Youvetried to curb your spending problem.
Youve frozen your credit cards.
Yet, somehow, youre still screwing up your budget every month.
Its time to get your impulsive spending under control once and for all.
The problem with most stop impulsive spending tips is they dont focus on the right thing: your willpower.
In other words, dont just avoid your impulse or deal with the aftermath of itfight it.
Wait It Out
The easiest way to test and hone your willpower?
Force yourself to wait.
A friend uses something I call the $100 Rule.
Adjust the numbers to suit your own budget.
Maybe youre flat broke and even a $25 purchase will set you back.
Change it to the $25 rule.
Or maybe youre balling and $100 is nothing to you.
Cool, make it the $1,000 rule.
The point is just to give yourself time to make a conscious spending decision that fits your budget.
Bonus: when you wait, you also give yourself time to look for deals or discounts.
Impulse spending isnt always expensive, though.
Sometimes its lipstick at the cash register or a new phone case on Amazon.
For small purchases like these, Ifollow the 10/10 Rule.
Its basic, I know, but for those impulse items, it works fairly well.
Again, you’re free to adjust the numbers to suit your own situation.
I recently wrote aboutAmazon Contemplate, too.
Its a Chrome extension thats perfect for this sort of thing.
Focus on Opportunity Cost
This is why it helps to have goals.
Oh, you want to get out of debt by July?
That new pair of shoes you dont actually need will set you back until September.
Theres a technical term for this: opportunity cost.
Investopedia defines opportunity cost as the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.
Opportunity is the key word here.
No one likes sacrifice.
When you have a savings goal, though, youre able to reframe sacrifice as an opportunity.
You now have the opportunity to use your money in a better way.
Splurge Strategically
When I first started budgeting, I really overestimated my willpower.
you’re free to probably guess what happened next.
I destroyed my budgetbecause it wasnt realistic.
And, since my budget was already destroyed, I would just keep splurging because whats the point?
It took me a long time to get realistic with my budget.
Lets not forget that money is just a tool.
Its okay to spend it!
This way, you dont burn yourself out but youre also not spending money like crazy.
Create a small splurge fund or add a category for splurging in your budget.
Dont get crazy with it, of course.
This way, you have boundaries and guidelines so you’re able to splurge strategically.
Youre bound to whatever amount is in that fund.
When you splurge, it also helps to splurge on thestuff you love, not the stuff you like.
This way, you get more out of your spending and its more fulfilling.
Divide your spending into two categories: likes, and loves.
Ilikespending money on clothes but Ilovespending money on travel.
Ditch the likes and focus on your spending on the things you love instead.
This helps weed out impulsive purchases you later regret.
Imagine all my $40 dinners I had in span of a 30 days.
Thats $1200 enough for an all inclusive trip to the Dominican Republic for two people.
In trying to exercise your willpower, you also dont want to burn yourself out on it.
Part of exercising your willpower is understanding your limits.
No one has anunlimited supply of willpower.
