🔗 Share this article

One afternoon at my job a couple of years back, an alert popped up on my phone: my salary had been deposited. It was a fair amount for a student, so I proceeded with my what I always did payday ritual: I opened every shopping app on my device. Amazon, Vinted, Etsy, Depop, Zara, you name it. Within the space of an hour, I had parted with £90 on clothes, decorative items and a totally unused heavy blanket that I never used.

A short while after, I went online again and bought a blow dryer. I already had one, but thought an extra one couldn't hurt. Then I added LED strip lights and two pairs of shoes that didn't even fit me. This wasn't a new pattern. In fact, I’d been notorious for it ever since I could afford to buy my own things.

Whenever I felt stressed, exhausted or uninterested, I would doomscroll until it always ended in an unplanned shopping spree. My justification was constantly: “Oh well, it’s just £5.” But £5 turned into £10, then £20, and so on.

I was never completely sure why I did this. Maybe it was because I grew up in a poor family, where we’d go months without buying new outfits or anything to brighten up the home. So any moment I had extra money, there was always a subconscious yearning for novel and thrilling things. Or maybe, and almost certainly, I was just bad with money and succumbed easily to the lure of demands.

A Revolutionary Approach

In the end, I decided to try something new. Prior to buying anything, I’d put it in my digital cart, delay for 24 hours, then make a choice on whether to check out. The greatest advantage of this technique was that it provided me time to think – an action I’d never done before. For the first time since I turned 18, I started asking myself: “Do I truly need this? Is it within my budget?” More often than not, the answer was no.

If I accessed Amazon, Depop or Zara and found items lingering in my cart, I’d remove them and start fresh. Using this system, I ceased buying goods that I intuitively knew I would never use. I once considered purchasing a trio of games, but after waiting before visiting the store, I realised I never actually play board games.

I also contemplated buying a disposable film camera for my first trip to the coast. After waiting I recalled I possessed a phone, similar to everybody else, that features a perfectly good lens, and thus had no requirement to acquire a dedicated device.

The Lasting Impact

It also means I am more selective about the items I do buy, and I can at last look at my financial records without experiencing guilt or embarrassment.

Of course, there have been occasions I’ve slipped back into old patterns – it's human nature. The difference now is that I can identify the signs sooner, particularly when I’m rushing into a transaction. I’ve come to understand ennui is a powerful catalyst. It’s perhaps the primary motivator of my impulsive spending.

Modern culture preys on this boredom and our need for immediate gratification. That’s why, in hindsight, compelling myself to halt before buying has felt unexpectedly liberating. To be able to have control over my urges and remind myself that I don’t need to spend my hard-earned money on unnecessary goods feels as revolutionary as it is simple.