Impulse purchases can break budgets. Here are some tips to arm yourself with to avoid the urge …
Unplanned purchases can derail the best of budget intentions. Retailers have brought the art of getting you to open your wallet into a science, with visually-appealing end-cap displays, buy-one-get-one offers, and small, high-markup items right at checkout.
Or the workplace: vending machines. The stuff in there is likely horrible for you but in a pinch overpriced, carb-loaded, processed snacks are right there, waiting for you to feed the machine some change or swipe your credit card.
Impulse purchases, be gone!
We're all susceptible to caving in on impulse purchases. Marketers and retailers are very, very good at what they do.
We can be less susceptible to impulse purchases by setting up roadblocks in between us and the purchase. The roadblock doesn't remove the purchase opportunity — we can get around the roadblock if we want — but it does make us think twice about the purchase before we make it.
Successful control of personal finance is simple: Spend less than you earn, and save and invest the difference. Getting to the “spend less than you earn” part isn't a big one-time war, but a lot of little skirmishes, fought every day, sometimes multiple times a day. You don't have to have a 100% win percentage on these skirmishes, but each win helps a little bit, and they do add up.
Seven strategies for dealing with pesky impulse purchases
Here are seven ways to thwart attempts at your wallet through impulse purchases:
- Shop with a list. Before you go to the store, know what you're going to buy there. Shop with a purpose. Write down what you're looking for. Shopping just for something to do can be a recipe for a busted budget.
- Remind yourself why you have the list. Bringing a list is a good start, but to serve its purpose you have to stick to it. Unless you limit yourself to what's on the list (or can honestly say, “Yes, I forgot to put that item on the list when I made it”) then it's just a suggestion and doesn't pack the frugal punch it could.
- Use a calculator along the way. When it goes in the cart, punch in the price and the plus sign. This will keep a running total (minus tax) of what you're going to buy. If you're good at estimating, then you may not need the calculator.
- Use a budgeting app to limit spending. Using You Need A Budget, Mint, Mvelopes, etc., puts your trip into perspective and keeps your overall budget on track (again, you actually have to use the app as designed for it to work!)
- Actively avoid known impulse purchases. If you have a known, documented weakness for ice cream, candy, yarn, magazines, clothes, etc., then for goodness sake stay away from those areas. You know you know where they are. (Bonus: Some grocery stores have no-candy checkout aisles. They were designed for parents with young children but they also work for adults with weaknesses for sweets.)
- Enlist the help of others. My daughter tried to pull a mind trick on me when we were checking out at Walmart yesterday, trying to will “This is not the candy you're looking for” into my all-too-easily-swayed brain. I smiled back.
- Online: Watch for upsells. After you've bought something, it's far easier for them to sell you more. Be aware that they'll try!
What other tricks do you have for not succumbing?
