How To Stop Spending Money

Five thousand, four hundred dollars a year. That is $54,000 in a decade! That is money that could go towards retirement savings accounts, emergency funds and even a mortgage down payment. if you feel like you're wasting your money buying things that you don't need and the impulse shopping is getting out of hand - then this article is for you. the problem is shopping and retail therapy is not effective. It's short-term - you'll feel good for maybe a couple hours. maybe even a day or two but after that you're back to your normal self. retail therapy is prohibitively expensive if you're an impulse shopper and it's just a good idea to find other things to do to deal with those emotions.

let's say you're feeling sad instead of going to the mall maybe talk to a friend, watch a funny movie on Netflix that you enjoy. do something else that doesn't involve spending copious amounts of money. And if you're feeling stressed there are other things that you could do that don't involve spending money. Go for a walk in the park. Go for a workout. Do some self-care at home. Things that you could do for free. Tip number two: don't shop out of sheer boredom When you're at the mall, you're in a place of temptation and if you're someone who has a tendency to purchase things impulsively it's really hard not to buy things, so don't put yourself in that position.

Don't go to the mall when you're bored. find other things to do. So as an example, if you're an introvert - maybe journal writing, reading, watching a movie at home that might be something you could do when you're bored. Or if you're an extrovert, you could go out in the city and find free things to do. There's always something to do for free in every city or town. just find those things to do and don't go shopping. Because if you go shopping, you're probably going to spend money that you don't need to spend.

Tip number three: shop with intention and with a very specific list. Tip number four: when you're shopping online, avoid creating an account and storing your credit card information. a lot of times when you shop online, shops want us to create an account. That way you have the name, address and credit card information stored, so the next time you want to shop with them it's just the matter of a click of a button and it becomes so easy to shop. The problem is if you are an impulse shopper, it's a little too easy to shop. if you want to avoid those impulse purchases, check out as a guest not as someone who has an account.

By checking out as a guest you have to physically enter your name, your address and your credit card information and let us tell you, we have abandoned so many shopping carts in the past because we were too lazy to get my credit card out of our wallet. there we go. If you're an impulse shopper, this can act as a deterrent, so just try to avoid creating accounts and check out as a guest instead. Tip number five: embrace aspects of minimalism. Tip number 6: sleep on the decision especially if the item is above $100. if an item is above $100, do not buy it.

If it's at the mall or online, won't buy it. give yourself a little time to think through that decision and who knows you might change your mind. Tip number 7: avoid joining email lists. A lot of times when you shop online or even in the store - stores will ask us for our email address in exchange for a coupon or something of that sort and the problem with that is while that coupon may seem very nice in the beginning, they're going to keep sending you emails again and again and you're going to end up buying more things. Things that you don't need. to unsubscribe from all of those email subscriptions so that you don't have to face temptation all the time.

for an impulse shopper the biggest thing you can do is remove the temptations. By removing the temptations you're just not going to shop as much. Tip number 8: don't shop with friends that push you to buy things that you don't need. Now we all have friends that help us make really good decisions. go shopping with them but then we also have friends that make us buy things that we don't need. They kind of push us into impulsive purchases and they tell us that everything looks good on us when in fact it really doesn't. So don't go shopping with those people.

Do not go shopping with people who you don't really trust in terms of their opinion and who push you into making bad decisions. Just avoid shopping with them. Tip number 9: always check reviews for items that are above $50. We have a rule: if an item is above $50, I won't buy it until I check the reviews even if I'm in the store. I will take my phone out and I will try to check the reviews because this way I'm not making a purchase that is somewhat expensive without knowing everything about it. the thing with reviews is you've got to check both positive and negative.

It's so easy to just read the positive ones and think "hey this item is great". No. Read the negative ones too have a balanced view and then make your decision. Stick to that rule whatever dollar amount it may be. For you it might not be 50. it could be a bit different but stick to that rule. Don't buy it unless you checked the reviews. Tip number 10: remind yourself of your financial goals before you go shopping. If you don't have financial goals then we do suggest having some - just a number and what you're saving it for. it can be very helpful in changing your mindset about money.

if you don't have goals, sit down and think about what your goals might be. It could be something really simple. Whatever it may be just write it down and think about it regularly so that you know what you're trying to do and you're going to be less likely to get carried away with your impulse purchases. Tip number 11: re-evaluate what you already own the next time you're shopping. Sometimes you actually have the exact same color at home and you don't really need that extra pair. Tip number 12: think about your worst impulse purchases and make a list.

make a mental list of the worst impulse purchases you've made and that list really helped me change my mindset. realize how many impulse purchases you forgot about and once you made that list it reminded yours of how much money you had spent and how much you deeply regretted those purchases. if you're someone who makes a lot of these impulse purchases just make a list and take it one step further. Put that list in your wallet so the next time you're actually tempted to spend some money you're going to have that list right in front of you.

 And maybe it will act as a deterrent and you might not end up making that impulse purchase. Tip number 13: get to the root cause. It could be something like anxiety. It could be something like sadness. It could be a multitude of different things but you need to figure out the root cause so you can work on a solution. If you need help, maybe it's time to talk to a therapist. Tip number 14: make it a game with a jar method.