Tips to Control Impulsive Online Shopping

With the holiday season around the corner, retailers are trying their best to get our attention by flooding our inboxes with offers and new collections. To make matters worse, it’s not only when we sit online that we get distracted by these offers, we even get them on our android phones.Online shopping is addictive. Most of us don’t realize how much we actually spend at the simple click of our finger.

Here are some tips to help you combat the habit of shopping excessively online:

1. Avoid going online: The best way to get rid of the habit is to avoid going online. As going online is just going to tempt you to visit Amazon or ebay.
2. Block online shopping sites: If you can’t live without going online, then the alternate remedy is to block shopping sites. This method has proven to be effective as it blocks temptation.
3. Maintain lists: Maintain lists of things you already have and do not need. Stay away from things you don’t need. Ask yourself whether you really need the stuff.
4. Cut your credit cards: When shopping online, we tend to pay using cards. Hence we don’t realize how much money we actually have and tend to go overboard with our spending.
5. 30-minute wait out: If you find yourself ready to checkout a product online, wait for 30 minutes to evaluate whether you really need it. This method helps to curb impulsive buying.
6. Pay using only cash: Buy only with what cash you have. Do not buy on credit. Buying on credit results in huge credit card bills and adds to the stress on paying them off.
7. Do not opt to save passwords and credit card details: The password save option is actually to save time, but saving only makes things easier for online shopping addicts. Payments can be made at the click of the finger, without a second thought. Remove all stored passwords and credit card details. The time it takes to type the information will you some thinking time to prevent you from buying unnecessary stuff.

Try to figure out why you are shopping. Is it depression? Is it because it’s exciting? Evaluating the reason behind your shopping can help you curb your impulsive shopping habit sooner.Shopping is fun. No doubt everyone loves to buy new stuff, be it online or at their favorite stores. It’s alright to shop within a certain limit. But you are worried whether this treat is turning into a bad habit; take steps to put a stop to it.