🔮 Test Your Relationship with Money

Do you have these financial troubles, too?

• Every month, you are surprised to find that your credit card expenses exceed your budget.
• Feel anxious about your balance and don't know how to allocate your living expenses reasonably.
• Always attracted by promotional activities, discounts, and limited-time offers, unable to resist impulse shopping.

If you feel the same, you may benefit from spending 2 minutes reading this article.

Financial difficulties are a common challenge for students, young professionals, and socialites. In fact, 44% of Americans report that "financial problems" are their biggest source of stress, according to a Northwestern Mutual study.¹

If we don't have a healthy relationship with money, it can have negative effects not only on our finances and quality of life, but also on our psychological well-being. However, by cultivating small habits, we can change the status and keep as much money as possible in our wallets...👛

Avoid Impulse Shopping: Get Rid of the Consumption Trap

Impulse shopping is a common issue that many people face with reasons:

• Emotional fluctuations: When you feel upset because your boss or professor rejected your work, you may feel the urge to reward yourself by browsing shopping websites.
• Social identity: You may see a friend purchase a new bag on social media and suddenly feel the need to own it as well.
• "Seemingly impressive" advertisements: When you see an advertisement for a delicious-looking cinnamon roll on a website, you may be tempted to make an immediate purchase.

Understanding the cause of impulse buying is the first step in solving the problem. Rather than making emotional decisions about whether to shop or not, it's important to approach the decision rationally by asking ourselves why we want to buy something.

Once we have a better understanding of our motivations, we can try implementing these 4 small, principled habits to help us save money and avoid impulse shopping:

Small Habit 1: The 24-Hour Rule - "Only Window Shopping"

Credit cards and digital payments are convenient, especially for online shopping, which can save us a lot of time. However, this convenience can also lead to impulsive spending on small expenses that accumulate daily.

Emily, a college student known as the "queen of impulsive buying," recently found that her credit card bill at the end of the month was getting higher and higher. She began to worry about not being able to achieve her savings goal of skiing in Hokkaido at the end of the year. She decided change her phone wallpaper to Hokkaido skiing photos for motivation. Additionally, when she feels the urge to make an impulsive purchase, she adds the items to her cart and waits 24 hours before making a decision. This simple principle allows her to reconsider whether she truly wants to "empty out the shopping cart."

Tiny Habit 2: Find Other Ways to Satisfy Yourself

Besides impulsive buying, another reason why shopping is irresistible is the "sense of satisfaction." You may have experienced this yourself: when you see an enticing advertisement, you start imagining the excitement of owning that product or the satisfaction of tasting the food in the ad. Therefore, it is essential to find alternative ways to satisfy yourself in life.

Jane is a young office worker who likes to on-line surf and cannot resist being attracted by various promotional events and advertisements. She regrets buying too many unnecessary things. Later, Jane found out that she was particularly prone to slip up under stress, so she began looking for other activities that could divert her attention, such as going out for sports, dining with friends, reading books, etc. This allowed her more time and even money to focus on more important things.

Tiny Habit 3: Install Ad Blocker to Block Temptations

Advertising's power lies in its ability to use emotions and desires to stimulate consumer ideas. When coupled with labels such as "limited-time promotion" or "free shipping," it's difficult to resist the temptation to shop.

If you are someone who is easily distracted or affected by online ads, using an ad blocker may be a good choice. Ad blockers have been shown to provide a better and more focused internet experience, with faster loading speeds and cleaner web pages.² This allows us to focus on what we really want without being interrupted by ads.

Tiny Habit 4: Effective but Clichéd Pre-planning

According to statistics, 62% of people feel more confident after planning their budget.³ Taking small steps, such as developing the habit of keeping accounts and pre-planning, can help avoid excessive consumption and unnecessary waste and also help you feel more financially secure.

By setting clear financial directions, such as monthly savings goals or purchasing schedules, we can establish clear goals and roadmaps before making purchases. Tracking expense is another important step. By recording every spend and income, we can track the flow of money and discover possible areas of waste.

If you haven't developed the habit of tracking expense yet, don't worry! We have many great articles to help you start. For example, Start today by building a daily account tracking routine in less than 5 minutes!

No matter what stage of life you're in or what kind of consumption habits you have, these tiny habits are worth trying out. This way, you can keep your money in your wallet and focus on important and valuable things for enjoying a richer and more meaningful life.

Start by setting 1-2 goals and then, after some time has passed, review your financial situation during that period. You may be surprised by your progress! Don't forget to bookmark this article, too!