Some things that helped me get this down to a dull roar:

1. Always shop with a list.
2. Be a smart shopper – know how much things are. During the off-season, I still go into stores and I do price research. I go online and price things. I just have a no-purchase policy. It’s hard, but it works.
3. Have a scope to the spending season – is it just clothes? holiday gifts? household items? I find I spend less if it isn’t a free-for-all.
4. Only shop at certain times of year. For me, it’s the holidays (including some little ones – labor day, etc.), birthday time, or on vacation. That’s it. The rest of the year, I don’t shop.
5. Challenge yourself with gift cards. I love gift cards because I use them as an opener to Spending Season. If I have a bunch of gift cards, I try to contain shopping to just what’s on them. Nothing more. It’s like a game. And – I try to use my gift cards only to buy things I would never otherwise buy. This keeps me from buying these things during a regular spending season.
6. Always walk into the store with a set spending limit.
7. Shop cash only. I once bought a computer at Sam’s club with cash… it hurts to part with a huge wad like that. Kept me from spending another dime, though.

These things keep my spending under control. Also, over the years I’ve been able to develop good willpower. I can window shop for 6 hours. I don’t call it window shopping now, I just call it “research”.

[...] to go cold turkey.  Incidentally, I was poking around at Get Rich Slowly the other day and found this post in the archives – at least there is some science behind my shameful shameful ways.  BTW, Get Rich [...]

[...] momentum- Get Rich Slowly recently posted on “How Shopping Momentum Leads to More Shopping” Once you make that first purchase “you’ve opened the [...]

This system has totally transformed our relationship with money. – Stephen Martile

I really like this idea. I need to stop being so controlling and loosen the grip I have on the finances. This is one idea I am going to implement.

I’ve learned to just buy what I need… Once in a while I’m tempted by “50% Sale” signs, but now I’m always asking- do i really need this? Will I only use this once and then it’ll disappear into the black-hole of my closet?”

I totally agree- “Shopping leads to more shopping”. I find other things to do besides going to the mall and if I do have to shop for something, I’m not hungry. There’s a tendency for me to spend more when I’m shopping on an empty stomach.

A perfect example is t-shirts from the Onion store–shipping is something like $15 flat-rate for up to three items, so I ended up buying two additional shirts that I wanted less because the shipping seemed so exorbitant for one shirt. It’s the old saw that it’s not how much you spend, it’s how much you save.

[...] the post about my little impulse purchase of an iPod Shuffle the other day, there’s an interesting look at part of the psychology of shopping over at Get Rich Slowly. In particular, the post discusses a research report which suggests that [...]

Why not the library? A park? A play? Go bowling?

Why not stay home and write a poem? Why not make a commitment to some volunteer work that will get you out of the house? Why not take swimming lessons, or guitar lessons, or voice lessons?

Again, Adfecto, I’m not trying to pick on you specifically. It just makes me sad that the culture of my time and place is “mall culture”. What a waste of all that human potential.

It’s almost as if I’m not making a decision on the Superman book I had planned to buy — it’s like I’m really deciding “will I buy stuff today or not?”

I know that is the case for us. If my wife and I go to the mall on the weekend “just to get out of the house.” Bad Things Happen. Even going to pick up something we need often leads to buying even more stuff. I need a pair of shoes for the gym but then realize I also need a new pair for work. My wife also realizes that she needs a new pair of black flats to wear to work too. Bam. There goes $150 on a trip that should have been $50. We spend money in the face of such temptation.

Even at the grocery store we have the same problem. Once we get the ball rolling it is going to cost me at least $50. We went to Target last night for a can of chicken stock and came out with $48 in groceries.

I guess we are all only human. Next time we’ll do better, right?

They should do a study about having kids with you increases purchases (both from children begging/nagging and adult being distracted/time pressed to not properly evaluate purchases).

Three different scenarios will lead me to shopping momentum:

1. Feeling in a happy mood. If I’m feeling good in general I tend to feel good about buying and so will pick up something else out of a general sense of open-handedness.

2. Finding a buy that’s unlikely to be there later. Experience has shown that if you find a pair of pants that fit well (a miracle!), you’d better buy two pair because you’ll never see them again. Also, when a really desirable item is on sale, better buy it now because you’ll never get another chance. Same is true in stores like Costco that often move stock off the shelves.

3. Going into a grocery store or a Costco without a list. Bad move!

While lists work well for me with grocery shopping and allow me to accomplish the nearly unheard-of feat of getting out of Costco for under two hundred bucks, I find they do not work in clothing stores. Maybe that’s because I shop for clothing exclusively at sales; I’ve gone in to clothing stores with a list and still come out staggering under the weight of my amazing finds. On the other hand, I only buy clothes about once a year, so I suppose it’s to be expected.

I agree with the study, though. I do notice that if I decide to buy something, I’ll research it, look at it online, etc. If I do go into the store to purchase it, I’m more likely to pick up a couple of “extra” things I had not intended to buy.

My goal is to set up a budget this month and only let myself spend a certain amount, so I won’t feel guilty when I buy clothes, shoes, or other things I don’t truly need. If I know I’m staying within a preset limit, I think I can enjoy it more, and I’ll know when I have to tell myself “no” to the extras.

[...] Rich Slowly suggests that shopping leads to more shopping.  (I agree, [...]

If you deny your urges and desires you’re denying who you really are. In my experience, when I buy nice things it changes the way I feel about money – I feel good. Feeling good about money attracts more money. Like attracts like.

I do agree that there should be a limit to the amount of spending. This is why I have a PLAY account.

My PLAY account is for my spending money. My wife and I both have PLAY accounts. Each month we assign 5% of our combined income to a PLAY account. This money is spent on whatever we want – no questions asked. The only condition is that we only spend the 5% every month, nothing more.

This system has totally transformed our relationship with money. For more on my story, read:

How to Change Your Beliefs with Praxis, Part 2
http://www.stephenmartile.com/?p=108

see headline: Praxis, the JARS and Money

Stephen Martile
Personal Development Made Simple
http://www.stephenmartile.com

Lisa

I love what you just said InvestEveryMonth. I remapped the concept of debt repayment and investing in my mind, and now I go ‘shopping’ at my bank. I ‘shop’ online there too. Hopefully ‘shopping’ will lead to even more ‘shopping’ momentum as my financial balance improves.

In this case, it is a virtuous circle.

The momentum concept makes sense both ways – shopping in the conventional sense in stores, then opening the floodgates to more shopping — gosh, I bought some new clothes for a new job last week, and this week I did some more shopping – it felt good to do this, but I feel a bit guilty too — and virtuously ‘shopping’ at the bank, getting financial affairs in order, topping up the emergency fund, and opening up those floodgates a little more, to better financial health.

I am also very resistant to being sold anything — I hate the feeling of being manipulated into making a purchase.