Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Spend Too Much On Things You Don’t Need? You Can Change!

Virtually everyone splurges once in a while, spending too much on something that they don’t need. If you’re like most people, this pattern doesn’t represent a financial problem or even much of an opportunity. You probably cut back on spending naturally for a few days—or weeks if needed—to offset the splurge and everything falls into balance. If you have a real problem, an habitual pattern of splurging, however, you may be dooming your financial future.

First, let’s try a financial diagnosis to determine if you get a problem. Do not leave credit card debt right now that exceeds all of your available cash? In other words, if you had to be paid it all off today, could you do it? If not, you may get a problem. Now, consider whether you have purchased things in the last 60 days that you haven’t yet used. If there is an issue or even two, it’s not a big deal. If you can walk around the house and open closets and cupboards and find jackets you’ve never worn, shoes that have never been out of the house, kitchen gadgets that have never been in the dishwasher, tops or skirts that still have tags on them, camping gear that’s never seen dirt, home decorations that are stuck in closets and have never actually decorated anything or apps on your phone that you’ve never even used, you’ve got a problem. Keep reading!

Now, let’s think why you’re buying things you don’t need. (I’m not a psychologist; I’m someone who loves to spend money.) Buying something is satisfying a need, perhaps for power or control, which should be coming from something else in your life. Think about your biggest problems—apart from the spending. Give particular thought to things that make you like you want to go shopping. It may be the way your boss makes you feel. Anything that makes you powerless, anxious, or unappreciated, could be contributing to the problem. If you can identify the problem, you may be able to determine an alternative to shopping.

If not having enough money makes you apprehensive when bills come—and they come often—you could be shopping with your credit cards as a (futile) way to regain control over your finances. If your boss belittles you at the office, mocking your contributions, spending may give you a sense of power that helps compensate. If your spouse or children has been taking you for granted and you don’t feel appreciated, splurging on yourself may be means to soothe your hurt feelings.

If you can identify the trigger, the pain point that most drives you want to shop, you may be able to identify another behavior that would reduce the impact of the trigger. Just understanding that you shop because your boss yells at you could help you resist the temptation to shop. Even more constructively, you could talk to your boss about the problem. If that doesn’t work, you could even look for a new job. By trying to solve the problem at the root of your problem, you may be able to take charge of your life again.

It may take some time, but each time you feel the urge to splurge, asks yourself the question, “why?” When you find the answer, you may need to be able to solve two problems at once: you may be able change or get away from an unhealthy situation and enable yourself to quit spending money you don’t have.




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