If you’re a shopaholic or you just find
it difficult not to shop and to reign in your
spending, then this is the video for you.
I’m gonna share 15 tips for how to stop
shopping and start saving more money.
There can be many reasons why it can be difficult
not to shop so much.
I used to shop a lot more in my teens and
early twenties and I’m really glad that
I’ve turned that around.
People tend to shop out of boredom, or habit,
or they go shopping with friends who pressure
them to buy, and a lot of people tend to shop compulsively
Both in the stores and online.
Spending money is often a lot easier than
saving money.
Now of course it doesn’t mean you have to
completely stop shopping, even minimalists
such as myself shop occassionally.
But we do it intentionally, and really think
through our purchases.
And it’s been a long time since I’ve made
a purchase that I came to regret, and I used
to do that all the time.
So that’s what this video will help you
out with, to help you break free of the temptations
and change your relationship with shopping.
Okay so the first few tips have to do with
breaking the pattern and the habit of compulsive shopping
Or shopping too much, more than you want to. Because if you want to break a habit, it's important to really
gain some awareness and do things that are really different to break the patterns.
So the first few tips are focussed on beating
compulsive shopping, and then I also have
a lot more tips that can help anyone to stop
shopping so much and save more money.
To break the pattern, try to limit the temptations
as much as possible.
If someone wants to quit a behavior, like
smoking, they’re not going to go with people
on their smoking break for example.
So make it easier for yourself.
Don’t go to the mall randomly, don’t subscribe
to email newsletters from stores you shop
at.
If there’s anyone you’re following online,
that’s encouraging you to buy things, maybe by sharing haul videos etc,
try to unfollow them for a while.
Or if you have friends or family that you
usually go shopping with, do some other activities
with them instead of going shopping.
Because if you go out together like always,
it’ll be very challenging not to spend.
Breaking habits can be difficult, no matter
what habit you’re trying to break.
And it’s the same with shopping.
You can’t expect yourself to stop doing
something that feels so natural and normal
for you, without setting another activity
against it.
So the tip here is to find something else to do, whenever you feel the urge to shop.
If you’re at home and your phone or your
laptop is right there, and you want to go
online to shop for things, distract yourself.
Same when you walk past a store.
It can be any activity you like that you can
start doing whenever you get that shopping
twitch.
Maybe do something with a friend, read a book, or cook something, or clean something in your home,
do some arts and crafts, it can be anything.
But have a replacement activity that you can
always do whenever you need it.
This next tip is kind of out there, maybe
it’s not for everyone, but if you really
want to break that habit of shopping compulsively,
then this can really work.
And that is to do a no spend challenge or
a no buy challenge.
So you can see that even if you don’t shop
for a month for example, you’re still going
to be okay, you’re still going to have fun,
and there’s nothing that you will miss by
not shopping for a while.
These challenges usually last a month but
you can do any time period you feel comfortable
with, you can also do a week for example.
And then the idea is that you’re not going
to spend any money on non-essential items
during that time.
So of course you’re going to spend money
on groceries and stuff, but anything that’s
not essential will have to wait.
So no shopping for new clothes or accessories
or things that you don’t really need.
And by making this into a game or a challenge,
you’re making it a very clear goal and it’s
something fun to see if you can make it.
If you’re used to shopping on a regular
basis, this can really help you to experience
the other side of things.
So that eventually you can come out somewhere
in the middle.
And another reason this works so well is that
it’s instantly rewarding, because you can
quickly see your money lasting a lot longer
and you realize that this is helping you to
save money.
It’s not uncommon for people to suddenly
spend hundreds of dollars less than they’re
used to.
And that’s a great motivator.
I’d love to know about your views on this
no spend challenge or no buy challenge.
Have you done this, or not, or would you consider
it or not.
Share your experiences with it in the description.
Another tip you can do is to only take cash
with you when you go somewhere.
Leave your cards at home.
And calculcate how much cash you will need
for whatever it is that you’re going to
do, and only take that amount, maybe a little extra for emergencies.
This way, even if you want to, you can’t
really spend more than the money you have
on you.
This next tip has really been transformational
for me, and that is to save first, and spend
later.
So if you get your income, decide the amount
you want to save for that week or that month,
depending on when you’re getting paid, and
save that immediately.
And then decide to make do with whatever is
left.
Before I did this, I would save whatever amount
was left over at the end of the month.
And surprise surprise, there wasn’t a lot
left over most of the time.
People do tend to spend however much money
they have available.
So I turned it around and decided on an amount
that I wanted to save and put that aside immediately.
And this way, I save a lot more, and I’m
still making do with the money I have left
on my bank account.
The more money is available, the more carefree
I’m going to be with little things like
eating out and getting coffee.
But if I save first, I’m going to have less
money available, and I’m going to be more
careful about what I’m spending where.
Something that’s important here is to be
realistic when you’re deciding on how much
you want to save.
You don’t want to get in trouble halfway
during the month and then have to put some
of the money back, because that can be demotivating.
So try to find an amount where you will have
enough left over to live on, but not so much
that you’re going to spend it frivolously.
Next tip is deciding if something is a want,
or a need.
When you see an item online or at the store,
before buying it, make a habit of asking yourself,
do I want this, or do I need it.
This simple action can really help to put
things in perspective.
When you’re going to take up tennis, a tennis
racket is a need.
You can’t play tennis with your hands.
So either you buy one or you rent one, this
falls in the category need.
However a new tennis outfit is usually a want.
You can also just use another sporting outfit
you already have.
So that’s the difference.
Next tip to shop less and with more intention
is to have an amount rule.
This can be different for anyone, but decide
on an amount where, if you want to buy something
that’s more than this amount, you can’t
buy it on the spot.
You have to think about it for a few days.
This amount can be 20 dollars, 50 dollars,
100 dollars, whatever you are comfortable
with.
But having this rule can really help you to
protect yourself from making bigger purchases
that you will come to regret later.
And during these few days you can think about
it some more, do some research, read reviews,
and really make an informed decision.
This next tip has to do with sales.
I hardly get that shopping urge anymore, except
for when there are sales.
Because I start thinking about bargains and
getting things with a good deal.
And stores also advertise a lot more when
there are sales going on, so it can be hard
not to go in and take a look.
The tip is to see sales from a different light.
Stores ultimately want to make profits so
they’re not doing this sale out of the goodness
of their heart.
They do it to make money.
One reason an item is on sale is because they
need to get rid of it for the new collection,
so in this case the item just didn’t get
sold as much as they would have hoped.
They’re trying to get rid of it.
Or another reason is they use popular items
on sale to lure in a lot of people that otherwise
wouldn’t have gone into that store, in the
hopes that these people will then also buy
other items and spend even more.
So anyway you slice it, sales are not there
to give you a good deal, they are there because
they help stores make more money.
If you can see it in this way, it starts to
look a lot less attractive.
Something else that can really help when you’re
considering buying something is to think about
what else you could do with the money.
Let’s say you’re looking at an item of
50 dollars.
Think about other things you could do with
that 50 bucks.
And would that maybe be worth more than the
item you’re looking at.
This can help you to re-evaluate what money
is actually worth.
What you can even do, is create a saving goal
specifically for money you didn’t spend.
So whenever you were considering spending
that 50 dollars but didn’t, you can put
that 50 dollars into a saving goal instead.
And make it something specific, a goal that
makes you excited.
And you know you’re one step closer to reaching
that goal, because you didn’t buy that item.
This next tip I’ve talked about before so
I’m going to keep it short but it’s so
important, don’t shop emotionally.
For a lot of people shopping is like therapy,
whenever they are bored or sad or stressed,
they go shopping and they feel better.
That’s because shopping makes our brain
release dopamine, which causes a temporary
rush of happiness.
But it’s always short term, it’s not a
real solution.
And when we’re emotional, we can’t make
good rational decisions.
So just like you don’t want to go grocery
shopping when you’re really hungry, you
also don’t want to shop emotionally.
The next thing you can do to stop shopping
and start saving is to make switches.
If you found that you spend your money on
coffee to go every day, it can be difficult
to stop doing that because you will miss your
coffee.
So see if there’s something else you can
do, for example bringing your own coffee.
So look at your patterns and see what easy switches you can make.
If you want to change behavior, one of the
most important things is to know why you want
to change.
So take a small note and write down your why,
Fold it up and place it in your wallet.
Every time you want to pay for something,
you get reminded of your why.
You can also write it in a digital sticky
note on your laptop for example if you tend
to shop online.
Or place it at the back of your phone, between
your phone and the cover.
The next tip for how to stop shopping is to
always ask yourself if you already own something
else that you can use, before buying something
new.
Sometimes we’ll see something and think
oh, that’s handy, I can use that for this
or that.
But then we forget that we might already have
something else around that will work just
as well.
Something I have kind of trained myself to
do more, is appreciating things in the store
without feeling that need to own them.
Now if you’re really trying to break the
habit of shopping maybe this is a tip that
you can save for later, because there will
be temptation of course.
But now, when I see something pretty in the
store, I can just appreciate its beauty, maybe see it or touch it or smell it
if it smells nice, and then just
walk on.
Because I don’t feel the need to buy it
or own it.
Sometimes the magic of things is simply the
fact that they are not yet acquired.
As soon as we buy them, we get used to them,
and they lose that special something.
And we look for something else to buy.
So knowing this, if I see something that has
that special quality, I know that’s not
going to last if I buy it.
So I just walk past.
And the last tip to help you stop shopping
and start saving more money is to always have
a way back.
So what I mean is, if you buy something new,
leave the tags on for at least a few days
and keep the receipts.
Whenever you do buy something that you come
to kind of regret later, this way you can
still return it and get your money back.
It’s a great practice to have and it’s
kind of like a safety net.
I have a video about decluttering your life
right here, and right here is a video about
14 ways I save money with minimalism.
Please give the video a thumbs up, it really
helps out the channel if you do, and as always,
questions comments conversation down below.
As always I'd love to talk to you down in the comments.
I wish you all a really nice day and I'll see you next week. byebye!
