5 Ways To Avoid Impulsive Spending!

Google’s latest Nexus phone is irresistible. All your friends are flaunting latest designer brands. Every cousin of yours is wearing those expensive shoes. Your colleagues are showing off that sports car, which just came to India. If only our income was unlimited like our wishes, one could have bought all of it. But sometimes we do buy on the impulse.

We need to face it everyday. No matter how frugal or a savings person you are, sometimes we do give into that impulse buying. Once in a while doing that is ok, but it is not advisable always. Here are few ways to stop yourself from impulsive buying:

1. Postpone your buy: The longer you postpone, it gives you more time to evaluate your need for that particular thing. Sneha Sharma, a Mumbai-based journalist postponed her plan to buy a car for five years. “Five years ago I was close to buying, for some vague reason my mom stopped me. I started thinking and mulling over it. It took me over five years to buy. I realized it is more of a necessity so one requires, but not on an impulse,” she said.

2. Keep changing your shopping place: Preeti Madanpotra, a Mumbai-based housewife used to always run a bill of Rs 6000-7000 on her grocery bill whenever she went to the hypermarket. “These days I buy grocery online, my bill doesn’t cross Rs 4000. The difference is, I used to pick-up more stuff than what I needed. Now as and when the need arises, I just go online, keep adding stuff to my shopping cart and place an order. That way I just buy what is needed,” she said.

3. Check for alternates: Whenever you pick up an item to buy, consider the alternatives. The first alternative to consider is to see if you can do without it? If yes, you have already saved a bit. Else look for competing brands and work out the math. See if they are cheaper, check if the quality suits your needs, then you pay lesser.

4. Analyze your friends: It is a popular adage in English, “Tell me your friends, I will tell who you are.” So, if you have friends who are spendthrifts, then you might end up buying impulsively. Take cautious friends for shopping. You will find yourself spending much lesser.

5. Do not get fooled with “Off sales”: This is one of the biggest eye wash strategies the modern retail has invented. Preeti learnt it the hard way. She once found a leading ladies casual wear brand saying there is a 30 per cent discount across the store. After the discount, her favourite dress was working out for Rs 1,299. “I wasn’t carrying enough cash that day. So I went back after 5 days when the mall announced a mall-wide discount of 50 per cent,” she said. She assumed she might get more discount on the same piece. But surprisingly, even after 50 per cent discount she still had to spend Rs 1,299 on the same dress.

So keep these important tips in mind everytime you step out for shopping. Put an end to impulsive buying and save as much as possible. Live a financially healthy life.

Rajiv Raj is the Director and Co-Founder of www.creditvidya.com
Image: ThinkStock