How to Prevent Impulse Buying

 How To Prevent Impulse Buying

By: Ava Tiutczenko

How To Prevent Impulse Buying

An impulse purchase is anything you bought in the moment that you weren’t intending to. Impulse shopping is probably something that you have done at least once before in your life. After a long day, it can be difficult to resist the urge to buy some fast food from your favorite place or go shopping for something you’ve been wanting to buy. Although making a $6 purchase may not seem like a lot at the time, these small purchases can begin to add up and make a huge impact on your bank account. Impulse purchases can become a bad habit and make a serious dent on your bank account. According to clevergirlfinance, “Americans are estimated to spend $182.98 a month on impulse purchases.” Doing this consistently to your budget is not a smart idea at all which is why it is important to learn some causes of impulse spending and how you can be able to prevent it in the future.

So the big question is how to prevent these impulse purchases? There are many different tips that can be used in order to solve this issue, however, here are the top 5 most important and effective ones.

1. Make a budget and stick to it

How you allocate your money plays a huge role in your savings and overall finances down the road. An important step that you can take to help save your money and prevent impulse purchases is by allocating your expenses and setting a budget. For example, if you take your paychecks and after allocating certain amounts for the more important expenses like savings, gas, insurance, etc. Then you can take the extra that you have to use for ‘extra purchases’. These would contain your impulse and unnecessary purchases for things such as fast food or clothing shopping for items that you don’t necessarily need. By doing so, you are still able to have a certain amount to go towards more fun expenses, but you are able to manage it a bit better so that you are not going overboard into your budget with all of these impulse purchases.

2. Wait a day (or longer) before making a purchase

In the moment, a product can seem very tempting to buy. However, a lot of the time your emotions can take control of your purchases and cause you to do things in the moment that you will regret later. According to ramseysolutions, “Once you have a cool head and a fresh perspective, ask yourself if you’ll actually use this thing.” By waiting 24 hours, you will be able to clear your emotions and think more straight to evaluate if you actually need the product or if it is more of an impulse purchase that won’t benefit you any other time but for the moment’s satisfaction. Instant gratification is a big component as well. A certain purchase may ‘instantly’ please you in the moment, but in the long-term will not serve much of a purchase. If you wait a day to make a purchase, you will be able to tell more clearly if it is something that you really need, or more so just wanted for instant gratification and pleasure in the moment.

3. Don’t shop when you are emotional

Going off of the point above, shopping when you are emotional can lead to making many unnecessary purchases. According to a psychology magazine by psychologs.com, “Shopping is a momentary pleasure. It gives happiness and satisfaction immediately. When you feel sad, you feel the need to enhance your mood. Materialistic shopping is a type where one feels happy by purchasing luxurious things. It gives them a sense of control and comfort at the same time.” This is a big reason as to why people shop when they are sad- it simply boosts their emotions and can be a coping mechanism for many. Many times, when you are emotional you may do things that you will regret later which is why shopping can lead to many regrets. If you are sad, put the online shopping away and instead try other coping mechanisms that do not involve your wallet.

4. Shop with cash instead of card

It can be so easy to swipe your card and not even realize how much you are spending. Purchases add up but the simple swipe of a card may not reflect how much you are actually spending in reality. When paying with cash, it is a lot easier to see a visual of how much you are actually spending as well as you have limited amounts of it so you can only spend as much as you have without going over into the negatives. According to a video by Ashlynne Eaton, “Start using cash so that you can really feel the purchases that you are making. When you are physically holding cash in your hand, you are a lot less willing to let it go on an impulse purchase than you are if you’re just swiping a credit card.” Try to use cash on smaller, less important purchases to really see how much you are spending to help limit what you end up buying.

5. Beware of joining too many email lists and advertising accounts

Especially in today’s society, we live through email and social media. There are thousands of advertising accounts nad email lists out there that are free to sign up for. Although it is a simple one click to do so, these email lists turn out to not be as ‘free’ as you would think. According to a marketing podcast called the Gold Digger by Jenna Kutcher, “people are going to be so much more likely to actually purchase because they’ve been getting information from you that has been priming them to be ready to purchase.” By having the constant reminder of a product or a potential deal that is being advertised, you are more likely to make a purchase because of how often you are being exposed to it. It is essentially a mind game. The phrase ‘out of sight, out of mind’ applies especially in a situation like this. When the product is constantly in your face in your inbox or your social media feed, it can be very hard to ignore and eventually you will want to give in. To prevent this, try unsubscribing and unfollowing these advertising accounts. This should get it out of your mind which can help to prevent an impulse purchase to be made.

It is important to learn about impulse buying because it is a bad habit that you may not realize but that you have more than likely fallen into at least once within your lifetime. It can be so easy to spend money on something that you want at the moment but it can have some severe impacts on your bank account consequently. I know that I myself have made plenty of impulse purchases, especially since having a debit card, and it may seem like a good idea at the moment, but the delayed gratification factor is much more worth it when I have more money saved for a more desired purchase later on. You are never too long to break a bad habit and I plan on implementing these tips into my life now so that I will be able to control them more for the future when I have a lot more expenses to pay


Works Cited

ABOUT KristyKristy Snyderis a writer for Clever Girl Finance and loves helping women work toward their financial goals. In addition to working for Bankrate, et al. “How to Stop an Impulse Purchase.” Clever Girl Finance, 7 Feb. 2022, https://www.clevergirlfinance.com/blog/impulse-purchase/.

Cruze, Rachel. “Impulse Buying: Why We Do It and How to Stop.” Ramsey Solutions, Ramsey Solutions, 14 Dec. 2021, https://www.ramseysolutions.com/budgeting/stop-impulse-buys.

“Goal Digger Episode 012: The Crazy Power of Email Marketing with Jenna Kutcher.” Jenna Kutcher, 6 Jan. 2017, https://jennakutcherblog.com/goal-digger-episode-012-crazy-power-email-marketing-jenna-kutcher/.

“How to Stop Impulse Shopping | 10 Easy Tips - Youtube.” YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGapUeLdKXc.

“Why Do People Shop When They Are Upset?” Psychologs Magazine, https://www.psychologs.com/article/Why-Do-People-Shop-When-They-Are-Upset.