How do you define whether you actually need something or was it something you merely wanted to have?
When I was single, I used to spend without a care in the world. Every month, a fixed allowance was given to me and I thought, “All I have to do is to spend within this amount”.
And so I did. Every month was different though. Some months I spent less, some months I splurge due to birthday celebrations and on myself. But just to let you know, I don’t go for branded stuff such as Chanel and Gucci, darn, I can’t bring myself to spend on those with my hard earned money. I used to mostly spend my money on nail salons, food, some clothes that I didn’t really need and also on makeup or skincare. Simple things you’d expect from a girl from the age of 17 to 20 who didn’t care much about savings back then. Now, I think I only visit the nail salon once a year.
However, I must say first that I didn’t spend without thinking BUT I’ll always end up getting it most of the time. The questions didn’t really help because of the thought process that went through it.
When I was single, I’d ask or say these to myself:
- Do I need this makeup brush? But it’s on sale, let’s just get it and we’ll see how it goes.
- If it’s not on sale, but a necessity at the very least, I’d still get it.
- If it was an obvious want, I’ll consider and possibly get it after going back to the store 2 to 3 times later.
- I eat most of my meals at home anyway when I’m not going out, I’ll be fine spending a bit now.
Related: Two Essential Makeup Tools for a Beginner
Now that I’m attached:
- Do I really need this?
- It’s on sale, but can I wait till the next big sale?
- Will I die or be unhappy without it?
- Can my craving of Japanese Sashimi Buffet / KBBQ wait till the next month? (Btw, I LOVE salmon sashimi ????)
- Maybe I can watch this movie next month if it’s not too late?
I’m not sure if you can see the difference in my attitude then versus now. To me, it’s a significant change and I’m glad that I did. Being in a relationship helped me imagine a future with two persons, not just me. Especially so if both of you are constantly contributing to a joint account every month for a future event; staycation, overseas trip or something bigger like a house such as BTO (Build-to-Order) flats. In Singapore, houses are not cheap at all.
Even if you’re not in a relationship, you can try asking those questions to yourself to discern the need to buy something. If I had a chance to go back to my 17-20 year old self, I would have done it. I wonder how much more I would have saved up haha.
Apart from just getting monthly allowance, I have worked as an intern and a temporary contract staff in those 4 years (when I was single). Earning some money here and there helped build the amount of savings I had in my bank account. Despite earning 3 times of the monthly allowance I got, I probably spent lesser time going out when I was working which was understandable since I work Monday to Friday, 9-5. BUT – lesser time to go out made me spend more time on online shopping. Those years were the times where I’d purposely go to Qoo10, Zalora, Sephora and other websites to find something I could get.
Not because I needed it, but because I had nothing to do. I’d get things I didn’t need. Just like the double eyelid spectacles (to help train your eyelids to become double eyelids) or a bar of soap that was said to solve all my acne problems (which obviously didn’t, hah).
Fast forward to now, I actually sold a couple of things on Carousell (a mobile-based platform where you could list your items on sale and people could make an offer to buy it) because I realised I had no use for it or that I didn’t like using it anymore.
Instead of spending time on your smartphones, try reading if that’s your thing. If you don’t like reading, you can listen to a book on Audible too. I used to do that because reading makes me sleep haha. If reading isn’t your thing, try exercising or even starting a blog.
To be honest, I never knew starting a blog could take so much of my time until I started it. The preparation of everything from the start. I may be a bit of a perfectionist so I could be putting too much pressure on myself though.
No harm trying some of the examples I said. You only stand to gain, not lose. I’ll talk more about how to save next time. There are some really easy tips you could follow. Subscribe if you’d want to know when it’s live!
What are some of the ways you stop yourself from shopping? Share a tip or two with me! I’d love to know what you have tried.
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