Impulse buying – how to limit it and regain control?

A lot of questions that clients come to me with on financial coaching, is associated with excessive or impulsive purchases and lack of control of expenses. Here are some practical tips.

1. Feed your brain before shopping. Don't go hungry: When shopping for groceries in this state, you will tend to put more products in your cart than you planned and you will be more likely to be tempted by the candy bars standing at the checkout. Being hungry also other Your decisions will be less thoughtful! Also those related to non-food products, such as TV or shoes. Before you go shopping, be sure to eat something, or at least bring a lentil or something else that will quickly provide the right number of calories to feed your brain.
2. Extend the time between buying and reaching for your wallet Especially the virtual one. Instead of making a payment right away, give yourself time to think. This is especially helpful for goods such as clothing, cosmetics, electronics — as you usually don't necessarily need them at the moment. In a day or two, it often turns out that you no longer want them so much. And if you still think that you need this thing and that you have money for it, then just buy it.
3. Determine the time you will spend shopping. When you look at dozens of things in stores — especially online — you will eventually be tempted to something. Especially since the best experts make sure that we spend as much time as possible shopping and consume beyond measure. There are thousands of things that would be nice to have. But that doesn't mean you have to buy them! One of the methods of regaining control over the time allotted for walking around the shops, is to set yourself a predetermined time eg 30 minutes and setting an alarm to remind you that the limit is already over. Let shopping not be a way to kill boredom.
4. Boosting your mood with shopping is a trap! The moment of pleasure at the time of purchase is then bought up by financial problems, feelings of shame and loss of control, conflicts with loved ones. The way our brain works — especially the reward center — can lead us to succumb to impulses, habits, emotions, and the desire for quick gratification. Develop more constructive methods for regulating emotions. This is especially true for people with a psychological financial identity referred to as a hedonist. I wrote about several types in the article Financial identity and its impact on life
5. Do not build self-esteem on the goods they own! It will be unstable, based on fragile and illusory foundations. It will also cause you to constantly compare yourself with others, which will result in low self-esteem and life under pressure. In addition, such comparisons will plunge you into toxic materialism that lowers happiness. More about this mechanism you will find in my article Why Toxic Comparisons Lower Life Satisfaction

Neuromarketing — why we fall into buying traps

Neuromarketing is the study of the influence of the senses and brain function on our purchasing decisions. As Martin Lindstrom states in his book “Acquisitiology. Truths and lies about why we buy,” the subconscious controls about 85% of consumer behavior. Companies invest very large amounts to encourage customers to buy and, by using the latest techniques, increase sales and influence customer purchasing decisions.

Merchandising spacers are also employed. Their task is to get the customer to buy through the appropriate presentation of the goods on the shelf and through the design of the entire store with communication lines, lighting, music, smell, decor, colors, product displays. What you have in your line of sight is exactly what salespeople want you to reach for.

However, if you turn your gaze to the goods located at the lower levels, which are less exposed, you will notice that the price can be more attractive, the quality - not inferior to the products that you have at eye level.

How to build protective armor for marketing treatments?

If you want to make a purchase for a larger amount, such as household appliances/electronics or a car, write down a list of criteria that are important to you and assign weights to them - for example, points on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 means that this characteristic is less important and 5 that it is crucial. Then evaluate the brands you are considering according to how well they meet the established requirements.

1. Don't go overboard with in-depth research.. Even if you collect hundreds of information about dozens of products, from the category you are looking for, and current promotions, you will still not be able to process or rationally compare such a number of data and choose the objectively best option. After looking through too many refrigerators, cars or hotels, you will feel irritated, tired and overwhelmed with information. So, in the end, your purchase may turn out to be less relevant than if you took into account only a few (and a maximum of a dozen) options.
2. Pay in cash. Most people are more in control of the money they spend when they pay with cash than with a card. It takes more time to pull money out of your wallet than to stick a card or mobile phone to a payment terminal, so there is some time for reflection. In addition, when paying in cash it is easier to be aware of how much you are spending. And when you run out of money in your wallet, you have to make an effort to withdraw it from the ATM. This again gives you extra time for the emotions to subside and to think about whether you are sure you want to buy the product at this point. Paying with a card seems painless, at least until you look at your account statement...
3. A good way to increase control is setting daily and monthly limits for card payments and for online shopping. Of course, when a particular purchase is really needed, you can easily change the one-time or daily limit on your account to a higher one.
4. Does it happen that when you return from shopping you realize that you have forgotten something? Or, on the contrary, are you buying more than you planned? Prepare a list for yourself - both for purchases in traditional stores and online. Thanks to this, on the one hand, you will save time, because you will buy all the necessary things at once, and on the other hand it will be easier for you to resist the thoughtless packaging of further products in the cart - also the virtual one.
5. Don't be shy about returning a product if you have bought it unnecessarily. Sellers know perfectly well that the so-called trap of consequences causes that it is often difficult for us to withdraw from a decision made, including the purchase decision. So instead of forcibly trying to rationalize your purchase, simply return it — in accordance with the applicable rules (consumer rights and store regulations).
6. If after shopping you feel remorse or shame, instead of blaming yourself again (which unfortunately often leads to a desire to improve your mood precisely through this behavior for which you are guilty), the better Think about what caused you to do this again.. Ask yourself questions: In what mood was/was I in then? What prompted me to make an unplanned purchase? What types of advertising or promotional activities work best for me?

A much more serious problem than impulsive shopping is shopaholism (compulsive shopping - Compulsive Buying Disorder), which is already a type of behavioral addiction consisting in the excessive and uncontrolled purchase of various items, often unnecessary or in significantly too large quantities. In this case it is worth seeking help from a psychotherapist or psychiatrist.

You can find out more about what issues a financial coach can support you in my article Financial Coaching vs. Financial Counseling.