Hello, all.
Are you stressed? Worried? and/or tired? If you are, do you spend more money than usual? Because I do. And I have been stressed, tired, and slightly worried lately (although the worried part is pretty much gone), which means I have been spending or have been tempted to spend my $$$. Here are a few things I am doing to prevent myself from clicking that check-out button on Amazon.
1. De-stress.
The source of emotional spending is stress. So what do I do to prevent emotional spending? De-stress. It took a long time for me to realize what makes my stress go away. I used to think that doing big fun things was the key for de-stressing and it didn't work well since I would have to do something fun or eventful very often to de-stress. These days, one of the most effective (and cheapest and fastest) ways to de-stress for me is to take a hot shower. I believe that people build up tension in their bodies when they are stressed. So, for me, hot steamy water running down my body takes the tension out, helping my mind to relax. Not allowing stress to build up in my system is the key to preventing emotional spending.
2. Procrastinate.
This is the only place I fully celebrate procrastination! Welcome, my friends, to the world where procrastination turns into a reward, haha. Procrastination is something I have always felt guilty about, but isn't it amazing that I don't have to feel in such a way? Okay, getting back on track. So whenever I want to buy something, I take a break from the places where I can buy things. I close the websites I was shopping on and procrastinate buying those things until I really, REALLY need it. Procrastinating will help you realize if you really need something or not. So yay, procrastination for emotional spending!
3. Review your goals.
When nothing works, this is the last thing I do. I go back to the post where I talked about my financial goals and read them over. This reminds me of the things I need to do to reach my goals, the effort I need to put in to ensure that I can reach my financial independence.
Before I end this post, I want to make sure that you guys know that if you guys end up shopping emotionally, don't feel too guilty about it! It is important for us to remember and reflect on what we did and move on, making a mental note not to repeat it. It is OKAY for us to sometimes not be perfect!
Thank you so much for reading this post, I'm sorry I have been slacking off on this blog! I will make sure to post more things here. Meanwhile, please come check out my Youtube channel, breezytime. Cheers to all of us starting a new work week tomorrow and good luck!
