I’m the last person to do impulse buying.
~ Friday, September 22, 2023 Blog Post ~
I came across this CNBC video about impulse buying yesterday. This consumer behavior involves people purchasing something without planning to do so beforehand.
Impulse buying often happens when a shopper sees an item that they suddenly desire. Being a frugal cost-cutter, I’m not into shopping. I’m a thirtysomething adult now and I have experienced shopping sprees and realized their repercussions in my personal finance life.
Thus, at this point, I can say I am the last person to engage in impulse buying. After all, I hate costs. I’m very practical and frugal. I detest impulse buying and view it as a foolish way to spend one’s hard-earned money.
I have observed that shoppers who engage in impulse buying are usually teenagers. I have a niece who is 16 years young, and she loves K-Pop. My older sister who is her mom told me how her daughter loves to splurge on K-Pop merchandise like BTS clothes, CDs, and accessories like those worn by K-Pop girl groups as Twice and Blackpink.
They also watched several concerts of BTS, EXO, Seventeen, ENHYPEN, and so forth. With all of these expenses, I had told my niece she is just wasting her allowance and her Mommy’s money!
I gathered that impulse buying is a consumer’s unplanned decision to avail of a service or product made just prior to a purchase. Psychological and emotional triggers influence this consumer behavior, which entice shoppers to spontaneously buy something to meet an urge.
Since I’m financially savvy and know the value of my hard-earned money, I’m focused on saving more money and investing it for my future. Furthermore, I’m quite mindful of inflation’s ill effects on consumer finances, which makes me the last person to perform impulse purchases.
My hobbies — like reading, learning, and blogging about personal finance and everything related to money — are cost-effective. I’m more interested in ensuring my long-term financial wellness and discovering my financial service providers’ offerings that can help me cement a secure financial future. Among these companies are banks, credit card companies, wealth management firm, and credit union.
Moreover, I’m more interested in learning sound financial advice from personal finance and wealth management experts than going on a shopping spree. My fields of interests are (1) personal finance, (2) investment management, (3) international finance, (4) banking, (5) wealth management, (6) international business, (7) international economics, (8) asset protection, and so forth.
I’m approaching middle age, so yes, I definitely know my hard-earned money’s value and how hard it is to earn money. Securing my financial future is my priority. Thus, doing impulse buying is highly unlikely for me.
Here is the CNBC video and I included a transcript of it below:
Transcript: It can be really tempting to buy concert tickets on a whim or splurge on a fancy meal at restaurants. I recently almost did this with Taylor Swift tickets. When emotions run high, a lot of people have the urge to buy things for a quick endorphin rush. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a good decision, though.
So how can you resist the urge to impulse-buy?
1. Try waiting 24 hours before using your credit card for the purchase.
Doing so can give you a better sense of whether you really want to buy that item or not.
2. You can set aside a portion of your paycheck as fun money and only use that amount to buy impulse purchases.
If that bucket is low one month, try doing activities that are free to boost your mood like a walk in the park or a picnic.
3. Try to think about what you truly value the most.
Do you value an experience like a concert over buying clothes? If so, you can adjust your budget accordingly.
Financial advisor Heath Biller at Fiduciary Financial Advisors said to:
4. Think about how long you’ll have to work to pay for the item instead of just the dollars that it will cost.
So, for instance, if someone wants to go on a trip for $1,000 and they get paid for $20 an hour, ask yourself if the trip is worth 50 hours of work or not.
Sources and references:
https://pro.morningconsult.com/trackers/financial-services-trends
https://pro.morningconsult.com/trackers/tracking-financial-well-being
