I Spent $1,400 on Useless Things Last Weekend—How Do I Stop This Cycle?

Impulsive purchases may give you a dopamine rush at the moment, but people often regret these types of purchases when they look back at them. A Redditor in the Budget subreddit recently felt buyer’s remorse after blowing through $1,400 over the last weekend. The Redditor mentioned that these were non-essential purchases that she could easily live without.

“I like the feeling of buying things but have little interest when they arrive because I didn’t really need any of it,” the wife said.

She’s trying to overcome her spending addiction and turned to the Budget subreddit community for help. Commenters shared some advice she can use to keep her spending under control.

Delay Your Purchases

If you find something you want to buy, you shouldn’t buy it right away. One commenter suggested waiting 24 hours to make a purchase before making an impulsive decision. You can also wait up to 30 days before making one of these purchases.

Delaying your purchase gives you enough time to gauge if you really want the product. Thinking over the decision more removes the thrill of spending. It’s not as exciting to wait, but that’s the entire point.

If you think about a product after a day or a week and still want it, check if it fits the budget. Then, if there is enough financial flexibility, you may want to consider making the purchase.

Make It Hard To Spend Money

Not everyone has the financial discipline to walk away from impulsive spending on their own. However, you can create change by modifying your digital environment.

“Remove all stored credit cards from apps, shopping sites, etc. You have to get the wallet out to enter card details by hand, which is a pain and slows you down, again stopping some spontaneous spending,” one commenter suggested.

Putting up spending barriers minimizes the likelihood of impulsive spending. You have to go through several steps, such as entering your payment details, before you can buy an item. Any friction will make it easier to keep more money in your wallet.

Find Out Why You Spend Money

Multiple commenters suggested that a coping issue can be behind impulsive spending, with some commenters admitting that this was their motivation back when they engaged in out of control spending.

Knowing the root cause of your spending puts you in a better position to change it. For instance, a big spender can assess their lifestyle and see why it’s necessary for them to cope. Figuring out how to make your life better so you don’t have to cope with impulsive spending can help you save money.

Coping isn’t the only reason people spend impulsively. Stress, sadness, and boredom are some of the other reasons people spend money on a whim. Knowing the cause of impulsive spending is the first step to solving it. You can also take dramatic measures like the ones described earlier, such as removing all stored credit cards from apps.

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