How To Avoid Spending That You’ll Regret

Spending can mount up quite quickly. From direct debits and subscription boxes to food and shopping it can be tough to avoid spending money. For some people spending can go unnoticed until you check your account a week before payday and realise you have £5 left. Thinking how to avoid spending too much is a good question as you want to know where your money is going. And what you’re spending it on.

Some of the things you spend on can’t be avoided like your bill obligations and basic groceries. And some spending will be practical like working clothing, or household cleaning products. You don’t want to be worrying every time you click buy now or tap your card that you’re spending too much. And no one wants to feel guilty about their habits.

If you’re wondering how to avoid spending too much then here are my top tips.

How to avoid spending- Set realistic goals

Whenever you are setting yourself a budget or spending goals you want to be realistic. For most of us only have £50 disposable money over a whole month isn’t realistic. And you don’t want to have to turn down all invites to see friends or go out because you have no money. Once you’ve worked out the cost of your fixed expenses the leftover money will go between savings and spending.

If you’re thinking how to avoid spending because you want to save more you need to make your goals visual. If you’re saving towards your wedding, a house, a big holiday, car etc make sure you have photos or reminders around so you never forget what you’re saving for. This may help you to avoid any impulse spending. If you have savings accounts or pots for these things make sure you name them in a really obvious way. So choose ‘Our Dream Home’ or ‘New Zealand Holiday’ as opposed to just ‘Savings Account’.

But don’t deprive yourself. Work out how much money you’d like to have spare over the month to spend and work out your saving vs spending goals appropriately.

Separate out your spending money from your fixed expenses

Even if you’re not always thinking how to avoid spending and your self restraint is low you should still seperate out your money. Have one account where you put in money for all of your fixed expenses, the things that come out via direct debit, or those things you need to pay out for like water bills. Then have another account with your grocery/ food money for the month. Having this on it’s own will ensure you always have enough to buy food.

Then once your savings have gone off to where ever you save (ISA/ Bond/ Other Investments), you’re left with your spending money. This means if you blow this money in a week you’ll still be able to survive until next payday. Although I wouldn’t recommend this because that wait will feel like forever.

Automate your decisions

Once you’ve set up your goals and budget and have the relevant accounts set up and ready automate as much as you can. Automate your fixed expense money into your bills account. Automate your food money into your grocery account. Then automate all of your savings and investments to go where they need to. If you have debt repayments then set up a standing order for the day after payday so it’s automatically deducted. There’s no chance of forgetting then!

Doing this means you don’t have to manually move your money and be tempted to veer from your plans. And it means you don’t have to spend time doing it yourself. Some people (like me) love the organisation factor or moving around money, but most of us just don’t have the time.

Check what you have first

How often do you spend money on something that you already own? There’s the annual Christmas wrapping paper purchase when you realise there’s already some at the bottom of your wardrobe. Even returning back from your weekly food shop with some fresh fruit when you discover you already have some apples going off from last week.

Dedicating some time to a quarterly spring clean can help bring the items you already have to the forefront of your mind, to avoid spending you’ll regret. Arrange things in cupboards and on shelves so they are easily visible from a first glance. If there’s items you use frequently, place them at the front so they’re easy to access.

Checking for electronic deals or hacks are a great way to avoid purchasing something again. How often do you buy a DVD or Bluray only to find it’s already part of your Netflix subscription. Fortunately, there are the secret Netflix codes which unlock EVERYTHING on Netflix! This helpful hack allows you to see all the available series and films by genre so you can check before you purchase that film. If you have something already as part of a monthly subscription, you know you don’t need to buy it again.

How to avoid spending too much- Set up alerts

The first step to controlling spending is to be aware of it. Sometimes I’ll go out shopping and not think I’ve spent much as it’s £10 here, £15 there, but then I see it all added up and it shocks me. So spend alerts can help you with this and keep you on track.

A lot of banking apps have the option to send you alerts with how much you’re spending. For example Monzo will send a push alert for each spend and then say how much you’ve spent in a day. This way you’ll always be aware and can easily stop spending before it gets out of control.

Some apps will also let you set limits for spending in certain areas like ‘clothing’, ‘food’ etc. And you’ll get a notification if you’re approaching or have gone over your limit. Again it’s a way to ensure you’re in control and don’t have to worry about how to avoid spending too much.

How do you avoiding spending too much?

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