Do you struggle with impulse buying stuff you don’t need?
If you said no, you’re probably lying. We all struggle with impulse purchases at some point!
The rise of social media and online shopping has made it so easy to buy things with just 1 click. And don’t get me started on targeted ads!
Even though the occasional impulse buy probably won’t hurt you financially, add up too many of them and you can derail your finances and savings goals pretty dang quickly.
Even though we will probably never completely eliminate every impulse buy, it’s important to be mindful of how often we impulse buy things and how much we are truly spending on these items. Being ignorant to your spending habits is a surefire way to stay broke!
This post will give you tips on how to stop impulse buying so you can start saving money!
What is Impulse Buying?
Impulse buying is simply making an unplanned purchase.
Like those days when you plan to go to Target for paper towels and laundry detergent and end up walking out with half of Studio McGee’s latest home decor line (okay, maybe that’s just me!).
Online impulse buys can be especially dangerous because you can literally lay in bed and buy stuff with one click. Almost 40% of all impulse purchases are made in bed!
Why Do People Impulse Buy?
I can think of 3 major reasons people impulse buy stuff:
- Emotions
- Fear of missing out
- The thrill of the hunt
Emotions
If you really think about the reason you impulse buy things, it’s probably because of one or more emotions.
Feelings of inadequacy, comparison, and “I’ll feel happier when XYZ happens,” can all trigger that impulse buy response.
Some people shop when they’re bored, sad, or lonely. These negative emotions can really affect your behavior if you’re not careful.
Our emotions are powerful. We all know what we need to do to save money, lose weight, or succeed in our careers, but we don’t actually do them.
All of these things are pretty simple to understand, but not easy to do in practice.
Fear of Missing Out
I think we’ve all felt FOMO before. Your friends are going on a last-minute weekend trip to Vegas, and you can’t possibly say no because you’ll regret it for the rest of your life (maybe a little dramatic, but still).
If you didn’t have any money saved up for this trip and can’t truly afford it, you come home with credit card debt that haunts your for months. And maybe you were too stressed about coming home with credit card debt that you didn’t enjoy the trip as much as you would have!
Fear of missing out will also cause you to make impulse purchases, even if they are experiences and not things.
Thrill of the Hunt
Some people just genuinely love shopping and hunting for things. When we make a purchase, our brain releases dopamine, the happy chemical.
So by shopping too much, we can literally train our brains that stuff = happiness. The more you shop and find the perfect item, the happier you’ll be, right?
What are Common Impulse Purchases?
The average American spends over $300 per month on impulse purchases!
Some of the most common items people impulse buy are:
- Clothes
- Home decor
- Coffee
- Takeout
- Cars
- Concert tickets
- Snack items at the grocery store
How to Stop Impulse Buying
Stopping a habit of impulse buying can be hard. Changing your habits and behavior are some of the hardest things to do!
Here are some tips on how to stop impulse buying.
Set a Financial Goal That Inspires You
The biggest thing that helped me stop impulse buying stuff was understanding my financial goals and changing my perspective on money.
Once I sat and thought about what I really wanted to accomplish in life, I started seeing how certain impulse purchases weren’t worth giving up on those goals.
I started viewing money as a tool to help me live my dream life instead of just a means to consume more stuff that I’d want to donate in a year.
Investing money and building wealth literally allows you to buy your time and freedom back. Once your investments can cover your living expenses, you’re no longer dependent on a job to fund your lifestyle.
Working toward financial independence (my biggest financial goal) and truly understanding the power of each of my dollars helps me think twice about impulse buys.
Setting some financial goals can help you keep a long-term mindset when it comes to your finances. Maybe you want to save up and travel the world, be a stay at home mom one day, become debt free, or start your own business. I wrote a whole blog post about how to set financial goals here!
Once you have a motivating goal in mind, it’s easier to say no to impulse purchases.
Related: How Compound Interest Completely Changed How I Think About Money
Understand That More Stuff Won’t Make You Happy
The next thing I had to learn was that more stuff won’t make you happier. I used to believe that finding the perfect outfit for an event or having a Pinterest-worthy apartment would make me happier.
And to no one’s surprise, none of that stuff actually made me happier in the long term.
And there’s actually a psychology-back reasoning to this! Have you ever heard of the hedonic treadmill theory?
It says that humans will return to a baseline level of happiness after positive or negative life events. So no matter how many impulse buy dopamine hits you can give yourself in any given week, you’ll return to your normal level of happiness the next week.
So science has literally proven that more stuff won’t make you happier.
In order to get the most happiness out of each dollar spent, it’s good to space out things like vacations, upgrading cars, shopping, etc so that you have time to look forward to it, enjoy the dopamine hit, and then return to your baseline level of happiness for a while before spending more money to start the process over again.
So next time you hit “add to cart,” remember that you’re getting back on the hedonic treadmill and that your impulse buy will not create a permanent increase in happiness.
It might be easier to close your browser window instead!
Identify Spending Triggers
Perhaps a more practical tip to stop impulse buying is to identify your spending triggers. Once you understand when you are tempted to spend money, you can put a plan in place to prevent it.
Common spending triggers could include:
- Emotions (being bored, sad, or lonely)
- Targeted ads
- Influencers
- Being in your favorite stores
Once you identify these triggers, think of some other things to do instead of shopping and impulse buying.
Do you online shop when you’re bored, sad, or lonely? Try going for a walk, reading a book, or calling a friend next time!
If you’re tempted to impulse buy stuff at Target or the mall, avoid going there for a couple of months. Take a different route to work if you have to!
Do influencers, targeted ads, or trends get to you? Think about the things that you truly enjoy spending money on, separate from trends.
What makes you unique and sparks joy in your life? It’s probably not simply buying everything that your favorite influencer has.
If everyone had the same sense of style just because it’s trendy and the influencers are promoting it, what a boring world we would live in! Do what makes you unique and joyful in your own life. The unfollow button is only one click away!
Related: Is Influencer Culture Toxic for Your Finances?
Set a Budget to Treat Yourself
Repeat after me: not every purchase is an impulse purchase!
And not every impulse purchase is bad and needs to be stopped!
We are all human and need/want to make purchases. It gets dangerous if said purchases derail your financial goals, cause you to go into debt, or bust your budget every month.
So literally set a budget every month for impulse/fun/treat your self purchases. If you don’t spend the entire budget one month, roll it over into a sinking fund! The amount you choose will be different for everyone.
Even if you’re in a season of paying off debt, just allocating $25 – $50 a month to spend guilt-free will make your debt payoff journey so much more sustainable.
So next time you see the perfect shoes that you didn’t plan on buying, pull from your “treat yourself” budget and ensure the purchase fits within it. Because spending money isn’t always a bad thing!
Understand Needs, Wants, and Loves
I heard this concept on a podcast the other day and thought it was brilliant.
Divide up your spending into 3 categories: needs, wants, and loves. Needs are obvious things, like buying groceries, filling the car with gas, and making your rent payment.
Impulse purchases would mostly fall into the “wants” category. These are things that you think are cool and would like to have, but don’t add much joy to your life.
They might put you on the hedonic treadmill for a few days, but that’s about it.
Loves are those things that are 100% worth spending money on without the outside influence of others. These things add a ton of value and joy to your life.
If you cut out most of the wants, you leave a lot of room for the loves!
Distinguishing between wants and loves can be kind of tricky and require some self-reflection. I’ve found that my loves are often more experience-based instead of material things (but this can be different for you and that’s okay!).
For example, I enjoy getting my nails done, but I don’t enjoy it enough to warrant spending hundreds of dollars per month. Instead, I’d rather save that money for a cool piece of art from an antique store or a weekend trip with friends.
Think through some of these categories for yourself and make your own list of wants vs. loves.
And next time you’re about to make an impulse purchase, ask yourself if it is a need, want, or love first.
Give Yourself a Waiting Period Before Purchases
Another tried and true tip to stop impulse buying is to give yourself a waiting period before you’re allowed to make a purchase.
I’m so guilty of seeing targeted ads, clicking on it, seeing that the item I like is on sale, and then immediately purchasing it. And when you do this, the targeted ads get better and suck you in even more!
If you struggle with this, force yourself to wait at least 24 hours before purchasing. I can almost guarantee that you’ll forget about 90% of those things in that timeframe!
You can also give yourself a longer waiting period for higher-priced items. Maybe you make yourself wait 24 hours for something that costs less than $50 and 4 days for something that costs more than $100.
This gives you time to evaulate if the purchase is really worth it to you. Do some research, see if you already have something similar, or test yourself to see if you forget about it.
The waiting period is solid strategy for eliminating lots of impulse purchases!
Keep a List of Wants on Your Phone
Another way to stop impulse buying is to keep a list of wants on your phone.
If you’re like me and worry if you’ll forget about something, but don’t want to pull the trigger on spending the money yet, a list is great! You can even add pictures and links!
It’s a way of telling yourself “not yet” instead of a flat-out no.
Sometimes telling yourself “no” too often can make you feel restricted with your finances, and then cause you to go off the rails with spending one weekend. And we definitely don’t want that.
Your budget should empower you to make informed decisions with your finances, not restrict you!
A “not yet” list is a way to keep the things you want within reach while also being mindful of your budget. It’s a win-win!
You can decide how often and when you’ll decide to purchase items off your “wants” list.
Maybe you set aside a bit of each paycheck and make a purchase once you’ve accumulated enough in cash to buy. Or maybe you’ll wait for a sale first. Maybe you give the list to your mom for Christmas or birthday ideas.
Anything is possible! Lists make budgeting easier.
Unsubscribe from Store Email Lists & Influencers
And finally, the most common tip on how to stop impulse buying is to unsubscribe from your favorite store email lists (in this decade this also includes influencers).
Stores spend an insane amount of money researching how to get you to spend more money. And email marketing works really well for that!
Unsubscribe to those store email lists asap. Is the sale really that good if they have one every other week?
I hope these tips on how to stop impulse buying will help you spend more intentionally and save money!
And again, it’s not about limiting every single purchase. Cut out most of the stuff you don’t care about so that you can spend more on things you do care about!
Let me know if you’ve tried any of these tips to stop impulse shopping in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you!
-Megan
This post was all about how to stop impulse buying.
Megan is an automotive engineer, newlywed, and personal finance blogger from the midwest. She found her passion for personal finance after starting her first “real job” after graduating college. Now, she helps other young professionals become more intentional with their money in order to build wealth for financial freedom. In her free time, she loves to travel, hike, and play euchre with her family. Read more about her story here.