While some of us are natural-born savers, a survey conducted by NerdWallet concluded that 41% of Americans who have ever had credit card debt attributed that debt to spending more than they could afford on unnecessary purchases. This is crazy to me because nearly half of Americans are buying things they cannot pay for and are living above their means.
This is because temptation to spend money is everywhere. We no longer need to buy things in person. We can buy things from the comfort of our own home through computers, we can buy things over the phone, we can buy things from our phone and we can even make purchases through our TV!
Here’s some tips to help you resist the temptation of spending money all the time.
Plan Your Purchases… and Don’t Stray From the Plan
Try to plan out all your purchases each month and only buy things that are part of your plan. Your plan should only include the necessities. This doesn’t mean you can’t have any fun; you should be able to plan the fun, as well.
For example, you should know what month your friends’ birthdays are, so make sure to add birthday outings to your planned expenses for those months. Additionally, you can plan out and set spending limits for various occasions, such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, birthdays and whatever other occasions you buy gifts for.
Having a set plan helps train you to spend less money.
Unsubscribe from Marketing Emails
If you’re like me and love shopping and deals, you’re probably subscribed to emails from some of your favorite stores. While it’s great to be alerted when there’s sales going on, this can lead to you buying things you don’t need. When I get an email notifying me of a huge sale going on, 90% of the time I click the link and start browsing.
It’s just so enticing! If you’re not currently in the market for anything, be it new clothes, tech gadgets, or vacations, then unsubscribe from those emails to help resist the temptation.
Don’t Visit Pinterest or Retail Websites Out of Boredom
Pinterest is a great place to get ideas for so many things. You can go on there to find inspiration for food, clothes, home décor, weddings and so much more. However, when you go on there out of boredom, rather than to assist you in something specific, you tend to get lost looking at things you really don’t need.
While Pinterest is a great tool for being able to provide direct links to purchase things, it may lead you to spend money on unnecessary things. Make sure you only go on when you have a specific task in mind and only browse what you search relating to that task.
Same goes for online retail stores. When you browse these websites out of boredom, you’re bound to find something that peaks your interest. Many of these websites try to convince you to buy things by saying things like “Hurry! Only 3 left in stock” or sending you follow up emails with a direct link to an item you looked at to remind you that you didn’t purchase it.
Even further, sometimes you’ll get an emails with a coupon code to entice you even more. Avoid browsing retail websites altogether unless you’re searching for a specific item that you need.
Don’t Carry Your Credit Card
For those of us who have very little self-control, credit cards can be very dangerous. While credit cards are an extremely useful and convenient tool, sometimes they can do more harm than good. I personally love credit cards as a means of convenience and a way to get cash back or points for making purchases.
A key factor in my credit usage, though, is I always pay my bill in full before the due date. This allows me to maximize only the benefits of my credit cards. There are many people, though, who see credit cards as a means of paying for things they can’t afford. This concept is how people fall into the debt trap.
Avoid bringing your credit card with you when shopping if you are one of these people. If you only bring cash, you can’t spend more than you have with you.
I’d like to sum this up with a quote from my favorite poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “We gain the strength of the temptation we resist.” (For everything you resist buying, think about all the money you will be saving :).
