Time was I would go ‘window shopping’ with my friends after pay day and end up spending a large chunk of my salary. It felt good at the time, but not so great a couple of weeks later, when I realised I had too much month left for my remaining cash. These days I want to save more money and buy a lot less stuff.
Also, anything I buy this year will be pre-loved, as I have pledged a year of buying second hand. But you can still be tempted by endless stuff, even if you aren’t buying new!
Too much stuff
These days I feel that stuff – the books, DVDs, clothes, gadgets and general paraphernalia that clutter up our homes and lives – rarely brings much lasting satisfaction. I am not talking about all purchases. For example, have used my classic Kenwood mixer
However, my fruit and vegetable juicer is gathered dust in a cupboard before I eventually sold it. What a waste of money.
Another investment purchase was the Echo Dot 
I am not saying don’t buy anything. Just consider whether you really want it, will use it or can afford it before you fork out your hard earned cash. Remember, that stuff equals money. Also, if you are bothered by clutter, think about where you will put it!
But how can you learn to stop impulse buying endless stuff? Here are some tips to help you break the spending habit, avoid clutter and save money in the process.
How to buy less stuff and save more money
Unsubscribe from mailing lists
I try really hard not to sign up for marketing offers and mailing lists when I make online purchases. Nevertheless, the odd one gets through. Make the time to unsubscribe so that you don’t get temptation through your inbox every day.
Think how many hours you need to work to buy stuff
This one works wonders for me. Know your hourly wage after tax. When you are tempted to buy something, consider how many hours you would need to work to pay for it. In the excellent book Your Money or Your Life*
Reward yourself differently
We all have those ‘I have been working hard, I deserve to treat myself’ moments. But if you want to save more money, how about rewarding yourself in a different way? Rather than buying a new skirt or top, put some money aside in your holiday fund maybe, invite a friend round for coffee and a chat, allow yourself time to sit and read a book or run yourself the deepest bubble bath and light a candle.
Don’t go shopping for fun
There are so many free or cheap things you can do for fun. Going shopping in the mall is not one of them if you want to save more money, especially if you are prone to give into temptation. Shop from your wardrobe instead and remember what you already have. Visit your local library or free museum. Take a walk around your neighbourhood – be a tourist in your own town!
Don’t browse websites or catalogues out of boredom
As above. There are many things you can do if you are bored. Read some of the books you impulse purchased but never got round to (my vice). Take up a cheap hobby if you are prone to boredom – rambling, knitting, cooking, gardening, painting, wildlife spotting…use your imagination. Personally, I never pick up or order catalogues now, not even the seed catalogues I used to get.
Consider the waste from every purchase
If you are concerned about packaging and its negative effects on the environment, as I am, expand your thinking to include the waste and energy used by the items you impulse purchase. If you stop and consider the manufacture, transport, packaging and pollution that might arise from each item you buy, you might think that you don’t just want to save more money; you also would like to minimise the impact of your lifestyle on the planet.
Have goals
Many of us have vague goals about what we want to achieve in our lives. Maybe we have dreams to travel, buy a house, save for our children’s university costs, get a better car or whatever. If your dreams seem distant and impossible, starting a savings fund towards them and considering your purchases in terms of how much you won’t be able to put in your savings because of the money you spend, your perspective is likely to change.
You should at the very least save an emergency fund. Spending less could give you the security of knowing you have a cushion in case you have a sudden unexpected expense.
Once you begin to develop new thinking patterns about your spending habits, it becomes easier to resist the urges to the point where you barely have those urges. You can save more money and live the life you really want.
If you want to have a chat about frugal living and buying second hand, come and join my Facebook group!
Linda says
Knitting isn’t a cheap hobby. Needles are an investment and can be used time and time again. Wool, yarn, whatever you choose can vary from cheap to very expensive. In fact, I notice how much less costly it is in Europe. I’ve spent close to $60CDN for Shetland wool for a bride’s shawl. This morning for 60euro, I bought silk and mohair for a shawl for me, wool for three pairs of socks, and 900 metres of 75% merino blend that whispered to me. I couldn’t afford that in Canada and the sock wool would have been bought one pair at a time.
Books, yes, an impulse buy. But the stacks are getting smaller. Magazines are a rare treat.
I’m even cutting back on work clothes. We buy our ownscrubs for work. I have roughly 50 months to work until I retire. Might need a pair OS shoes but that’s it.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
I guess any hobby can be expensive. But I see the knitters snapping up the wool in the charity shops because it is so cheap! I also have a knitter friend who unravels old woollen garments and reuses the wool. Glad it’s not just me who can’t resist a book!
Meggy says
Try being a single pensioner on a single state pension, that will curb your spending.
Julia says
My default is just not to go near shops, unless I really need to, and then only go into those shops I need to find the items I went in there for! It helps that I naturally have little interest in browsing, and even less interest in buying! 😀
My main hobby is genealogy, and while it calls for expensive subscriptions to the 2 main sites, I consider it to be a good use of the birthday/Christmas money I receive as I share one subscription with a fellow researcher which halves it, so for both it works out to be 44p a day! Even without the shared subscription it would work out at roughly 61p a day, and I do use both sites almost daily.
Alternatively, to really do it on the cheap, or while you’re still wanting to see if it’s really for you, you could make a list of records you want to view and wait for one of the many free weekends they do throughout the year. 😀
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
It sounds as if you get good value for money from a hobby you really enjoy
EM says
I would love to spend less money and buy more stuff 😀 That would be great!
Vicki says
Looks like this needs editing for UK readers under lockdown restrictions! Looking forward to inviting a friend round for coffee, rambling more than 5 miles from home and browsing for wool in charity shops but not at the moment. I bought some King Cole Drifter wool, still packaged, in a charity shop for £6 about 18 months ago and have made a cardigan with matching gloves, socks and headband/earmuffs. Great value and has kept me busy! Fortunately I live in a part of the country which is good for walking straight from the front door although everywhere is a bit soggy at the moment! Have you still got plenty of stock for your business – I imagine you are itching to get out and find more items to refresh what you have available? Vicki
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Hi Vicki, I debated that, then went for the optimistic view that it might all be over soon. You’re right, can’t wait to get Charity shopping again!