If you’re someone who frequently overspends on items or who tends to spend more money on something than it’s actually worth, there are a few things that you can do to keep this from happening in the future.
To help you see how this behavior can be curbed, here are three ways to keep yourself from overspending on purchases.
Figure Out The Cost Per Use
Before you buy something, one of the first things that you can do to help you see how much this is actually costing you and if this cost is worth it is to figure out what the cost per use is. For some things, like clothing, this can be relatively easy to figure out. But for other items, like gently used furniture, the actual cost per use can be a little more complicated.
The best and easiest way to figure out the cost per use of something is to take the total cost and divide it by the number of times that you plan to use this item. This number will tell you what you’re paying per time that you use this item. If this number seems high, you might want to consider figuring something else out like renting the item or waiting until it’s on sale. But if you come to find that the cost per use is actually reasonable for you, this could be a good purchase to make.
Create Your Own “Cart” When Online Shopping
For many people, online shopping is one of the biggest ways that they overspend. It’s so easy to just click around and put something in your shopping cart. And when you’re not handling the actual item or the physical money you’re using to make this purchase, it can cause you to feel detached from what’s actually happening.
Something that you can try to help you avoid these kinds of impulse purchases online is to create your own “cart”. Rather than actually putting things in the cart on the app or website you’re using, consider just adding the link to the item to a note. Then, if you forget about that thing, you’ll have avoided making the impulse buy and overspending.
Don’t Save Your Card Information
Nothing can make someone less likely to overspend on something online than having to get up and find the information on their credit card. So to give yourself time to really think about spending the money you’re about to spend online, don’t save your card information on any shopping sites. Rather, make yourself type in the numbers each time so that you’re more aware of how much you’re actually spending.
If you want to learn how to better keep yourself from overspending on purchases, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you see some ways that this can be done.
Veeramachineni Lalitha
I am Finance Content Writer. I write Personal Finance, banking, investment, and insurance related content for top clients including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Edelweiss, ICICI BANK and IDFC FIRST Bank. My experience details : Linkedin