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To be honest, impulse buying is kind of fun, especially when you caught the item during sales and are convinced you just bought it on a good deal. It is not a unique concept; in fact, everyone has fallen for this once or twice in our lives. We go into a store with a list of important items we need and then come out with half the items on that list and a host of other unplanned items.
While everyone else might get away with this, you might not be that lucky as a student. By the time you’ve settled off your tuition, accommodation, and other essential financial assignments, you are left with only budgeted cash. Think how difficult it would be if you decide to forgo your budget and spend all your money on impulse. So many essentials would be affected, and you would be left with things you don’t need.
In This Post:
Impulse Control Starts With Resilience
An impulse is the immediate reaction one displays to a stimulating situation. It is safe to say that, when items are displayed on the aisles for what is felt to be an amazing deal, an impulsive buyer has no control. Their immediate reaction is to whip out a credit card and buy, regardless of whether the said items are on their shopping list or not.
A resilient person is completely different. Instead of reacting impulsively to situations, a resilient person acts calmly. They are aware of situations around them and how their emotional reactions and behaviors can have a lasting impact on their lives. When shopping, a resilient person is aware of their financial capabilities, and no matter how excited the items make them, they maintain a streak of control and emerge stronger.
Resilience is a personal quality everyone should develop, especially as a college student, to stop impulse buying. There is evidence of students developing resilience at https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/resilience/ where you can find free essay samples of students’ academic writing, which you can read to get the overall idea of this enviable trait. Either in your education or general life, this is a trait worth emulating.
Once you’ve got this under control, there are a lot of other tips by which you can reduce the urge to spend money while shopping. The other tips will be discussed subsequently.
Know All The Tricks
There are certain marketing tricks retailers use in enticing you to drop more cash. These include monthly or quarterly sales, buy one get one free, clearance sales, you name it. As humans, when we see this, we instantly want to take advantage of the moment because we believe we are getting good deals, but it is all part of the trade. Marketers take this course to trick you into impulse buying, but you are less likely to fall for them when you know these.
Stick To Your List
No matter how difficult this might seem, it is crucial if you don’t want to end up adding every item on the aisle to your cart. Firstly, you want to create a budget. Assign cash to every essential you need, then make a list.
When shopping, either in physical stores or online, make sure you remain faithful to the list. Be resilient, and refuse to buy any other item, no matter how much it is on sale. Learn this lesson, and you will be surprised at how much change it will inspire.
Your Mood Matters
Your mood and emotions matter a lot when it comes to spending, and according to reports, this has been a huge cause of impulse buying.
Sometimes, when you’re feeling thrilled or excited, you might want to splurge on chocolates or even a nice dress to compensate yourself, but remember to curb that feeling immediately.
We’ve all been there; we know how easy it is to fall for this trap, but never buy anything when your emotions are on a roller coaster.
Avoid Extravagant Friends
It is okay to have friends from the higher class, but doing your school shopping with them should be a no. When working on a budget, you need someone who can call you out and hold you responsible for every spent dime. The probability that your account-rich friends don’t work with a budget is high. They can afford to buy the whole aisle and would pressure you to buy items you did not budget for.
Make It Harder To Shop
So many of us have our credit card numbers stored safely in our heads, so when it’s time to make an impulse online shopping, it is easy to put down this number. Those who can’t store the number by heart have it stored on their phones for easy accessibility. This makes it harder to control yourself. Delete your stored credit card numbers from the phone storage, let go of every shopping app on your phone, and allow limitations that make it harder to shop.
Make Personal Allowances
When planning your budget, you must make allowances for your personal needs. This should be fun money and can go for anything interesting that catches your eye.
With this, you can splurge on any item you like without it being an impulse buy because you have already made the necessary allowance for its purchase. Being too restrictive would almost always result in you forfeiting the list altogether. Allow yourself a little fun.
Conclusion
There is no shame in impulse buying; many of us deal with it frequently. However, it becomes shameful when you make no effort to put an end to his financial pitfall and end up going broke all the time. With the above tips and the right support system, you would build enough resilience to let go and become more financially stable.