Transcription
So two years ago, my family and I decluttered our entire home down to eight suitcases and moved overseas. And when we got here, it took us a while to find a new home. But when we finally did find our new home, we knew that we were going to have to buy stuff for our home, like a new kitchen, new furniture, etc. We definitely weren't planning on sitting on the floor or just putting our mattresses on the floor.
And of course, like so many other families do, we decided to go to IKEA. And don't get me wrong, I love IKEA. But as we were going through, I realized it was my first time going back since becoming a minimalist. And I couldn't help but noticing all the sneaky little tricks that IKEA was using to try to get you to spend more money in their store. The inviting ambiance created by having nice couches and sitting areas to just lounge around in and feel like you're at home, and even a whole cafeteria with yummy Swedish meatballs and inviting music.
And now, after so many years, I've realized that there's so many of these small tricks that companies are using to try to get you to spend more money in their stores. Everything from putting bargain price items and deals at the end of grocery store aisles, to putting the higher price brand name items at eye level on the shelves, to buy one get one free deals at clothing stores like H&M or Target.
And it's not just companies, society too often tells us that we need this product or that product to be happier and more satisfied with ourselves and our lives. But oftentimes, these little impulse buys that we're making on the spur of the moment are not really adding any benefit to our life whatsoever. And in fact, they're causing us to waste money and have more clutter around our home.
So today, I want to talk a little bit about how to stop impulse buying stuff that you don't need, so you can have more money in your wallet and less clutter laying around your home. So if any of that sounds good to you, make sure to hit that like button and go down and drop me a door emoji down in the comment section below if you are on your own decluttering or minimalism or money journey. And let's get started.
First of all, what is an impulse buy? An impulse buy is anytime that you buy an item that you were not planning on purchasing in the first place. And impulse buys can happen anywhere, at the grocery store, at the mall, or even while you're scrolling on your phone sitting in the comfort of your own home. How many times have you grabbed a candy bar in the checkout aisle at the grocery store just because it was there? Or maybe you were going through Costco or Sam's Club and you sampled a free product and then you felt like, "Hey, I should go get that afterwards."
And how many times have you had a bad day and you told yourself, "I'm gonna go get some dinner or some ice cream to cheer myself up?" Or on the other hand, maybe you had a great day and you thought, "Hmm, I'm gonna go get some ice cream or some dinner to reward myself." These are all examples of impulse buys.
So what causes people to impulse buy stuff that they don't need? In my opinion, there's two main reasons. The first are your emotions. And both negative and positive emotions can cause us to want to make purchases, to buy things that we don't need. And the other main reason that I see is financial FOMO. And FOMO means fear of missing out, in case you didn't know. And maybe you feel like you're going to miss out on a great deal if you don't get it right then and there because it's only for a limited time. Or you have a scarcity mindset and you're afraid you might run out of something or you might not have that thing at home. And these financial FOMO situations are evoking this "I must buy it" kind of feeling when you go shopping.
Noticing your past track record with impulse buying can help you see patterns of behavior. And when you start noticing these patterns of behavior, it's going to become easier for you to pinpoint the exact set of circumstances that causes you to want to impulse buy. And then that's going to help you in the future stop the impulse buy in its tracks.
So what I want to do now is to share 10 tips on how to notice and stop yourself from impulse buying that stuff that you don't really need or want, so that you can have more time, more space, more money, and more freedom to do the things that you want to do and have the things that you want to have without having these unnecessary impulse buys cluttering up your home.
One of the best ways to prevent impulse buying is to get clear on your goals. And when you set clear goals for yourself, it's a lot easier to say no to impulse buys. If you're trying to save money to pay off debt or put a down payment on a new home, those clear goals are going to help you feel good rather than bad every time you have to say no to yourself. Instead of having a deprivation mindset because you're saying no to this small little impulse buy, you're going to have a positive mindset because you remembered your big picture goals, you remembered that huge thing that you're working towards. And that's going to make you feel good about yourself rather than feeling like you're depriving yourself.
Did you know that people who explicitly write down their goals are 42% more likely to stick to them? So things like having a budget, having a plan for your money, and tracking your expenses, and writing down your goals. These are behaviors and habits that are going to help you set clear goals for yourself and your money, which is going to help you be more successful at saying no to impulse buys. And if you feel like you need help with that, make sure you go grab your free printable budget planner PDF that I will link down in the description box below for you. It's totally free and it's something that I have been using for the past 10 years that's helped us do things like pay off $250,000 worth of debt, save money for a down payment on this beautiful home that we live in, and more.
The next thing that you can do to stop impulse buys is to start noticing the messaging and the people that you're surrounding yourself with. And are they encouraging you to make impulse buys or are they encouraging you to be more mindful and intentional with your buying and save money? By raising your awareness of the messaging that is being presented to you on a daily basis, you can start being more aware so that you can have an easier time saying no when you see those items.
My next impulse buying tip is to identify your personal spending triggers. As a recovering emotional hoarder, I can say with 100% certainty that the number one thing that makes me impulse buy is nostalgia. So notice the emotions that you feel that make you want to spend money. Maybe for you, it's when you feel like you're upset, or maybe when you're bored, you're just scrolling on your phone and you're more likely to go and just impulsively buy things. And then once you've identified your personal spending triggers, then the next step is to avoid those. If you cannot resist the dollar aisle at Target, just try to keep your blinders on and walk right past. If you know that boredom is something that makes you want to spend money, then instead of scrolling on your phone when you're bored, maybe read a book or watch a movie on Netflix or do something else, anything that's going to prevent you from just doom scrolling and spending money.
My next tip to stop impulse buying is to get real. And this has to do a lot with fantasy self items. Which if you haven't seen my video on fantasy self items, make sure and go watch that as well. But a lot of us have this fantasy self idea of ourselves, and we don't shop for our current present selves, but we're shopping for this fantasy self image that we hold in our heads. If you've ever bought clothes that are not in a size that fits you, but they are a goal size that you hope to fit in in the future, that's a fantasy self item. So instead of making yourself unhappy by shopping for an idealized image of yourself, focus on buying things that support and enhance the real, authentic you.
My next tip for preventing impulse buys is to audit what you already have before you go to the store. And I'm really especially thinking about grocery stores when I talk about this, but this applies to everything. How many times have you gone to the grocery store and bought some pasta sauce or maybe a bag of carrots, and then you get home and you realize, "Oh my gosh, I already have a lot of this stuff," and you didn't even realize it was there. And this also happens with makeup and clothing items. So let's say you go to purchase a new shirt, think about what you actually already have in your closet and how that new piece would complement the pieces that you already have. Or do you actually already own something that is exactly like the thing that you're thinking of buying? So before you go to the grocery store or you go to buy new clothes, take stock and do an audit of what is already in your pantry or your closet so that you know when you go to buy, that you are choosing things, first of all, that you don't already own, and second of all, that complement and pair with the items that you already have.
So if you've ever gone to the grocery store with no plan, before you know that's a recipe for disaster, especially if you go on an empty stomach. So before you go shopping, whether it's to the grocery store or to the mall or wherever, keep a list and write down the things that you want to purchase. And then when you're going through that list, it's going to help you keep on track so that you're less likely to buy something impulsively. Every time I go to the grocery store, I always have a list that I go through and I don't even go down the aisles that don't have things that are on my list. And then if there's something like a clothing item or shoes or furniture or something else, I put that in the notes on my phone.
Which brings us to the next tip, which is to wait before you make a purchase. When you think of something, you've written it down. Wait a period of time, whether that's 24 hours or 7 days or even 30 days. Give yourself a waiting period to kind of think about, "Does this item really have the potential to add value to my life? And what place would it have in my home?"
The next tip that I have to stop impulse buys is to challenge yourself to a spending freeze. What is a spending freeze? A spending freeze is when you designate a set period of time, whether it's 7 days or 30 days, or some people even do up to a year, where you say, "I'm not going to spend any money whatsoever." And then you challenge yourself to not buy anything but the essentials during that time. So of course, you're still going to have to buy things to eat and drink, right? But then you're not going to buy Starbucks, go shopping for clothing, go to the movies, go out to eat. A great way to do this is to have a calendar or to have a printable sheet. There's tons of printable spending freeze challenges online, and cross off and color out the days as you go that you are successful. They really help you examine and question, "What do I really need in my life?" And often times, when you participate in a spending freeze, you're going to realize that you're spending a lot more money on things that are wants versus needs.
My next impulse buy tip is to unsubscribe from brands or people that make you want to spend money. So if you've ever shopped at a store before, chances are afterwards, you ended up on that store's mailing list. And over time, you just collect these emails of deals that they're offering every week as an incentive to get you back into their store, whether it's online or in person, and spend more money. You get buy one get one free deals, uh, five dollar off coupons, ten dollar off coupons, all of these are incentives dropping straight into your email that are encouraging you to spend money that you weren't thinking about spending until you see that email in your inbox. So the way that you unsubscribe from these emails is go into the email, go down to the bottom, there should be an unsubscribe link at the bottom of each email. And if you hit that unsubscribe, you'll be unsubscribed from the email list so that you don't get those tempting offers in the future.
My next tip is to reward yourself. Positive reinforcement is so important when it comes to instilling new habits and behaviors. And you can also find free ways to reward yourself, or you can look for ways to reward yourself that fit in with your previously identified values. So as for us, we really value good food and time together as a family. So once a week, we make it a habit to go out to eat together as a family. And that's something that we don't mind spending money on, sampling new foods, trying new cuisines from around the world. So that's something that supports our family values. If you're only in that scarcity mindset and you feel like you're always depriving yourself, it's unlikely that you're going to be able to sustain your good spending habits that are preventing you from impulse buying. And you're going to become weaker and weaker and weaker over time because willpower alone is not enough to change behavior.
And if you want more tips on budgeting or how to save money or money hacks that are going to help you save money like crazy, go and watch one of these videos. And I will see you again next week. Take care. Bye bye.
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