How I reset my shopping habits

Confession time, I’ve always been a bit of a shopaholic. Maxing out my bank account or having to do transfers from accounts with other purposes, or having to do some very reactive cooking at the end of the month, are things that I’ve experienced a couple of times. Now that I’ve lived on my own for a bit over a year I’m well on my way to becoming a better shopper. I still have some way to go but I’ve come up with a few strategies to shop better and less.

Stop the impulse purchases

Regardless of what your shopping vice is: books, clothes, shoes or tech, you might recognize the scenario of seeing something for the first time, falling for it and taking it to check out immediately. I’ve done this a few times and found that a lot of the time that cute top isn’t so cute after all or doesn’t really fit right, which is why I try to avoid these kinds of impulse buys in two ways. 

The first is to keep an unspecified wish list. What I mean by unspecified is that I avoid keeping pictures of the items as well as specified brand names. So, if you’re really into interior design for example, you can just write “round vase” on your list rather than saving a picture of a specific one or listing it with the brand name, as this will allow you to consider what you actually need and also allow you to be a bit more flexible, you might find an equally nice round vase for less in a second-hand store.

My second strategy to stop impulse buys is to not buy things I’ve only seen once. Novelty can really add an extra layer of attractiveness to things. But buying things you haven’t really looked at before can both have you end up with something that doesn’t fill a function in your life, or something that might be of a lower quality than you expected.

Stop looking at shopping as a hobby

If you start looking at shopping as a task with a purpose rather than a hobby or activity, you might be able to seriously reduce it. When you need to define the purpose of your shopping, you can also consider why. If you choose a new pair of jeans as the purpose of your trip but you actually have several pairs in your wardrobe already, you may want to reconsider if it’s actually necessary to go shopping this time.

Name your non-shoppable accounts

I could tell you to stop transferring money from other accounts. But honestly, once you’ve gotten into the habit it’s not that easy. What you should do instead is to remind yourself of why you put your money into those accounts in the first place. Right now, I have a savings account called “Paris” where I save money for all the things I want to do on my upcoming trip. Now whenever I’m tempted to use the money for something else it’s much easier to resist as I’ve put into words why I need or want that money for something else.

Also just in general when it comes to money you’re not supposed to spend (most readers probably know this already as a result of your studies; it’s also kind of obvious): make savings as non liquid as possible. Put them into stocks or funds in another bank than the one you normally use, so you need multiple sales and transfers to be able to spend them. And preferably: almost forget that the money exists. 

Replacing the stimulus

Shopping as a habit or addiction gives you a rush, a reward. There’s something oddly satisfying with carrying your shopping bag or newly delivered package home and putting your new dress in the closet or making a cup of coffee with your new French press. It’s also an easy activity if you’re bored, e.g. killing off some time on the subway by looking at online stores.

Now there are other more or less productive things I do instead as a way to replace shopping. If I’m trying to kill time, I generally just take a walk, sit down and listen to music or scroll on social media, or if I’m really good that day, I remember to bring a book with me and read that. I also work out which gives a sense of reward similar to shopping, but without guilt or an empty bank account. At other times I watch movies, write confused drafts or concepts for blog posts, articles and the occasional fictional story, or doodle random faces in the margins of my notebooks.

I still have some way to go when it comes to improving my shopping habits. But since I started implementing these strategies I’ve found that I more and more seldom feel a crave for shopping. It also helped me save up for my upcoming post exam celebration trip.