I’m sure you’ve heard of emotional eating, but have you heard of emotional spending?
Emotional spending is when you go out and spend money that you didn’t budget for because you need a pick-me-up or a boost in your mood. It’s usually impulse spending and an uncontrollable urge, but it can also be done as something you do to celebrate something good that happened to you, such as a raise or even your child getting a great report card.
Basically, emotional spending is any spending you do on a whim that you didn’t plan for when it directly relates to a feeling, either good or bad. The worst part of emotional spending is that it eats away at your budget and can lead to serious consequences such as debt or being unable to afford the things you truly need.
Here are some tips on how to stop emotional spending if it’s a problem in your budget.
How to Stop Emotional Spending
Find the “why”?
I tell you, they need to change my name to Sarah “Find the Why” Titus, because I am forever telling people to find their why. We can’t really make lasting changes until we find out the psychology of WHY we are doing something. For some, it may be they want to feel powerful, yet others they may want instant gratification. You absolutely must find out your emotional spending triggers and why you’re spending based on your emotions in order to change and curb the behavior. Here are some of the most common ones (can you think of more? Let me know in the comments below).
- To get an emotional high
- Out of boredom
- To try to trick your brain into thinking you have more money than you really do
- To feel powerful
- “Fake it til you make it” syndrome
- You feel they are necessities and don’t see them as wants or desires, it’s winter, I need a new coat (even though you have 27 already at home)
- The need for immediate gratification
- To get attention, maybe from the store clerk or people as they pass your seriously cool self by
- To keep up with others in your circle
- To convince yourself, or others, of your self-worth
- Out of a sense of entitlement, I “deserve” this mentality
Make it hard to spend
If you have a credit card, freeze it. Literally…in water. It takes about 48 hours to thaw, just enough time for you to make an educated and non-emotional decision!
Ask others to hold you accountable
Tell your family and friends, or whoever goes shopping with you that you are trying to save money. Tell them they have your full permission to heckle you if they see you making excuses to buy something you don’t need. It’s hard to give in when you have someone watching your spending.
Find another way to manage your feelings
Try to become more self-aware when you are about to go out and spend money. Try to identify how you are feeling and what you can do about it in a healthy way. Maybe for you that is working out when you are angry instead of spending or even doing praying and reading your Bible when you are sad to lift your spirits, rather than buying a new outfit.
Budget for fun spending
If you really do enjoy shopping, and your budget allows for it, give yourself some money to spend, but make sure it is in your budget when you write it out. If you don’t put it in your budget, you don’t allow yourself to spend it, plain and simple.
Save money for a goal
No one likes to work hard and never be able to have fun with their money. Instead of emotionally spending when the feeling hits you, place a little bit of money that you would spend into savings for something bigger.
Right now, I’m saving up for a new car. For me, this is my driving force (pun intended) behind all the sacrificing I do on a daily basis. If you are working towards a fun goal, you will be less likely to spend on smaller items along the way.
Stay offline until you get a handle on it
I don’t mean stay completely offline, but at least avoid stores and deal sites that you frequent. It is far too easy to shop online and spend more than you mean to in a very short period of time. While you are at it, consider putting up an ad blocker so you aren’t tempted to click there, either.
If it’s brick and mortar stores that do you in, same thing. Stay away. I rarely ever go to stores outside of grocery shopping. Although most of the time I know I can handle myself, before I swore off places like the dollar store, it wasn’t uncommon that I’d go there and spend $80-$100 on junk! It all just seems like a great deal, but is it really?
Don’t live next to your favorite stores
A little drastic I know, but the farther I am away from my favorite stores that tempt me the most, the more lazy I feel in having to drive “all the way over there” to shop, so I don’t. It saves me money in the long run.
Relating to this post, also check out these great articles:
My Debt-Free Starting Point
How to Live Debt-Free in a Debt-Filled World
8 Tips for Affording to Live on One Income
How I Survive on Inconsistent Paychecks Every Month
