We spend a lot of time in my financial literacy class for educators talking about being intentional with your spending. We discuss that spending isn’t bad, it’s a necessary and essential part of living your “good life”. What can be bad is if you are spending on things that you don’t value in ways that interfere with your goals. For many in the class, simply re-framing spending in this way, thinking about it in terms of values, goals, and being intentional, is a big help. But there are often people in the class who recognize the power of thinking this way but who also say they still struggle with being intentional with their spending. The following are two simple (but not necessarily easy) strategies that many of those folks have indicated have been helpful for them.
#1 Don’t Buy Things On Your Phone
A simple (but, again, perhaps not easy) strategy is to stop buying things on your phone. Retrain yourself using the mantra, “Buying is a computer/tablet activity, not a phone activity.” Except in rare cases, very few people ever need to buy something using their phone. Instead, make a habit that if you are purchasing something online, that’s a transaction that only happens on your computer or non-cellular tablet. The extra friction of having to use a different device (and perhaps wait until you get home) is often enough to make people slow down and reevaluate whether this particular purchase is something they really value and that aligns with their goals. If it does, then great, go ahead and buy it, and the slight delay in your purchase by waiting until you got home is pretty negligible. If it does not, then that extra time and effort keeps you from some of your unintentional spending that doesn’t align with your values and goals.
Note that this assumes that people have a computer or non-cellular tablet. Obviously if their only device is a phone, this strategy is a bit more difficult to implement. Which is where the second strategy can be helpful.
#2 Logout of Apps/Websites
The second strategy is to logout of any apps or websites where you complete online purchases (with Amazon being a major one for a lot of people). While it’s not particularly difficult to log back in, the extra friction and effort of having to do so is often enough to make people pause and think about the value of that purchase. If you store your credit cards on a shopping site or use something like Apple Pay, perhaps also reconsider whether that convenience is worth it. If you not only have to login to an app or website to purchase something, but you also have to enter your card information, that gives you even more time to think through the value of that particular purchase.
Combining these strategies of only purchasing on a computer or non-cellular tablet, logging out of the apps and websites that you frequently shop on on those devices, and no longer storing your card information on your devices can provide the friction that is often enough to cut down on some of those impulse purchases.
To be clear, this is not intended to “shame” anyone for their spending. Everyone needs to think carefully about their values and goals and then align their spending with those. As long as your spending is aligned, you’re in good shape. But it’s worth considering if giving up a little bit of the “convenience” of purchasing on your phone, always being logged in to shopping sites, and having your credit card information stored on your device might just help you make purchasing decisions that better align with your values and goals and help you live your “good life”.
Fisch Financial 