Why overspending each month isn't entirely your fault!
Never in the history of the world has it been so easy to shop and spend our hard earned cash.
We can shop online from the comfort of our home 24/7. Not having to leave the couch or get out of our pyjamas. We scroll aimlessly through social media and websites seeing things we like and before we realising it the courier is knocking on our door with another parcel.
Researchers have estimated we see 5,000-10,000 adverts per day. Advertising executives are paid big dollars to design campaigns that entice us to buy. They prey on our insecurities telling us we’ll be happier if only we had this new piece of technology, clothing or fragrance etc. They make us worry we’re being left behind or missing out. They make us fear we’re not enough.
The reality is we trade our time for money and work our ass off doing it. In turn we trade our money for ‘stuff’. But does this ‘stuff’ really make us happier?
Hedonic theory tells us that when we buy something our happiness levels spike. But this is short lived. Once the hit of our purchase wears off we start looking for the next thing to make us happy. And so the cycle of spending our hard earned cash repeats. And really it’s not our fault. We are being influenced by marketing campaigns without even realising it.
The only time I read magazines is at the hairdressers and every time I do, I feel I’m reading advert after advert rather than anything inspiring or useful information.
You see even though we can buy anything at our fingertips and are being told we’ll be happier with these items we aren’t. Depression and anxiety is skyrocketing to levels never seen before. In Jan 2020 the Harvard Business Review publish the findings of a study that measured the advertising spend in 27 European countries and the impact it had on happiness. Simply put they found when more money spent on advertising people became unhappier.
Marketers will dismiss their role in encouraging us to spend more and will say they are simply providing information on new and exciting things to buy. However they do this by playing on our fear of being inadequate and missing out and it works!
Take time to look at the things you all ready own. Will you really be better off by spending money on a newer replacement? Could you save money by getting the item repaired? Will spending more money add to your existing financial stress and anxiety? If you can’t appreciate what you already have how will buying something new be any different?
We need to have confidence in who are are as individuals. Stop buying more stuff to fill our homes. Stop letting what we own define who we are. Stop listening to marketers and influencers telling us how to spend our hard earned cash. Stop trying to impress our friends, colleagues and social media followers with our latest purchases.
Here are my top tips to reduce buying:
Unsubscribe from marketing emails - these emails with NEVER TO BE REPEATED specials play on our vulnerabilities and encourage us make spur of the moment decisions to buy. How many times have you bought something just because it was on sale but only used it once or twice? Or worse, you still have the item sitting in its original packaging or with its original label?
Be intentional with who you follow on social media. Ask yourself whether the person or brand aligns with your values and makes you feel good about yourself? Why did you follow them in the first place? If you follow them to see new items being launched you could unfollow them and go on their website or page intentionally when you are actually looking to make a purchase.
Take the emotion out of your purchasing decision by asking these four questions before you buy:
Do I need this?
What if I wait?
How will I pay for this?
Where will I put it?
Start a gratitude journal - write down 5 things you are grateful for everyday day. This will help draw attention to what you already have rather than what you feel is missing from your life. You will gain a new perspective on what is really important and what you truely appreciate in your life.
While it would be near impossible to block out all the media and marketing from our lives. It is possible to start being conscious about what is influencing our desires and to start being more deliberate with how we spend our money. Increasing your awareness and making intentional choices is a good step towards overcoming overspending and living within your means.
