How to resist impulse buying

You went to the store to buy milk, and you left with the milk—plus $120 worth of impulse purchases.

How do retailers encourage impulse buying?

Appealing to your senses

Retailers use multiple strategies to appeal to our senses, including sight, sound, and smell. Providing larger shopping carts, infusing certain aromas that waft through the store, and cueing playlists that stir a sense of nostalgia are common tactics.

Stores may also be strategically designed to lead us to spend more. Appealing window displays and sales bins at the front of the stores are meant to draw you in. Mirrors and lighting in dressing rooms may be intentionally more flattering to convince you to buy that outfit.^{Disclosure 2}

Strategic pricing and bundling

In addition to these sensory cues, retailers get clever with their pricing and use of numbers to encourage shoppers to spend more while thinking they’re spending less. This includes things like:

• Free shipping: Maybe you were just going to spend $30, but if you spend $50, you get free shipping. Often, you thought you were going to save, but you spent more than that just to get the free shipping.
• Dollars and cents: Prices that end in the number nine are called charm prices. Shoppers are more inclined to buy something that’s $9.99 rather than $10 because it feels like a better deal.^{Disclosure 2} Consumers tend to think of an item priced at $49.99 as closer to $40 instead of closer to $50. And some restaurants remove the dollar sign altogether because diners respond better to “Soup – 9” than they do to “Soup – $9.”
• Gifts with purchases: This is similar to spending that $50 to get free delivery. Shoppers are willing to spend more to get a “bonus gift” when they purchase a certain dollar amount.

Capitalizing on human habits and emotions

In addition to those attractive window displays and dressing room mirrors mentioned earlier, stores may leverage other design and layout tactics to get us to spend. For example, retailers know that our general inclination is to turn right when entering a store, so they purposely design stores to move in a counterclockwise direction. This causes shoppers to spend more time browsing the aisles. And the aisles themselves are usually designed to be narrow enough to encourage us to slow down—but not so narrow that they get clogged and frustrate us.

Our emotions can often lead us to impulse buy, too. This can include examples like:

• Your child grabbing some candy or a colorful toy as you wait to check out, and you caving to keep them calm
• Deciding to spend on takeout instead of making dinner because you ended up working late
• Buying something just to feel better after having a bad day
• Feeling a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) after seeing a social media ad—and pulling out your card to not feel left out

9 tips that can help you stop impulse buying

What chance does a shopper have against impulse spending? Ford says the best way to combat these psychological pulls is to know they exist in the first place. “If you don’t understand the rules of the game, you don’t stand a chance,” he says.

Here are nine tips to help you overcome your urge to splurge:

1.  Knowledge is power: Acknowledge that retailers want to tempt you. Also, examine your own impulsive buying habits. Which stores trigger that buy-more-than-you-need impulse? Try to avoid going to them if you can.
   Keep in mind: Impulse buys aren’t limited to smaller purchases like a latte or a candy bar. Other types of impulse purchases could include clothing, household goods, and food or groceries that weren’t part of your meal plan.
2.  Create a budget: Review your expenses, look for improvements in your spending habits, and then set a weekly/monthly budget to help keep you on track. This worksheet can help you get started.
3.  Stick to your shopping list: Make a list before you leave, and don’t stray from it while shopping.
4.  Stay wise on social media: It’s easy to scroll your social media feeds and find new products and deals. Try to limit how much time—and money—you spend online. And when you see something you want to buy, try putting off the purchase until you get to your computer. It may help you stop and think more about whether the purchase is really worth the money. If you really struggle to resist spending on social media, consider disconnecting your accounts from your digital wallet to make it harder to spend. And delete shopping apps as well to help you limit mobile purchases.
5.  Sleep on it: This applies to any online or social media shopping in addition to in-store splurges. Giving yourself a day or two—or even longer for bigger purchases—can help you decide if something is really worth the cost. After you’ve had time to think about it, you may realize you don’t really need whatever it is you put in your cart.
6.  Use cash: If you know what you’re shopping for, just bring enough cash to cover that purchase and leave your credit cards at home.
7.  Don’t let emotions affect your wallet: Retail therapy sounds like a fun way to overcome stress or a tough day, but it can get you in trouble if you overspend or go into debt trying to make yourself feel better. If a life event, like an engagement, breakup, or celebration, requires a purchase, create a set budget so you don’t overspend. And if you catch yourself thinking about a purchase based on your feelings, take a step back and ask yourself if you really need that item, Ford advises.
8.  Remember that you can’t save by spending: There’s the misconception that you save money by getting an item at a low price. The satisfaction can even escalate when that item is more expensive. Or you may spend more money on more items just to get free shipping.
   “But what you’re actually doing is spending money you weren’t planning to,” Ford says. “Saving is when you earn money and actually put it somewhere so that you can have it later. You can’t save money on a purchase.”
9.  Be kind to yourself: From the tricks retailers use to entice you to spend more to the many ways that life events can tempt your “buy now” impulses, staying on budget requires self-discipline. You still might find yourself buying more than you’d planned to, no matter how much you prepare. When that happens, don’t be too hard on yourself. Set aside a budget for splurges and keep going.

“Be compassionate toward yourself; you’re up against something much bigger than you,” says Bright Dickson, Truist’s positive psychology expert. “Be nice to yourself, because the tricks you fell for were designed to do just that.”

Don’t sacrifice your long-term goals for short-term satisfaction.

Impulse purchases might bring momentary joy, but ultimately, financial security comes from making good decisions over a long period. That peace of mind feels better in the long run than an impulse purchase does in the moment. Establishing budgetary boundaries and setting goals for your financial future are strategies that can help you achieve financial stability and reduce your money worries.

But you can still treat yourself from time to time.

Dickson says, “I’ll allow myself a small budget for fulfilling that emotion in the moment. So, I’ll say, all right, you can do 30 bucks of whatever, but that’s the limit.” In other words, you can live within your means without giving up the things that bring you joy.”