What to do when you can't stop spending money (2024)

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June 12, 2023 By Jessi Fearon Leave a Comment

In last week’s post, I talked about closing the gap between our income and expenses. And in that email I talked about cutting and reducing expenses. But this week, I want to expand a little more on expenses because it can be tough to stop spending money.

And since it’s the middle of the month, let’s talk about creating better spending habits by working to drastically reduce what we spend.

No Spend Days/Week/Month

One of my favorite ways to kick a spending habit is to go cold turkey. Yep. It’s to stop spending money – or at least to stop spending it where it doesn’t really benefit us.

If you’ve never done aNo Spend Month head here for more info on doing it. It’s tough but it’s so great for stopping an overspending habit in its tracks. Or maybe your overspending has to do with Amazon (this one really got me during the Pandemic). If so, head here for apost I did on No Amazon August.

The key here is to stop the habit – we’re not going to save boo-coos of money. That’s not really the goal. The goal is to stop bad spending habits and to start developing better ones.

Unsubscribe/Unfollow/Mute

If you’re caught in a cycle of overspending, it’s time to break up with the things that are enabling you to overspend. Unsubscribe ruthlessly from all promotional emails. Unfollow any social media accounts that encourage you to overspend. Mute and friends or family members on Facebook that constantly post things that leave you feeling discontent.

We live in unique times. 70 years ago, if you wanted to see what your cousin who lives 30 miles from you just bought, you had to physically go to their house to see it. Now, we can see what complete strangers buy and how they live their lives in nanoseconds.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not good for us when we’re constantly comparing our life to theirs.

Track Your Spending

My coaching clients know how big of a fan I am of this one. I highly encourage everyone to track their spending. Set a reminder in your phone to check in with the accounts where you regularly spend money at least once a week.

There is no better way to curb overspending than becoming acutely aware of where your money is going. You don’t need fancy software or a pretty notebook. The notes app on your phone is fine. Don’t get lost in the weeds. Just track your expenses and start paying active attention to where your money is going.

If you don’t need it, leave it.

Okay, so the last one. If you don’t need to buy something then don’t go in the shop or look at their online store. Seriously don’t do it. Just because your neighbor tells you all about that new thing, they got doesn’t mean you need to head to Amazon as soon as you get home to find yourself one.

Instead, avoid – don’t go into that store just to window shop because chances are you’ll buy something. Don’t just head online to this store or that if you don’t actually need anything because you’ll end up buying something.

Practice “sleeping on it” if you’re really tempted to buy something. Leave the item at the store, go home, and “sleep on it.” When you wake up the next morning do you still feel that you need that item? If you’re online, you can add that item to your cart but again, practice “sleeping on it”. Wait to make the purchase until your next payday. Do you still feel the need to buy it?

The purpose of this is to help our brain, body, and heart connect again. When we’re feeling super discontent and trying to soothe ourselves by buying things it can be so hard to say “no” in the moment. But by allowing yourself to “sleep on it,” you give your body and mind time to slow down and calm down. You’ll be able to make better financial decisions when you do.

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