not think about it. Although thankfully I am much better now. If you’re like me here are some ways to reduce impulse spending:

Work out what your triggers are

Working out what your triggers are will help you reduce impulse spending as you know where your downfalls are. One of mine is buying food at work even though I have lunch with me. So I’ve put things in place to stop this like not going down to the canteen so I’m not tempted. And bringing in my own soft drinks as it’s cheaper to buy them in the supermarket in bulk. And it will stop me heading to the vending machine for a Pepsi Max. Which then turns into buying a chocolate bar as well.

Maybe your impulse spending is online clothes shopping. Maybe you can’t pass a H&M Home without buying a new cushion. Or you can’t just buy shampoo online it turns into a full beauty haul complete with la girl pro concealer.

Work out where you spend money you hadn’t budgeted for. Or work out when you may need to reduce impulse spending. Do you impulse spend loads when you first get paid as you have money and then regret it later in the month?

Give yourself a daily or weekly spend budget

Sometimes we look at our bank balances at the start of the month and think we have loads. But when you break it down to a weekly or even a daily figure that might not look as good. To look at this you’ll want to see it after your fixed expenses. Hopefully, you’ll transfer all of your money for fixed expenses into a separate account. But if not take this figure off from what you have in your account. And then divide it.

Perhaps you have £70 disposable money a week, or you have £5 a day. Breaking it down will help you know more about what you have to spend. And it may make you rethink a purchase you were going to do know it will use up your whole week’s money on a Monday. If you reduce your impulse spending you’ll have more for those things you really want.

Reduce your impulse spending by focusing on what you really want

Don’t focus on the small spending, focus on the bigger things. Do you want to move out from home? Do you want a new car? Do you want to go on a summer holiday? Thinking about your bigger money goals should help you reduce impulse spending as they’re the things you really want. Although that’s not to say everyone’s goals should be the same. Some people may not want to buy a house which is perfectly fine. But they may want to go on 4 holiday’s a year.

Work out what’s important to you and I’m sure you’d rather put money aside for that thing than buy a few dresses and a new foundation.

Work out a savings plan

Savings shouldn’t be just saving the money you have leftover at the end of a month. Work your savings into your fixed expenses every month based on what you’ve done above. Work out how much you need for that car, holiday, move and see how much you need to save. And even if you’re not saving for anything in particular emergency funds are so important.

By committing money to your savings at the start of the month will reduce your impulse spending as you’ll have less to spend.

Curb your impulse spending by unsubscribing from marketing emails

If you’re bad with online shopping and that’s your impulsive area then unsubscribe from marketing emails. I’m always so tempted when I get emails from brands advertising sales or money off. While it might seem like a good deal,  you always end up spending more than you think. If I buy online I’ll be the first person to throw extra items into my basket just to get free shipping. You can reduce impulse spending but removing the temptation. Or if you want to get the emails but not see them have them automatically go into another folder when they arrive.

Use cash and don’t take your card out

One of the best ways to reduce impulse spending is to take away the option to do it. If you’re out and about take cash which will cover what you’ll need and leave the cards at home. And take your cards off Apple Pay if you have it as well. This way you’ll only be able to spend the allotted cash you have. I find when I go into London on a day trip I get distracted and end up spending way more than I intended. So I roughly plan how much I’ll need for travel, food, anything specific I have planned and a little for a treat. But it means I can’t go massively over budget.

Tell your friends and family so they can support you

The more people who know you’re trying to reduce impulse spending the better. If your friends and family know they’ll be there to support you when you’re out and about with them. You might even find that they want to give it a go too and you can be support on each other. Hopefully, this will lead to less impulse coffee stops when you’re out, or thinking ahead to where you’ll eat so you can find a voucher as opposed to impulse choosing.

Are you an impulse spender?

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