Weekly Review: Spending
It’s only $65.00 but I have to be honest and tell you that I am bad with impulse spending. I don’t think my problem is with what I buy, I think it’s how I end up buying it. I haven’t been worried about these buys because I can rationalize the purchases as good purchases. The fact is that it’s still impulse spending because I wanted it right now, regardless of the consequences. That’s it. No other real reason.
My brain is a spoiled child and it wants all its toys NOW NOW NOW.
It’s not so bad that I can’t pay my bills or put a roof over my head but it’s still money that I hadn’t planned on spending this way. Now I’m not talking about “impulse spending” on coffee or stuff like that because I have an entertainment budget for that, but I have bought expensive items like books and electronics just because I felt like it. More on this in the next section.
Weekly Review: Life Under Construction
For me, I always judge the purchase I’ve made on it’s usefulness – if it rates well on that scale, then it’s a good purchase. But I ignore the process going on underneath that purchase decision when I make that judgment.
If I were to illustrate my thinking processes as an either/or scenario, here’s what it would look like:
I did not plan out my budget to accommodate the $100 drawing tablet purchase so I did the equivalent of eating Kraft dinner for a week. In a way, I’m still approaching money as a scarce resource. If I don’t quickly spend it on what I want, the money will go away and I won’t be able to buy it ever. I don’t know why I think like this but there is definitely a sense that I won’t ever be able to buy it if I don’t do it now.
Once I’ve bought whatever, I’m stuck with trying to live off nothing for a week because I spent too much in one area. This feast or famine approach hasn’t wrecked my budget yet because I just do without when I run out of money. However, I can see myself getting into a bad situation quite easily. I’ll blow my money on something expensive and then get mad one day because I’ve gone without for so long. Then I’ll start thinking I’m “entitled” to buy this or that because I work hard for a living. Or whatever reason, there’s so many.
Here’s an interesting infographic regarding some statistics behind impulse shopping.
Some of you might have seen the infographic before but I liked it because it shows how common this problem really is for people. It seems that resisting a good sale is like resisting chocolate cake – pretty much impossible (if you’re me, anyway).
So now that I’m aware of my brain’s nefarious plot to spend like crazy, I can come up with some ways of avoiding it.
So readers, how do you avoid the temptation to impulse spend?
Only 60% of females have made an impulse purchase? That seems low to me. Of course, I’m an impulse shopper, so I expect EVERYBODY to have the same weaknesses. 🙂
I avoid impulse shopping by buying diapers and formula at Target online. Or I send my husband. Otherwise, if I step foot in that store, it’s full-on blow the “fun money” budget line item in a single day! Plus if I use my red card (which is linked to my checking account not a credit card) I get 5% off and free shipping. Win win!
Hey Taynia! I saw that stat as well – I didn’t think it added up either. At least 99% and that’s only if the other 1% is lying. 😉 I like the idea of ordering some supplies online from places like Target – it sounds like you can save a ton of money without the temptation buying out the store.
My impulse spending has decreased significantly since we had kids. I don’t really want to take them anywhere and when I do I try to hurry. The result is that I spend a lot less!
Hey Holly, yeah, taking children adds a whole new layer of drama to any outing. If they’re not trying to destroy themselves or each other somehow, they are destroying everything else. It’s like a law. 😉
While I don’t want to encourage your impulse buying – I have to admit that I LOVE your drawings. 🙂 Frankly, I think emotional shopping fuels the economy as advertisers play on our emotions to get us to BUY NOW! We’ve all been guilty of impulse buying, including me. I’ve learned that when my emotions are heightened that I cannot go into the store or online. It’s just too easy to justify purchases because we humans are the best rationalizers. 🙂 Otherwise, thinking about how I’m taking away money from my goals is enough for me to walk away without feeling deprived. I think overcoming emotional shopping is one of the hardest things to do (it is basically an addiction) and always is a work in progress.
Hey Shannon! Thanks – I love doing the drawings! It feels more expressive with the drawings.
Nothing like your brain outsmarting you on a regular basis. Sheesh. I like the idea of reframing with how spending on ABC will take away from goal XYZ. Cheers!
Impulse buying is so hard for many to break. I use to actually get teased because I would rarely buying something on impulse. My wifey on the other hand will go out to window shop and come back with bags. I always ask what happened and its like I was thinking of buying it for awhile and I just got it. To me those are the kinds of decisions that kill the budget if they happen too frequently.
Nicely done, Thomas! Spending money became my one of my go-to stress-relievers because it was an easy thing to do. Now that I’m more aware of it, I can work towards replacing this behaviour with something more positive1
Like Holly, our impulse spending has gone down drastically since having kids. When we started our business last year it went down even more as we’re home most of the time. As long as I stay away from Amazon, it’s pretty easy to avoid as I just do not have the opportunity.
Yes, children do that! Since my daughter came to live with me full-time (two years ago), our disposable income pretty much became nonexistent. However, I do still find a way!
Impulse shopping gets me everytime! I tried starting off the year w/a shopping ban. It went well for about 2 months and then I’ve spent money like water for the rest. Once I get into my head that I “need” something even though I really know that its a want, I become obsessed and I need/want it now! I’ve been working hard at getting better at anticpating my needs but its still hard to turn off that voice in your head everytime you see something “cool” or “that would look great on me”. I’m going to try harder not to go crazy buying stuff for the new house but there’s a lot of rooms to fill 😉
Keep up the good work!
Hey Morgaine, I know exactly what you mean when you say “once I get it into my head that I need something…” That’s exactly how I do business. I’ve been more successful with putting off the purchase for a few days – or even a week – before buying it but I do still end up buying it in the end.
I guess it’s a learning curve, eh?
I just recently had impulse buys with clothing. Well sort of… I had really wanted to go shopping for a long time but really resisted, and then went I went to Kohl’s I ended up buying a lot…sometimes what you resist persists.
Hey Tonya! I think you make a good point. While you might be able to put off some things – you won’t always be able to stop it. I guess the trick is to know when it’s better to indulge and and deal with the temptation and when to try and resist. If it’s a planned indulgence – maybe how much is bought can be managed.
You did look beautiful in your new dress though – I’m not sure that helps. 😉
I tell everyone that a bargain isn’t a bargain if you don’t need it.
I’ve had impulse buys myself watching late night TV or killing time in the airport going through the airport mall stores.
I’ve since learned to ask myself 3 questions. Do I need it? Do I need it now? What will happen if I don’t have it?
I find just going through the exercise makes me forget what I wanted in the first place.
LOL, I totally agree with you about the true “women and impulse shopping” stats. 🙂 For me, paying cash really helps me to avoid impulse shopping. If I’m standing there, cash in hand, I get a bit of a knot in my stomach and start thinking “Do I really want/need this purchase? Is it worth letting go of our hard-earned cash for?” A million times I’ve had an item in hand, and then the thought of going to the register and handing them my cash sends me right to putting it back on the rack.
Hey Laurie, it sounds like you found a good system for yourself! I find cash just kind of flutters off into the sunset of mad spending if I have it on me.
For me, using my card keeps me slightly more accountable because it shows up in Quicken which then ends up published on my blog. I feel a little more squirmy for me to make a purchase with that stuff going on in my mind.
Your spending is WAY better than ours. I’m actually a little ashamed at how bad ours is when compared to yours…
Hey Glen, I’m not sure it’s the amounts that are problematic. Forty bucks here or a hundred bucks there does add up but the real problem for me is the habit. I can buy something random and then persuade myself that it was a great idea – even though it required me to ration gas for the next week.
Whatever your spending habits – I think we’re all trying to reach the same goals! Cheers!
I am the worst of impulse spending! Those last 8 books that I bought? Totally didnt need it.
Yup, I think you and I live on the same planet. I have stacks of books “I haven’t read yet” but I still buy more. I guess it’s my version of a crack addiction. 😉
I used to be much more impulsive with my spending, but Mr PoP has totally weaned me of it. He’s the kind of person that needs to research every purchase for about 9 months before pulling the trigger, so coming home with a bag of crap and saying, “It was so shiny and pretty I couldn’t live without it!” kindof fell by the wayside. Not intentionally… it just faded. Or maybe I’m just old and shiny things (realistically my weakness was polka dots) don’t affect me as much. =)
LOL…bag of crap. That’s about it, isn’t it?
It sounds like you both complemented each other in this area. Whatever the reason, hooray for impulse shopping fall the wayside! That’s what I’d like to aim for!
I also am an impulse shopper. Now that i’m doing the No Shopping Challenge (for a year) my impulse shopping has dropped significantly. If I go into a store I will buy-end of story. I do have a few items that take me FOREVER to buy and I have to comparison shop and really think about it . I also grocery shop every other week. It also has kept me from making random purchases. I really love food. I just have to STAY OUT OF STORES. Period.
You’re a very good when it comes to controlling your spending. Also, that is a great infographic you shared there, impulse buying is really a big problem to a person’s finances.
Ha! Love the drawings! I thought that maybe drawing out your impulses, would’ve settled this long ago. No? Hm Sorry no help here. I’m so indecisive sometimes, that I lose interest in the impulses. One of our walls in our house sat empty for two years because I couldn’t decide how I wanted to hang the frames. When we had our daughter, my wife took it upon herself to put up the frames and get some pictures on that wall. My impulse is just to take them down and start all over lol. All kidding aside, I’m with Laurie on the cash thing. I use my debit card for just about everything, but we set aside a small amount of cash that we withdraw each month for the ‘fun stuff’. You can easily budget that in. That way, you impose limits on your impulse spending and when the next impulse strikes you, you have some cash in hand!
Great visuals! Impulsive buying can be avoided but I think it is challenging for those who get used to it. We need to prioritize our goals and an impulsive buyer does not include to its budget plan regarding buying unnecessary stuffs. We need to think about it if we really need it or want it. I think it would help to bring an exact amount of money to prevent miscellaneous spending.
I’ve been thinking more and more about using cash instead of debit for just that reason. The only problem is that it’s not as easy to track my spending using cash. Thanks for your thoughts, Anthony.