When you’re spending too much and impulsively on shopping, this might be sign that you’re a shopaholic. In this post, we’re going to help you to stop your addiction for online shopping and being a shopaholic.
Being a shopaholic has several bad impact and disadvantage to yourself. For those of you who are starting to feel addicted to online shopping, here are some tips to overcome online shopping addiction and stop yourself being a shopaholic:
1. Ask These 3 Questions Before You Shop
Each time your desire to shop online came, ask yourself these 3 questions: Do you have this? Do You Need This? Is this really necessary?
For someone who addicted to shop, they tend to buy something that they don’t actually need it. For instance, a shopaholic will buy a lot of clothes but end up will use few of them.
They often to buy something just because they want to, not they need to.
2. Uninstall All Shopping Application
The existence of a shopping app in your device clearly facilitates your access every time you desire to shop online.
Therefore, the step to stop being a shopaholic is to delete or uninstall shopping applications that are in your device including both marketplace applications or e-commerce applications.
That way, every time there is a desire to shop online, you cannot immediately open the application, but must open it from a browser that is relatively not as practical as the application.
Do you have to delete all shopping apps in the device? Breaking away from addiction must be done slowly. You don’t need to delete everything drastically at once, but start by leaving one shopping application that you like the most.
3. Unfollow Shopping Accounts on Social Media
The lure of online shopping doesn’t just come from e-commerce applications or marketplaces.
Social media like Instagram or Facebook are also often a source of temptation to shop online.
In order for your pocket to be saved, you should start sorting again the Instagram online shop accounts that you need to follow and which are not.
Stop following an account that is keen to sell something, can help you reduce the temptation to shop. That way, your online shopping channel decreases and the frequency of spending money on shopping goes down.
4. Unsubscribe Shop Newsletter
Each marketplace seller or provider has a marketing team that will send you regularly the latest information on discount promos, cash back, and other marketing campaigns.
Of course, the goal is to attract you to stop by and shop. So that the temptation to shop can be reduced, just try to unsubscribe or unsubscribe marketing newsletters from these applications. That way, you reduce one access to shop online.
5. Apply The Waiting Period
Many online shopping addicts admit, their pleasure in shopping is actually more on window shopping activities and putting desirable items into the shopping basket.
Comparing prices, seeing good items, is one of the shopping pleasures that often makes someone addicted. Especially when done in the midst of work pressure in the office or boredom taking care of the household.
Well, you can still get the pleasure of shopping online without the need to injure the contents of the wallet. The method is to apply a waiting period.
Every time you shop online, just put the items you want in the shopping basket. But, do not immediately execute it by completing the transaction.
Apply a waiting period of at least three days to consider whether the items you really need. Not infrequently in those three days the desire to have things that were originally surging, subsided by itself.
6. Note Down The Expenses
Try to check the history of online shopping transactions that you have ever done, then you record everything. You can see how much you have spent just shopping online.
This can be a warning for yourself to be more restrictive, because most people who are addicted will not be aware of the amount of expenditure spent just to shop online.
7. Remove The Mobile Banking Application In The Gadget
The existence of the mobile banking application makes it easy for your daily banking transactions. At the same time, the ease of accessing accounts makes shopping easier and easier.
One of the way to stop being a shopaholic is to make it difficult to access your own account. Remove the mobile banking application in your device.
The idea is, every time you want to transact, you have to force yourself to go to the automatic teller machine (ATM). Going to an ATM requires more effort and can give you time to rethink whether the online shopping really needs to be completed.
8. Delete Credit Card Data in The Shopping Application
As is known, currently all shopping applications provide various payment channel options. Starting from manual transfers, payments through mini markets and even post offices, credit card applications, to non-credit card instalment.
Many people do not hesitate to save their credit card data in shopping applications for practicality to shop. Simply enter the CVV or CCV credit card, online shopping transactions can be completed in an instant.
So, when you actually do not have money, shopping activities can continue to run with a credit card that is actually a loan facility. This backfires if you are unable to put the brakes on shopping.
Shopping with a loan source can be very dangerous for your pocket. So that the trap does not continue, just delete your credit card data in the shopping application.
That way, when shopping online you can make sure the money is available rather than owe it to the card. Moreover, storing credit card data on applications is very dangerous if your device is stolen. So, deleting credit card data from the application is useful to prevent you from fraud.
9. Make a Special Shopping Account
This method can be very effective as long as you can discipline with the rules that you make yourself. Creating a special account to shop online can help you limit your wallet’s “damage” from shopping online.
Suppose every month you allocate no more than certain amount to shop online. By having a nominal limit that can be spent, you should be able to stop shopping when the funds in that special account are used up.
In addition, with a special shopping account, you can avoid trying to “sabotage” other more important posts, such as emergency funds, insurance and investment posts.
10. Look for Alternative Low Cost Entertainment
There is a study conducted by the University of Michigan that revealed that buying something or shopping was able to reduce feelings of sadness suffered by someone.
Not only that, a survey conducted by The Huffington Post of 1,000 adults found that 1 in 3 people shop to deal with stress. Don’t entertain yourself by shopping and spending money on items that you don’t really need.
Improve your mood with a variety of entertainment alternatives that are cheaper and certainly will not make your finances drained.
You can improve your mood by exercising, reading books, writing, calling family, taking a walk to the park, or just hanging out with close friends. Instead of spending on shopping, it is better to invest in a more useful thing.
Bottom Line
Shopping online is not a problem, when you are able to determine and control which items are needed and which are merely desires.
Things like this can be a bad habit, when you’ve been shopping excessively and in the end can interfere with various other expenses that are more important.
Moreover, if you already have a family that must be financed, this habit will be very inconvenient and burdensome of your finances every month. The ways that we have stated above can be done to stop excessive shopping habits.
Perform the ways above consistently and discipline so that you get optimal results. So, there is no need for financial threats due to online shopping addiction.
With the easy steps above, the pleasure of shopping online can still work but with more control.
