I don’t know if this happens to you too, but many moms lose money in their wallets, almost without even realizing it! And there are psychological reasons why this happens. Let’s see what they are:
One of the first causes is when we are not clear about how much we can spend. When we go shopping without a clear idea of what we need to buy and how much money we have available for that purchase, we are likely to buy more than necessary. And if we go with our children, who get excited about everything they see, it is very difficult to stay focused. For example, if we go to the supermarket because we need some vegetables for dinner and a bottle of oil, but we come back with a gallon of ice cream, cookies in three different flavours, a cake and two cases of beer, we have definitely bought and paid too much.
On the other hand, we always tend to want to please everyone. It is our natural instinct to want everyone to be happy, and in an effort to achieve this, we fall into unnecessary expenses. If we go shopping with our teenage daughter to buy her some sneakers and as we pass by a store she gets excited about a T-shirt with a picture of her favourite singer on it and later wants a hat to match the dress, and we succumb to the desire to please her, we are going to incur a significant expense on top of the sneakers we went to buy.
Many times, we seek emotional relief. I know people who relieve their stress by going shopping: “Oh, I had a really hard week at work, I’m going to the mall.” And so, they melt the plastic on their credit cards by buying things as an outlet for pent-up emotions. This habit can weigh heavily when it comes to looking objectively at our finances.
We certainly like to buy amazing deals. We all want to buy good, pretty and cheap, and there is also a taste of triumph when we buy something well below the regular price. But when we buy something we don’t need with the sole objective of buying it at a good price, it would have been better to save 100% and leave it at the store. Now that’s a good deal! In the thirty years that I have lived in the United States, I have received clothes from friends to take to whoever needs them when I travel to Argentina. I am always surprised to see how many clothes are donated to me with the purchase tags and unused!
Once we are aware of these causes, it becomes easier for us to modify these habits and replace them with others that do not make us feel guilty later. Let’s now look at the best strategies to avoid unnecessary purchases:
- Before entering the business, be clear about how much you want to spend and what you are going to buy.
- Communicate your spending limits to those you’re shopping with and make it a family project. When everyone is on the same page about spending, it’s easier to keep impulse purchases or indulgences in check for all family members.
- If you have trouble controlling your spending when you carry a credit card, get into the habit of using cash only. The benefits of using cards, and paying them off in full when the statement arrives, are negated if you are going into debt and paying interest every month. I have made videos about the benefits of using credit cards that you can watch for more details, but until you get to the point of making controlled purchases, it is preferable to use cash.
- Learn to say no, which is also a form of self-care. At first, it will feel uncomfortable not being able to please everyone, but with a little practice, it becomes much easier.
- Don’t go shopping when you are under the influence of strong emotions. Wait until you have rested or feel more relaxed before you start shopping.
- Assign a function to each dollar you earn to pay rent, utilities, cover school expenses, food, etc. This way, by doing it backwards, you avoid spending first and covering important commitments with what is left over, because then you run the risk of not having enough to cover rent or school.
In order to satisfy the needs of our children, in addition to our own, we mothers often have the tendency to overspend and buy things we did not intend to. When we become aware of this and apply the necessary suggestions to our case, the situation can be easily corrected.
Has it ever happened to you that you end up buying more than you should?
