There are only a few things that beat sitting in the comfort of your home and shopping to your heart’s content.
But if you are not careful when shopping online, you might be stretching your budget and overspending.
Online shopping left uncontrolled can drain your account in minutes, so how do you curb your excesses when all you want is just a click away?
When you are not spending physical cash, it is very easy to get carried away dipping into your funds. The lack of substance to what is being spent gives an illusion of nothing being spent at all; up until you check your account balance.
Except you do have an online shopping addiction, there are a few tricks that can actually help you bring your online spending to a minimum and guide you to being accountable for your spending.
1. Have a separate budget for online shopping
Having a separate budget for online spending outside of your budget for other things helps you keep a closer eye on exactly how much you shop with. Lumping it together with your other expense budget makes it easier for you to overspend as you will tend to divert funds for other things to your online shopping.
2. Clear your browsing history
Clearing your browsing history ensures you can’t locate that particular item that has been popping up in the online ads you saw some time ago. After all, you won’t be able to easily locate it without your browsing history.
3. Unsubscribe from store mailing lists
One of the biggest triggers for an online shopping spree is when you see a notification telling you something is on sale. You tell yourself you will be getting it cheaper so you can buy other things. Then you tell yourself the same thing again and you keep on spending. Unsubscribing from mailing lists will ensure you don’t get tempted in the first place.
4. Do some research before buying
Engaging in a little research before actually buying anything online gives your brain some time-off from the constant impulse to buy. As you glance through other options available to you, you have lesser inclination to just purchase items on a wimp which eventually lead to over-spending.
5. Exercise a little more self-control
An important part of being an adult is being able to exercise control over yourself and that includes when you are tempted to keep spending. Always bear in mind that something else will suffer for every single time you spend more than you should while shopping online.