Five thousand, four hundred dollars a year. That is $54,000 in a decade! That is
money that could go towards retirement savings accounts, emergency funds and even
a mortgage down payment. So if you feel like you're wasting your money buying
things that you don't need and the impulse shopping is getting out of hand -
then this video is for you. I'm going to share 15 easy and practical tips things
that I've done and I hope that they help you too.
Hello hello! Welcome back to The Whole Happy Life. I'm Ria. So I wanted to
create this video because I used to be such an impulsive shopper when I was
younger. I spent so much money and I wish I have known these tips before because I
could have saved maybe thirty or forty thousand dollars in my twenties. So I
hope that these tips can be useful to you. As always, with money things are a
little bit different for everybody so take what you want from this video and
leave the rest out. And before we begin, let me know in the comments below what
is your biggest impulse purchase. The one that you regret the most. I'm really curious
to know - let me know in the comments below. Let's begin. Tip number one - don't
shop when you're emotional or when you're really stressed. I think it's so
easy to use shopping as a way to feel better - as a quick pick-me-up... retail
therapy. But the problem is shopping and retail
therapy is not effective. It's short-term - you'll feel good for maybe a couple
hours... maybe even a day or two but after that you're back to your normal self. So
I think retail therapy is prohibitively expensive if you're an impulse shopper
and it's just a good idea to find other things to do to deal with those emotions.
So let's say you're feeling sad - instead of going to the mall maybe talk to a
friend, watch a funny movie on Netflix that you enjoy - do something else that
doesn't involve spending copious amounts of money. And if you're feeling stressed
there are other things that you could do that don't involve spending money. Go for
a walk in the park. Go for a workout. Do some self-care at home. Things that you
could do for free. Tip number two - don't shop out of sheer
boredom. I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to the mall because I
was bored. I thought I was only going to window shop and that window shopping
quickly became real shopping. When you're at the mall, you're in a place of
temptation and if you're someone who has a tendency to purchase things
impulsively it's really hard not to buy things, so don't put yourself in that
position. Don't go to the mall when you're bored - find other things to do. So
as an example if you're an introvert - maybe journal writing, reading, watching a
movie at home... that might be something you could do when you're bored. Or if
you're an extrovert, you could go out in the city and find free things to do.
There's always something to do for free in every city or town - just find those
things to do and don't go shopping. Because if you go shopping you're
probably going to spend money that you don't need to spend. Tip number three -
shop with intention and with a very specific list. I've noticed that when I
shop without a list, I tend to get carried away and I do make a lot more
impulse purchases, but when I make a list and not just a generic list but a very
specific list... I'm less likely to get carried away. Tip number four - when you're
shopping online, avoid creating an account and storing your credit card
information. So a lot of times when you shop online, shops want us to create an
account. That way you have the name, address and credit card information
stored, so the next time you want to shop with them it's just the matter of a
click of a button and it becomes so easy to shop. The problem is if you are an
impulse shopper, it's a little too easy to shop. So if you want to avoid those
impulse purchases, my suggestion is check out as a guest- not as someone who has an
account. By checking out as a guest you have to physically enter your name, your
address and your credit card information and let me tell you, I have abandoned so
many shopping carts in the past because I was too lazy to get my credit card out
of my wallet. So there we go. If you're an impulse shopper, this can
act as a deterrent, so just try to avoid creating accounts
and check out as a guest instead. Tip number five - embrace aspects of
minimalism. I think out of all of the tips in this video the one thing that
helped me the most is becoming more of a minimalist. I do recognize that it is not
for everybody but at the same time we don't need to completely become
minimalists. Some of us may just want to embrace aspects of it. I think minimalism
is a spectrum - we can all do it in our own way and if it can help you become a
little more intentional, help you become a little more aware and mindful of your
purchases - why not? If you're interested in learning more about practical
minimalism, I do have an e-book and workbook on it which I'm going to link
in the description. And don't buy the workbook impulsively. I don't want you to
do that! Buy it if you really feel like it's going to help you and it's gonna
add value to you, otherwise you don't need to get it. Tip number six - try to buy
from stores that have a return policy and keep the receipts. I can't tell you
the number of times I have purchased something and then I've quickly
regretted it the next day and I couldn't return it because store did not have a
return policy or I lost the receipt or I took the tags off. So my suggestion is
don't take the tags off, keep your receipts for at least for 7 days and try to
avoid buying things from places that don't have a return policy. My philosophy
now is if it doesn't have a return policy, I'm not buying it. I don't buy
things on final sale because that is how you end up buying things you don't
really need. Tip number 7 - sleep on the decision especially if the item is above
$100. So I have a rule - if an item is above $100, I do not buy it the day I see
it. If it's at the mall or online I won't buy it. I will sleep on it for at least
a day if not two or three nights and I can't tell you the number of times I've
completely forgotten about the item in two or three days. So give yourself a
little time to think through that decision and who knows you might change
your mind. Tip number eight - avoid joining email
lists. A lot of times when you shop online or even in the store - stores will
ask us for our email address in exchange for a coupon or something of that sort
and the problem with that is while that coupon may seem very nice in the
beginning they're going to keep sending you emails again and again and you're
going to end up buying more things. Things that you don't need. So my suggestion is
to unsubscribe from all of those email subscriptions so that you don't have to
face temptation all the time. I think for an impulse shopper the biggest thing you
can do is remove the temptations. By removing the temptations you're just not
going to shop as much. Tip number nine - don't shop with friends that push you to buy
things that you don't need. Now we all have friends that help us make really
good decisions - go shopping with them but then we also have friends that make us
buy things that we don't need. They kind of push us into impulsive purchases and
they tell us that everything looks good on us... when in fact it really doesn't. So
don't go shopping with those people. I actually bought a pink poofy wedding
dress ten years ago. It was horrible. I got persuaded by my friends and my
husband had a look at that dress and he was just like" oh my gosh what were you
thinking? ". So thankfully that was not actually the wedding dress I wore on my
wedding day but I learned a lot from that experience.
Do not go shopping with people who you don't really trust in terms of their
opinion and who push you into making bad decisions. Just avoid shopping with them.
Tip number 10 - always check reviews for items that are above $50. So I've a rule -
if an item is above $50 I won't buy it until I check the reviews even if I'm in
the store. I will take my phone out and I will try to check the reviews because
this way I'm not making a purchase that is somewhat expensive without knowing
everything about it. I think the thing with reviews is you've got to check both
positive and negative. It's so easy to just read the positive ones and think
"hey this item is great". No. Read the negative ones too have a balanced view
and then make your decision. I have purchased a lot of things without
checking reviews and then I deeply regretted it later, so try to avoid that.
Stick to that rule whatever dollar amount it may be.
For you it might not be 50 - it could be a bit different but stick to that rule.
Don't buy it unless you checked the reviews. Tip number 11 - remind yourself of
your financial goals before you go shopping. If you don't have financial
goals then I do suggest having some - just a number and what you're saving it for. I
think it can be very helpful in changing your mindset about money. I didn't have
financial goals before so I used to spend because I didn't really care but now I
do and I remind myself of my financial
goals regularly and because of that I'm less likely to make impulse purchases. So
my suggestion is if you don't have goals... sit down and think about what your goals
might be. It could be something really simple- I want to save $5,000 for an
emergency fund. Whatever it may be just write it down and think about it
regularly so that you know what you're trying to do and you're going to be less
likely to get carried away with your impulse purchases. Tip number 12 -
re-evaluate what you already own the next time you're shopping. So as an
example let's say I'm shopping for jeans and I see a nice pair of jeans... it's very
easy to get carried away thinking "hey it's on sale. It looks good. I need it." But
then take a moment to re-evaluate whether or not you already own something
that's similar. Sometimes you actually have the exact same color at home and
you don't really need that extra pair. Tip number 13 - think about your worst
impulse purchases and make a list. I made a mental list of the worst impulse
purchases I've made and that list really really helped me change my mindset. I
realize how many impulse purchases I forgot about and once I made that list
it reminded me of how much money I had spent and how much I deeply regretted
those purchases. So if you're someone who makes a lot of these impulse purchases
just make a list and take it one step further. Put that list in your wallet so
the next time you're actually tempted to spend some money you're going to have
that list right in front of you. And maybe ...maybe it will act as a deterrent
and you might not end up making that impulse purchase. Tip number 14 - get to
the root cause. If you have tried everything in this video as well as tips
from other people and you're still struggling with your impulse spending
maybe it's time to take a step back and figure out the root cause. It could be
something like anxiety. It could be something like sadness. It could be a
multitude of different things but you need to figure out the root cause so you
can work on a solution. If you need help, maybe it's time to talk to a therapist.
Tip number 15 -make it a game with a jar method. So this is something that I
recently started and I've been enjoying it. So every single time I avoid an
impulse purchase, I write down the item and the dollar amount and put it on a piece
of paper and stick it in the jar. And then at the end of the month I look at
all of the little pieces of paper in the jar and tally up the amount that I
avoided spending. So last month I avoided spending two hundred and fifty dollars-
which is not a small sum of money. It actually is quite a bit especially if
you end up saving that much each month. So I'm going to continue doing this and
hopefully by the end of the year I might have a couple thousand dollars saved up.
This is just a fun little thing that you could do to reward yourself every single
time you avoid an impulse purchase. Thank you for watching this video, if you
enjoyed it please do give it a thumbs up because that helps me a lot and if you
haven't subscribed already, please do consider subscribing. And you can find
the link to my minimalism ebook in the description as well as the pinned comment I
will see you in the next video which will be about boosting your iron levels
naturally without pills. See you then. Bye!