Over quarantine, I quickly became addicted to online shopping. There was something exciting about opening the door to a new package. Although I loved online shopping, my credit card bill was not a big fan of it. I realized I needed to make a change. Here are seven ways that helped me to overcome my online shopping addiction:
- Remove your credit card from any websites
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It was so easy for me to make purchases when my credit and debit card were literally saved to my computer. With the click of a button, I could purchase another unnecessary item of clothing. You could even purchase things without your card being nearby. Removing your credit card from websites will make it more difficult to enter your credit card information (unless you somehow have your credit card number memorized). If you’re about to make a purchase and aren’t sure, as you are getting your credit card, you have more time to rethink your purchase and make sure it’s something that is really necessary.
- Create a budget
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One of the best ways to avoid overspending is by creating a budget and sticking with it. Give yourself a certain amount of money to spend a week or month and rethink potential purchases that would put you over the limit. Starting to make a budget earlier in life will also help you as you get older and begin to manage your own finances. Not only will budgeting help you with overspending, but you can also calculate your regular monthly expenses ahead of time. Although it’s time-consuming, making a budget is definitely worth it.
- Unfollow fashion influencers on social media
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I can’t even begin to tell you how much money I spent on clothing that I saw trending on TikTok or Instagram. Social media influencers are constantly flaunting the new clothing they received from a brand deal and it’s hard to avoid consuming that kind of media or not allowing it to have an influence on you. As much as I love fashion, following fashion influencers and purchasing from the brands they promoted did not help better my style. I was shopping based on trends that would fade away within a month. By unfollowing influencers that constantly promote different brands, it helped me to avoid making impulsive purchases that I wouldn’t end up wearing anyway.
- Unsubscribe from store emails
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You know all those emails you get with store discounts and sales? It’s time to finally rid your email of those. Every time I would go through my email and find a store that I liked with a discount, I automatically felt the need to make a purchase. Sometimes the stores even try to get you by subscribing to a texting service that notifies you every time there is a discount. The thing is, the deals they were promoting weren’t even that much better with the discount; it didn’t save me any money. Once you unsubscribe from store emails, you don’t get tempted to buy anything.
- Stop buying fast fashion
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Fast fashion is when certain stores like Shein or Nasty Gal take advantage of trends based on high fashion designs and produce mass quantities of cheap products. These products are of horrible quality and once that trend disappears, the product you got will just end up wasting away in your closet. Plus, fast fashion has a negative effect on the environment. Stop buying things based on trends and start saving your money for things that you actually like that will get more wear than a Shein shirt you’ll wear once.
- Allow yourself to wait before making a purchase
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To help slow yourself down from making a purchase, try to make yourself wait a certain period of time before buying. The amount of time you want to wait is up to you, but the longer the better. As you are waiting, ask yourself questions like, “Is this purchase necessary?” “Will I actually use this item?” If the answers keep coming up as “no,” then maybe it’s best to not make the purchase. You could also ask another person’s advice before buying to help you realize if you need the item or not. The online shopping cart is created for a reason, so don’t feel the need to purchase an item right after adding it to your cart.
- Don’t shop when you’re bored
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Whenever I was bored was the time that I always made the most impulsive purchases. It’s so tempting to want to scroll through online shopping websites whenever you have nothing to do. But instead of shopping, why not close your computer and take a walk or maybe call up a friend? Distract your mind from online shopping and do something worthwhile and healthier.
Online shopping is super tempting but most of the time people end up buying things they didn’t really need in the first place. When you have nothing to do, there are other great ways to spend your time instead of online shopping. Hopefully, these tips help you out next time you’re tempted to make yet another online purchase!