5 Ways to Break Your Spending Habit

Written by Ali Luke - 19 Comments
Categories: money and finance

Many of us have a tendency to spend money frivolously. I’m not talking about the rare folk who run up insane credit card debts on things they just can’t afford – but people like you.

Maybe you always come out of the grocery store with a few things you don’t need … and which eventually end up in the trash. Maybe you can’t resist buying new books, even though there’s a great library nearby. Maybe you end up buying things online when you’re surfing the net in the evenings.

Spending money unnecessarily is just a habit – but it’s one that can be detrimental to your financial goals. Here are five things you can do to break that habit and take back control of your spending.

1.    Always Use Cash

If you find that every time you go to the mall, you end up with a few more bags (and a few less dollars) than you expected, then stop putting things on plastic. Take out a set amount of cash before you go shopping – however much you’re willing to spend that day – and you’ll have a much better idea of what you’ve spent. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

This can also be a big help if you ever find yourself struggling to pay off your credit card balance. If you use cash, you know you’ve got the money there to pay for your purchases.

2.    Make a List

Heading out for groceries or office supplies or materials for your DIY project? Make yourself a list of exactly what you need. Don’t just go into the store with a vague idea in your head: you’ll be much more likely to end up going for “bargains” that you don’t need and perhaps can’t even use. They’ll just end up cluttering your home until you ditch them.

Not having a list can also mean that you forget vital things – often leading to you making a second trip to the store and spending even more money, since it never seems worth going for just one item…

3.    Have “Spend-Nothing” Days

A very powerful way to break your spending habit is to have “spend nothing” days – you could even challenge yourself to go a whole weekend without spending any money. Leave your wallet at home when you go to work: brown-bag lunch, and take a thermos of coffee with you.

If you’ve fallen into a pattern of always picking up a newspaper and a latte and a candy bar or two, this is a great way to jolt yourself out of it. Similarly, if your weekends tend to involve going out for meals and drinks, going to a movie, or going on a shopping trip, you’ll find that it’s perfectly possible to entertain yourself for free.

4.    Keep a Spending Log

For two weeks, write down everything that you spend. Record the time, the place, what you bought and how much it was. This is a great way to make yourself much more aware of exactly where your money is going. There might be some nasty surprises (perhaps those “occasional” coffees and treats are more like a daily indulgence).

Plus, the hassle of knowing you need to write down every single purchase can be enough to make you think twice about whether you really want to go ahead and buy that new book or DVD!

5.    Avoid Certain Stores and Websites

We all have particular stores – whether on the high street or online – that we’re especially tempted by. If you know you can’t browse without buying, then don’t even start. Ban yourself from the store or website for a period of time. (I went cold-turkey on ebay for a month once…)

If it’s an internet store, you could even block it in your browser. This might seem a bit unnecessary, but it’s so easy to spend money online without really thinking about it – and if you do find yourself “accidentally” loading up the site, the block on it will remind you that you’ve banned yourself.

Are you struggling to break your spending habit? When are you most prone to spending money unnecessarily? What tips do you have on making sure you think twice before buying?

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  • Latindolll4

    I love this article I will try this for two weeks and see how it goes !
    Saving is so hard and there is always somthing out there that we “NEED” or have
    “Have”. Thank you for the ideas !

  • Whirley

    Great article. I am going to give this a shot. I want to save money so I can go to Spain next summer, which is hard for me because I am such a spend thrift. But I am going to try this.

  • http://improveminduniversity.blogspot.com jonathan figaro

    Don’t fall for irrational mind games that tell you to BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY! Develop enough self discipline to know what to purchase, why and how can it benefit you in the long run.

    Here is a tip:

    Before each unnecessary purchase, Tell yourself to wait about a week and see if you still desire the item as much as you do right now. If you decide you don’t want it then great. If you still desire the item , then purchase it. But make sure you wait a full week before making that decision. Discipline yourself, to make smart purchasing decisions and not irrational purchases.

    Keep a record of all the item purchases this month. Ask your self Did i really need all of this? What can i do without it? How can I improve on my buying skills.

  • http://www.connectingmydots.com Jayson

    These are all great tips on how to decrease spending and get it under control. I think always using cash and having spend nothing days would be the most beneficial, at least for me.

    I’d probably cut my spending in half if I only used cash.

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  • http://www.feedyourgooddog.com/blog Rose Caplan

    What a great article…to remind us that unnecessary spending is a habit that can be broken with a few changes in our approach to spending. Also liked the comment from Whirley…who is setting a goal for the money saved.

  • http://anitacmccants.blogspot.com Anita C. McCants

    Great Tips!
    I practice # 1, 2 & 3. :~)
    I don’t have to worry about #5.

  • http://www.menequip4life.com Russell Isherwood

    It’s a nice plan to aid money management. I have some problems when it comes to holes in my pockets.

    I tend to go really well for about 6 weeks, keeping healthy and not spending a penny, then i meet up with old colleagues and i can blow all of those savings in one night, i’m terrible in this field.

    Any how i will try to adopt such measures when the next party comes around.

    Thanks for tips, great thread

  • http://www.selfdev.org Verena Fischer

    This is a really good article! At the beginning of the year I found myself buying tea from the cafeteria every day. I drink a lot of tea, so this cost me about 2-3 pounds a day. The snacks when coding amounted to another pound. I realized that 25 bags of fair trade special organic lovely tea are cheaper than 3 cups of tea in the cafeteria and since then I take my thermos mug everywhere (literally, I even took it on holiday). Instead of the sweets I buy tons of fruit, which is healthier and cheaper! And the best thing since I moved to England from Germany: My card doesn’t work with Amazon UK, so I didn’t have any click-click-ooops-buys in a year!

  • http://www.aliventures.com Ali Hale

    Great tips – avoiding those marketing ploys really is key. They’ll try to push all the emotional buttons to get you to buy. I suggest buying a book about marketing and learning the techniques – so you’ll know how to avoid them!

  • http://www.affirmationsforpositivethinking.com Karim

    Good post man. This will definitely help me in my spending habit.

    Thanks,
    Karim – Positive thinking

  • http://google.com/874 sandra407

    Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. :) Cheers! Sandra. R.

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    I love your site. :) Love design!!! I just came across your blog and wanted to say that Ive really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. Sign: ndsam

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    Sign: umsun Hello!!! love your blog. :) I just came across your blog.

  • http://townguyz.com townguy

    all of yout article is simple ideas , but fantastic. All of them , your own idea or you read few websites before to start write an article on a topic?

  • Cristina

    I tend to spend around 50 euro per months only for the tea I get from our cafeteria. I will not mention my other useless spending :) I will try to implement a plan in this sense and the first measure will be to get a thermos!

    Thank you Verena for your insights, they are helpful!

  • http://www.mypromdresses.co.uk/ prom gowns

    ok,maybe i need a list!

  • Betty

    My biggest problem is spending on my two grandsons. Their parents really struggle just to pay the rent, pay for insurance and put food on the table. I grew up really poor so I had the same problems when it came to buying toys, etc for my children when they were growing up. I can’t stand to see my grandsons not have the latest tech gadget and they’re getting more costly every Christmas and birthday. Every year I say I’m going to limit what I get them but when they say “I want” I’m online or in the stores buying it. This is sending them a bad message I feel but I just can’t seem to control it.

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    [...] 5 Ways to Break Your Spending Habit | PickTheBrain | Motivation .Spending money unnecessarily is just a habit but it's one that can be detrimental to your financial goals. Here are fiveNo tags for this post. Posted in Banking [...]