Overcoming impulse spending and building good habits

Impulse spending can be a way of rewarding ourselves for overcoming the daily grind. The happiness boost from treating ourselves can be addictive and retailers and advertisers work very hard to encourage us. But as you might know, spontaneous and emotional spending isn’t great for your financial wellbeing. So, how can we stop impulse shopping?

First off, don’t blame yourself for falling into spending traps. We live in a world of marketing algorithms which are made to target our specific triggers. We have “buy now” buttons in our pockets and contactless cards. And we’re offered countless credit options at checkout,  like buy-now-pay-later, designed to make shopping frictionless and fast. 

Bad shopping habits don’t make you a bad person.  Whether  we’re dealing with the stresses of big life events, feeling vulnerable or maybe even just a bit bored, life can be challenging and it feels good to buy things for yourself. But sometimes emotional shopping isn’t actually that helpful. In this blog, we’re looking at what triggers impulse spending and how you can work to keep your shopping habits in check.

What is impulse spending?

Impulse spending is a mental, emotional or environmental trigger that encourages us to immediately buy something we might not need. Buying things can release endorphins and dopamine in your brain — hormones which make you feel good. It can be a comfort when we’re down but it can also be addictive.

The impulse spending we’re discussing in this blog isn’t about making the odd indulgent purchase here and there, it’s about buying things without self-control and potentially damaging your financial stability. Advertising and social media can have a big impact — intentionally targeting you with messaging and imagery designed to hit your triggers.

How to control impulse spending

If you want to stop impulse buying, the first step is recognising that it exists and working out what your triggers might be. From there you can start to track your spending and create a budget to stay on top of it. Here are some simple ways to stop impulse buying that you can start to use today. 

Recognise your triggers

Before you can stop impulse spending, it’s useful to know what triggers you have, so you can avoid situations where they might have an effect on you. Be honest with yourself and work out what makes you tick as a consumer. Make a list of anything that makes you spend outside of your planned finances:

• Emotions like sadness, anxiety, boredom or FOMO 
• Marketing promotions, like urgent sales or 2-for-1 deals
• Social media influencer recommendations
• Being in-store or online

If you’re tempted by offers, unsubscribe from promotional emails from your favourite brands. If social media is your money sink, maybe take a break. Try to rewire your triggers, recognise the feelings and use them to do something more productive and wholesome like going for a walk, dropping a friend a call, or getting crafty.

Plan spending and pay yourself first

If you’re struggling with impulsiveness when it comes to spending, why not use planning and forethought to tackle it? Creating a budget will help you to take control of your finances and set goals. There are loads of different, simple budgets that you can use. Check out our budgeting post to find the one that suits you best.

Whichever budget you choose, they all usually work by breaking your monthly income into percentage chunks: your essential spending (like rent, bills and mortgages), your financial goals (like debt repayments, savings and investments), and your non-essential spending (like luxuries, entertainment, and maybe even impulse spending).

Knowing you’ve paid off your essential monthly costs and contributed towards your big-picture financial goals means you can relax when it comes to what you spend the rest of your money on. While it’s not a good habit to get into, if you don’t go over your non-essential percentage chunk, you can take the pressure off yourself if you find yourself impulse spending.

Setting boundaries with a budget can help you take control of your finances and stay calm about your decision-making. With a budget, hopefully you can make room for frivolity and fun, and even a bit of shopping.

Paying yourself first means covering your essential costs and financial goals before you’re tempted to impulse buy. Try automating your payments to cover bills, rent, debt repayments and savings. By scheduling them to go out on payday, you can take care of your financial wellbeing before you have a chance to do anything more “spontaneous” with your money.

Avoid temptation

Temptation is key when it comes to impulse buying. Whether it’s your emotional state seducing you into finding a happiness boost, or marketers enticing you with the promise of a great deal, recognising where and how you get tempted into unplanned purchases is the first step to overcoming them.

Checkouts, both online and in-store, are fertile ground for retail temptation. From sweet treats lining the queue for IRL checkouts to “people also bought” listings below online checkouts, retailers are always trying to squeeze every last pound out of you. Being aware of tricks of the trade can help you to avoid or ignore them.

A great tip for beating impulse spending is taking the 24-hour challenge whenever you want to buy something. Instead of making purchases right away, sleep on it, wait a day. If you still want it, then you know it’s something you really do want. If the desire to buy it has gone, then you’ve rescued some cash from an unnecessary purchase.

Just because something is on sale, it doesn’t mean that you need it. Remember, the sale benefits the retailer, they rarely slash prices just to be nice. If deals are a trigger, simply ask yourself: “would you buy it if it wasn’t on sale?” If not then the cost of the item — whatever the discount — is still that much  more than the  zero pounds you were going to spend.

Keep an eye on your mailing list settings. Retailers will often aim to have you sign up to receive their email promotions. Sometimes they use confusing language to get sign-ups so take a second to read the small print and unsubscribe to marketing emails you already get — it’s usually as simple as clicking a button.

Retail isn’t the only therapy

For some, shopping offers temporary relief from the stress and strain of everyday life. But you might find there are healthier and more productive ways of achieving a sense of gratification. Being active releases the same endorphins and dopamine that impulse spending can. Next time you feel stressed and want to take steps to feel better, start by going for a walk, hitting the gym, or doing some yoga and see how you feel after.

If physical activity isn’t for you, perhaps instead organise to see friends, do some baking, get crafty, or start journaling. There are lots of interesting ways to spend your time which can make you feel great without spending money on things you might not need. The key is to try and occupy your mind with something other than the desire to go shopping. 

Use these tips to curb impulse spending

Understanding triggers and setting boundaries helps control impulse spending. Be honest with yourself and get savvy about retail tricks designed to make you part with your hard-earned cash. Consider what purchases really mean to you, instead of responding to cultural pressures. 

And above all, don’t be afraid to take your time.