How To Stop Shopping & Kick Shopping Addictions For Good

If you're looking for tips on how to stop shopping, then you've found them. Welcome and keep reading for the goods. :)

Buying things we don't need contributes to clutter build up, wastes money that will most likely be necessary later for something way more important and sucks time right out of the day.

Here are 5 ways to kick your shopping addictions for good. If you have any ideas to add, please leave them in the comment section at the bottom of the page. Thanks and enjoy!

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5 Ways To Curb Shopping Addictions

How To Stop Shopping
1. Unsubscribe from email lists.

Unsubscribe from the email lists that constantly flood your inbox. The coupons and deals are fun, but it's hard to curb a shopping addiction when the temptation is always at the top of your email and therefore top of mind.

I totally understand wanting to know about good sales and ways to save money on stuff you do in fact need, so first unsubscribe from the ones that you never purchase from. Then have your email service send the subscriptions you keep to a designated folder automatically, so that they are there IF you need them rather than at the top of your inbox tempting you to make a purchase.

How To Stop Shopping
2. Keep track of your expenses.

Don't run away! I know keeping track of expenses is an annoying suggestion, but it doesn't have to be complicated or time-consuming. You can do this with a simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, you could use an expense-tracking software like Quicken or take advantage of an app on your phone. However you decide to do it, tally up how much you're spending and what you're spending it on every day.

You don't need to do this forever or a long period of time. Do it for at least a month, so you can get an idea of what the numbers are. If you want to get a bigger picture (especially for those semi-regular expenses), then keep going and track your expenses for 6 months to a year.

Things really add up quickly; it might be surprising and stop the shopping addiction right in its tracks.

How To Stop Shopping
3. Implement the one-in-then-one-out rule.

Yeah I totally just made that up, but it has a nice ring to it. UPDATE: It turns out that other people use this term as well. I just hadn't heard anyone use it before when I wrote this post. Glad it's a trend now!

The one-in, one-out rule is simple: if you're going to bring something IN to your world, then you need to go find something similar to give away or take OUT of your space. So, before you buy an item that you think you need, make sure you don't already own it or something similar which might lead to my next point.

Ever have those moments when you come across something and you think, "Oh! I forgot about this (fill in the blank with an item you own)."? This method reminds you of the stuff you already do have and might reignite the desire to use of it again instead of buying something new.

How To Stop Shopping
4. State your intentions clearly.

Before purchasing something, I always think to myself first:

What am I going to use this for?

Where will this item live in my house?

If I can't answer those questions quickly and clearly, then the item doesn't get purchased. This is a good practice, because it ensures that the item has an actual use (NOT, well I could use it for...) and knowing where it will be in your home keeps it from becoming clutter.

Other good questions to ask yourself when shopping are:

Do I need this right now? Or is it a "nice to have" that I can get later?

Is this something I really need or do I already have something else that I can use for the same purpose?

How To Stop Shopping
5. Come up with a system.

No need to go cold turkey here! I'm a big fan of everything in moderation. Come up with a system that allows you to get your shopping fix without breaking the bank.

For example, permit yourself to purchase one wearable item per month. This includes clothing, shoes, jewelry, scarves and other accessories and purses.

Perhaps you could reward yourself with perishable items (chocolate, good wine, beauty products, etc.) after you've gotten a few small things or one hard thing accomplished on your to do list.

Whatever it is, create a system that will work for you, allow for moderate shopping and it will keep the yearning at bay.

How To Stop Shopping
More for ya!

There are tons of resources on this topic if you want to read more and get extra help.

Here are books about how to stop shopping that may be useful.

Here are a ton of shopping addiction articles, posts, free resources etc. on the topic.

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