Once you start saying: ‘I can’t come and kill myself’; ‘if I perish, I perish’; ‘I only live once jare’; we both know you are about to make some terrible financial decisions. It is usually that time that you will see partners in crime, tweets, and posts that support the risky, not thought-through purchase you are about to make. I don’t need to tell you what happens minutes and hours after that, you know how strong the post-craving clarity hits you hard as you take that last bite of the chicken perry-perry pizza. You will most likely try to shake it off your head but the guilt doesn’t always come off that easy. ‘I’ll do better next time’, you say to yourself but this has been the unending cycle of your financial life. If this is you, well today is your lucky day, let’s help you break off the shackles of impulse spending.
To start with, is it not surprising, how you somehow forget all your listed goals and what you’re aiming for? One minute, you’ve created a good road map for your finances, the next minute you are ten thousand miles away from your path. We’ve all been there, and to make it even worse, the things that trigger it are lying all around; online shopping hasn’t made things easier on us either, plus computer algorithms that just happen to bring the things on your mind or that you said to your friend across your feed and you just need to click and pay out, and you’ll say the universe wills it.
Like that, you keep doing, I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it; instead of you to do I see it, I like it, It’s not in my budget, I put it back. Having fun is sweet but having funds is sweeter. Stop making moves that keep putting you in a state of bankxiety. Yes, that fear of checking your account balance after spending anyhow. With impulse spending, you most times end up buying things you don’t need, and sometimes even things you eventually don’t like and all you have is a pile of regrets and could haves. Well freedom has come today, here is how you can easily break free from the bad habit of impulse spending.
1. Have a Waiting Period:
Make it a rule to wait at least 24 hours before making a non-essential purchase and you can extend the time for larger purchases, to a week or more. This way your cravings would come and go but your money will remain. What happens after waiting is, you eventually see how unnecessary what you wanted was and how it was just a thing of the moment.
2. Mute Tempting Vendors and Sales Pages:
Online vendors especially are usually the weapon fashioned against your finances but out of sight is out of mind. This lies to your senses, if you can’t see it, the likelihood of wanting it is low. Muting or unfollowing the vendors that sell the things that appeal to your taste could also be very helpful.
3. Separate Your Needs from Your Wants:
Before purchasing, ask yourself if the item is a need or a want; is it a necessity or just something you’d feel good about buying for a few minutes, master the art of noting the difference and you’re well on your way to becoming a financial boss.
4. Save Before You Spend
All the other tips are important but this one might just go a very long way to cap them all. Set savings goals, and be determined to hit them. Make it a habit to have saving as your first thought, deposit money to your savings first before spending on anything. This can even be easier if you focus on long-term goals like saving for a vacation or emergency fund. If you have your eye set on something bigger, it becomes harder to jeopardize that for instant gratification. Credlanche is a great saving and investment platform that can help you put your money to work.
To be a thriving financial guru, you can’t be an emotional spender. You have to put your logic first. Cravings are temporal but consequences are final. You get it? If you don’t get it, please don’t forget about it, read this up again till you get it. By force, we will have better finances this 2024.
Ring or chat us on (+234) 812 – 3778 – 399 or visit any of our offices: Lagos: 7B Adekunbi Crescent, Off Allen, Ikeja, Lagos or Abuja: 3rd Floor, Novare Central, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja for enquiries on credit services, investment and asset management.