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Impulse buying is incredibly common and it can make your financial life a lot harder. Read on to learn ways to stop wasting money on unnecessary items.
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Impulse shopping is incredibly common. A Slickdeals study revealed the average American made six impulse purchases per month in 2023. The average spending on these impulse purchases was $151 monthly, which adds up to just over $1,800 a year! That’s a pretty big amount to come out of your bank account.
Unfortunately, impulse spending can leave you faced with regrets — especially if it’s leaving you with a credit card bill you can’t pay or making it harder to do other things you want with your money. The good news, though, is that there are ways to stop spending on stuff you don’t really need and didn’t plan to buy.
Here are a few options.
1. Set a 24-hour rule
One way to curb spending on things you don’t really need is to force yourself to take the time to think about a purchase. Specifically, you can set a rule that if you see something you want to buy that wasn’t planned, you’ll wait 24 hours before you purchase it. If you still want the item, you can go back and buy it.
This is one of my favorite ways to stop buying unnecessary stuff because it provides flexibility. About 75% of the time, I find that after thinking about it for 24 hours, I don’t end up wanting the impulse item — or it feels like too much hassle to go back and get it (even if it’s just purchasing it from a website). But, if I think about the purchase for a whole day and decide I still really want it, then it likely won’t end up being something I regret.
This rule is a great way to distinguish between bad and good impulse buys. Another Slickdeals study found that as many as 58% of people said their impulse purchases actually saved them money, so not all unplanned buys are for unnecessary junk.
2. Track your spending
Tracking how you spend your money is another great way to avoid buying junk. Like the first rule, this process makes you more conscious of what you’re doing with your money since you’ll be writing down all your purchases.
I’ve found this has helped me identify when I feel silly spending on something because I don’t really want to write it in my spending spreadsheet. If recording a particular purchase makes you uncomfortable, you probably won’t follow through with buying the item.
3. Put a picture of your financial goals in your wallet
Whenever you buy something, there’s an opportunity cost. You’re using that money for the item, rather than for your financial goals. Sometimes, that makes sense. After all, you need to buy things like food and clothing and can’t deprive yourself of all fun spending. But, most people don’t really think about the trade-off they’re actually making when they buy something on impulse.
Putting a picture of your financial goal in your wallet where you keep your credit cards can make you pause to consider whether you really want that item or whether you’d rather have that bigger house or the early retirement or the trip to far-flung destinations.
For a long time, my goal was to buy a house in a particular expensive area. I put a picture of my dream home in my wallet and when I reached for my card to buy something, about 50% of the time, I decided I wanted the house more so I’d rather save the cash.
Each of these techniques can really help you consider whether the stuff you’re buying is something you need, and is worth the cost of your hard-earned money. Give one or all of them a try today and see if it stops you from bringing junk purchases home.
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