My Impulse Spending Experiment Shocked Me- Use What I Learned to Find Your Spending Weaknesses

Known as the “frugal friend,” I thought my impulse purchases were rare. I always shop with a list, have an itemized budget, and carefully research prospective buys. In a quest to find spending weak spots, I analyzed all items I purchased for the prior month. After scouring my receipts, my impulse buys shocked me. Here’s what I bought:

1. Clearance floral blouse: $6.00 (Costco)

2. Fruit flavored Australian licorice: $6.79 (Costco)

3. Cranberry chicken salad: $12.99 (Costco)

4. World map thrifted wall art: $9.99 (Goodwill)

5. Lobster bisque soup: $2.97 (Walmart)

6. Clearance light bulbs: $4.97 (Costco)

In total, these impulse buys add to $43.71, and after factoring in sales tax on applicable items, the total rises to $45.42. Yikes! If I continued to spend like this every month without realizing it, over $545 would vanish in one year.

Here are five lessons I learned to rein in unintended spending going forward:

Know your subconscious spending excuses

I’m more likely to impulse purchase items that I characterize under the “basic needs” umbrella, like food, clothing, or household essentials. Did I need that blouse? Nope, I have six similar ones. That cranberry chicken salad and lobster bisque? Definitely not, since these are premade non-essentials.

Be aware of time-based buying pressure

If it’s a sale or clearance item, the time-based pressure to take advantage of the deal drives me to impulse spend. Those clearance light bulbs? While a great price on something I’ll eventually use, I probably won’t need one for a year. It would have been wiser to keep the money in my bank account.

Identify retailers where you tend to impulse spend

Costco is clearly my weakness; time to be strict about staying on-list!

Determine whether online or in-store shopping drives your impulse buying

Since I can leave an item in my online cart to mull over and revisit anytime, I rarely impulse purchase items online. If something catches my eye, I let it sit in my online cart and 99 times out of 100, I decide that I don’t need it. While shopping in-store, I’m more likely to buy an item on the spot, because once it's in the cart, I’m much less likely to remove it later.

Determine if others impact your spending habits

Five out of my six impulse buys happened while shopping with my spouse. While I enjoy the company, we need to have a thoughtful conversation about supporting our budgeting goals. In the meantime, solo shopping may reduce that excess spending.

Final thoughts

Everyone falls into the impulse spending trap occasionally, but identifying tendencies and finding ways to prevent impulse buys will keep more of my money in the bank.