I was a shopaholic! Six Steps to Curb Compulsive Spending

You’re doing everything you can to optimise your finances—you picked up a few side gigs, you made a budget, you learned how to spend your dollars more wisely at the grocery store.

And yet, at the end of the month when you check your bank account, you’re still disappointed. The problem? Impulse spending.

You know the kind of spending we’re talking about. Work is a little slow so you visit e-commerce site and 15 minutes later, you’ve got a bunch of random stuff you just need in your shopping cart. Or you see an amazing sale on flights and decide, without thinking, that now is a good time for a weekend getaway. While waiting in line at the grocery store, you grab a tube of lip gloss and toss it in your cart.

Compulsive spending and shopping addiction both require immediate attention. And when you think what you have is more than just a shopping spree, you basically need help. In here, you’d get to learn some of the most effective ways that you can do to overcome the supposed-to-be “retail therapy” you seem to overdo that perhaps led you to “shopping addiction”.

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First Things First: Check if you’re A Certified Shopaholic.

Shopping has been one of the most popular and widely practiced pastimes of many people around the world. Though most of us give in to occasional impulse buying, experts say that doing so is still normal as we only try to make ourselves feel satisfied of being able to acquire something we really like.

If you’re tired of feeling bad about spending impulsively (ugh, the guilt), don’t worry

Cut up your credit cards. Do it today. “But I need them for an emergency.” “But I get cash back.” “But they’re convenient.” No buts. If you have a problem with compulsive spending, destroy your credit cards now. Don’t jot the numbers down someplace “just in case”. I’ve done this in the past, and I know how easy it is to go to your desk drawer, pull out the numbers, and place an order online. Get rid of the credit cards completely. (Do not attempt to cancel your accounts, however, until you’ve paid everything you owe.)

Only carry cash. Don’t use checkbook. Don’t even use a debit card. Inconvenient? Absolutely, but that’s the point. If you’re a compulsive spender, your goal is to break the habit. To do this, you’ve got to make sacrifices. You’ve also got to begin to make the connection between buying something and actually spending money. Plastic (and to some degree checks) make this connection fuzzy. Use cash.

Track every penny you spend. When I was addicted to shopping, I intentionally turned a blind eye to how much I was spending. But most of the time, I wasn’t even aware of how much I spent. Lunch every day at McDonald’s? How much could that possibly cost? (Answer: over Rs 100 / Per Day) Picking up a few comics on my way home from work? What harm was there in that? Once I began to track my spending, certain patterns became clear. When I saw the patterns, I was able to act on them.

Play mind games. For some people, money is not an emotional issue. They understand it intuitively. They’re able to make the smart choices without temptation to do otherwise. For most of us, though, money is more about mind than it is about math. For us, it can be useful to play tricks on ourselves. What do I mean by mind games?

• Use the 30-day rule to control impulse spending.

• Ask yourself: “Is this a want or a need?” Try to discover what is motivating the purchase.

• Tax yourself: Whenever you buy something, force yourself to set aside some set percentage as savings.

• When you’re tempted to buy something, write it down. Make a wishlist. I do this at in some e -commerce site in order to control my spending. I have a gigantic wishlist which I prune occasionally. This wishlist keeps me from actually buying things!

• Yes, these are simple little tricks. But they’re tricks that work. If they can help you stop spending, that’s all that matters.

Avoid temptation. The best way for me to avoid spending money on comic books is to not enter the comic book shop. If your weakness is music, stay out of the record store (or de-activate your iTunes account). If you tend to spend money at big department stores, then stay out of them. Avoid the places where you’d normally spend.

Ask for help. Beating an addiction can be tough when you’re going it alone. Seek support from your friends and family. Ask your spouse to help. (And be open when they call you on your actions — don’t get angry.)

Finally, consider seeking professional help. There is no shame in obtaining psychotherapy for problems that seem bigger than you. Ultimately you must look inward to overcome any form of addiction — a therapist is like a trained guide who can help you find the way.