What triggers us to overspend?

Welcome back to our series on being financially prudent. The plain truth is, most of us cannot afford to be extravagant. We ended last week by mentioning a few ways in which we can curb our spendthrift habits. The first was “Identifying Your Triggers.”

In an article by myMoneyCoach, titled “How to stop spending Money:7 Tips and Tricks to Curb Your Overspending.” Knowing how to stop sending money has to do with identifying the emotional and psychological triggers that cause us to spend. The author believes that by removing the triggers, you will remove the temptation and opportunity to overspend.

The article outlined several triggers to overspending:

Time of the day: It is therefore recommended that you shop at the time of the day when your energy level is at its highest. In so doing you can go where the best deals are even if it means going further.

Environment:

If you are inclined to spend more when you visited certain places, you should either avoid going there or make sure to take little money with you.

Mood: Your emotional state of mind can alter your energy resources and make you more susceptible to impulse shopping. Try physical activities when you are upset.

Peer Pressure: If you can’t afford your friends’ lifestyle decline their invitations or suggest activities that wouldn’t require you to live outside your means.

Lifestyle: It is said that those who grew up in a household where money was always tight may feel a greater urge to overspend to compensate for all the things they were deprived of growing up. And if you grew up in a household where money wasn’t an issue, you may feel compelled to spend money you don’t have to maintain the lifestyle you grew up with. Either way, you need to know your triggers and manage them.

Before I close, I want to share with you another recent experience involving spending money on product/service that wasn’t worth it.

A few days ago, I received a call from an expatriate friend asking if I was available for lunch.  I was inclined to say yes although off the top of my head I couldn’t think of a place nearby that provides raving service. We settled at what appeared to be a thriving business with two locations. We were dining in and requested knife and fork, but only small flimsy plastic forks were available.   During the meal, I noticed that my friend was putting pieces of meat to the side of the plate.  When I enquired, I was told that those pieces were obviously stale, that they looked stale, and tasted ‘off’ and they were mixed in with what was apparently prepared that day.  I was embarrassed. As we were preparing to leave, my friend asked to use the restroom and was told that it was out of order. Who operates a restaurant, allow indoor dining with no restroom service? The expatriate did what I couldn’t do… let them have it.

“The errors businesses make in Today’s Good Times create Tomorrow’s Bad Times.”