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This is one of the top problems faced by most people across the world especially the youth. This, in turn, leads to fewer savings at the end of the month. Hence people complain about not having enough to invest for their financial goals. Ecommerce giants like Amazon, Flipkart are announcing sales every now and then. They are trying every trick in their bag to make you spend your hard-earned money from your pocket. My advice is to allow them to fail.
Below methods can help you to solve this problem to a great extent:
Delay the purchase by minimum 7 days:
From now onwards, whenever you think of buying something, delay the purchase by at least 7 days. Don’t buy it immediately. During this 7-day period, think about if you really need it or is it something that can wait. Can you live without it for the moment? This technique if followed diligently can really help to minimize impulsive spending to a good degree.
Need-based vs want based:
Think if the expense is really needed or not. If yes then, by all means, go for it, no matter what anyone says. But if it is not that urgent, please invest it for your future instead of spending it now.
Don’t use credit cards:
My advice and request to everyone are to stay away from credit cards as much as possible. In some cases, they do help to save money in terms of discounts, cashback, and other benefits. But most of the time, its objective is to take money out of your pocket and fill the coffers of the bank. When you pay by credit card, you don’t even realize it. You don’t feel the pain of spending such a large amount of money until you pay the huge bill at the month-end. Hence refrain from using credit cards as much as possible.
Maintain separate accounts for investments and expenses:
It’s always wise to have two separate accounts: one for investing and another one for monthly expenses. That way you ensure that you are always saving and investing a fixed amount every month. Also, this will help to keep the amount that you spend on impulsive buying under check.
Most of the time I have seen people buying stuff online just because someone else among their friends or relatives has already bought it. The fear of missing out (FOMO) is one of the major contributors to impulsive buying. Why let someone else decide if you need that stuff or not? Decide for yourself and then purchase.
Stay away from people who are impulsive buyers:
When you are constantly in the vicinity of people who are impulsive buyers by nature, its but natural that soon you will also become one of them in order to be in their friend circle. Maintain distance from such people if you want to get better at this.
Make a list before visiting shops/grocery stores:
It has happened multiple times with me in the past. I go to the mall to buy groceries or some required items. And when I finally come out, I usually end up buying a lot of unnecessary/junk items. Most of the things are ones that I had not planned for before. While going from one section of the supermarket to another, I get attracted to some unwanted item and decide to buy it. Best way to overcome this habit is to make a list of all the necessary items before visiting the shop or the mall. This will ensure that you stick only to the items in your list.
Last but not least. I have seen many people subscribing to Amazon, Flipkart and other eCommerce stores on Facebook, Twitter and other platforms. They usually do this to get updates on the next mega sale, any latest discounts and other promotional offers. This is one sure shot way to overspending. These companies will come out with frequent sale announcements and will try their best to make you spend. If you keep following them then some time or other, you are bound to give in to the temptation. Hence my advice will be to stop following these companies on social media and other platforms.
Those are some of the ways in which you can reduce your overspending habit. Let me know your thoughts on these tips by commenting below. Also share the article with your friends on FB, Twitter and elsewhere if you know that they are suffering from this problem as well and want to overcome it.