When Your Mindless Spending Gets Completely Out of Control

mindless spending habits

It’s not just a problem that ladies have; men suffer from it as well. We tend to spend mindlessly. I know that both my husband and I do this. When I need a new powder compact for my handbag, I’ll log onto the Sephora website and pick up a compact, a new tube of lipstick and a half dozen other items without thinking much. My husband has been known to run into Sodium on his way home from work to pick up yet another Yeti cooler so that we have all sizes in case we need a small one for a small purpose or a much larger one for boat day when he thinks perhaps our current largest one might not be large enough. I run into the supermarket for a bottle of wine and leave with a cart full of groceries. I see something I like for the kids, and I buy it. We all spend mindlessly without thinking, and we have a few tips to help us stop doing that since it can be a budget-breaker.

Carry cash

The best way to stop mindless spending is to make it impossible. When you run into the store for a bottle of wine, for instance, take only a $20 bill with you. You can afford to grab the wine and nothing else; and now you’ve just saved yourself some serious dough.

Find new habits

There is some research that suggests we are more likely to spend when we are in certain familiar situations; our favorite store, our favorite city, on vacation, when we don’t have our kids with us. It could even be a particular mood that inspires you to spend too much. Figure out what it is that triggers you to spend more and make that stop happening.

Be accountable

When you realize that you have to become accountable for your spending habits, you are less likely to overspend. If you are a mindless spender, find someone to report your spending to so that you can stop doing it. Justifying your actions to others sometimes is all it takes to make you stop spending too much.

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