Top 10 Best Tips to Curb Your Spending Habits

Have you ever been out shopping for essentials but ended up in a shoes or clothes section, paying for a new pair of heels or a jean that was not on your list earlier? If you are nodding your head in disbelief, don’t fret, you aren’t the only one.

Regardless of how many times the inner voice of your heart chants to spend less, often it results in nothing. Whether it is about splurging on the latest handbag or the new collection of clothes, you just cannot stop making your pocket lighter and emptier.

In case the overpowering need to shop is wreaking havoc, this post contains some effective tips to curb your spending and correct gen Z shopping habits. Let’s find out how.

Top Tips to Avoid Impulse Shopping and Cub Expenses

1. Change the Mindset

To alter your dynamic with shopping, it is highly important to change your mindset and put efforts into creating better shopping habits. Before swiping the card, ask yourself thousand times – is it something that you want or need? Recognise your priorities and categorise your needs. In a month, allow yourself up to two “wants” and stick to them. If there is something, you don’t need at the moment, contemplate giving it up.

2. Prepare a Priority Budget

Before you create a shopping list, allot a budget for the entire monthly expense. It would be helpful if you could create a priority list, such as:

• High Priority This could include fixed monthly expenses (50% of your entire salary), such as fuel, rent, school fees, grocery, EMIs, and utility bills.

• Middle Priority This can have all your investments (you should save a minimum of 30% of the entire salary), such as vacation funds, SIPs, emergency funds, recurring deposits, insurance premiums, and more.

• Low Priority This could be the 20% of your salary that can comprise pleasurable and luxurious products. On the Basis of this priority list, you can come up with a budget allotment.

3. Shop Only with a List

Whether you are shopping offline or online, creating a list of everything required without adding any extra product is a smart move towards better consumer shopping habits. This list could be for updating the wardrobe, gifts, groceries, or any possible thing you are buying. When shopping, stick to the list. If there is something that you feel like buying, but it is not on the list, or you haven’t created a budget for it, simply put it down.

4. Set a Waiting Period

Before you buy something, set up a waiting period. It could be a few hours, days or months. Use this waiting time to ponder whether what you buy is a necessity or an impulse. During this time, you can indulge in research. Visit different stores and check prices for that product. Compare that price both online and offline. You might find a better deal that may help you save money. However, make sure you buy only when the waiting period is over.

5. Don’t Pay with Cards

This is one of the most hands-on approaches to curbing bad shopping habits. You must pay only in cash and avoid paying with cards, both debit and credit cards. Bring only the precise amount as per your budget. When you wouldn’t have extra cash, you will not be able to buy anything impulsively.

6. Use an Expense Tracker

Most of the time, people don’t realise where their money is going. This way, they are left broke even before the month ends. So, to understand where your money is going, use an expense tracker. This is one such habit that will help you keep a tab on your expenses and provide a clear picture of how you are spending your money. In a way, it will assist you in stopping mindless purchases as you will see the pattern.

7. Create a Timeline for Short-Term Goals

Establishing short-term, reasonable financial objectives is a great way of staying driven as you change your spending habits. Such goals are a good reminder of why you are making the sacrifice and cutting back on monthly expenditure. You can use financial goal calculator to plan your goals and accordingly invest in short-term.

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You can park your idle cash in Liquid Funds and attract interest rates in short duration. There is no fear of risk as it is one of the safest investment options to invest your money. You also get the option of instant Redemption.

Also, keep in mind that you don’t set any generic goals. Come up with measurable objectives, such as cutting down on ordering food, etc. This will help you specify the target you should be aiming for.

8. Take a Zero-Spend Day Challenge

Every week, assign a day as a zero-spend day. When you are trying to save money, how you approach the method will make a difference. It could be simple, like cutting daily, or small expenses, such as avoiding midnight orders or drinking coffee outside. With such a challenge, the percentage you save may vary each month. However, even if you are increasing your savings by 1% every month, it will make a significant difference in the future.

9. Scrub Social Media and Inbox

If your social media feeds and emails are filled with ads and invitations to buy products, it is time to take action. You must unsubscribe from all the promotional emails coming to your inbox. Also, hide all such ads that tempt you on varying platforms. For instance, on Facebook, you can find an option to hide ads from a specific advertiser. This will remove the chances of you seeing any other ad from that advertiser, regardless of the product they sell.

10. Remove Payment Information from e-Commerce Sites

It is extremely easy to make purchases online when your card information is saved and stored in the account. If you want to resist the temptation of buying anything mindlessly, remove the information from all the accounts. Also, whenever you are surfing on the phone or the computer, don’t keep your wallet accessible. You can also delete and uninstall shopping apps from your devices to be on the safe side.

Wrapping Up

Learning how to curb spending may seem difficult, but know it is not impossible. It takes a lot of commitment and time to avoid overspending and change the dynamic of shopping habits. So, make sure you don’t start being hard on yourself. Once you start with budgeting and follow it religiously, you will easily get to differentiate between buying useful things and spending on useless products. The next time you reach out for something that doesn’t fulfil your need, pause for a minute, calculate the need and want in your mind and walk away.