On Tuesday we introduced our 2 part series looking at mindful spending. In part 1 we looked at how to become more aware of our spending and identifying what triggers this. Today we bring you part 2, focusing on how to stop our spending triggers and learn how to forgive ourselves for past money mistakes.
Tip 4- Removing spending triggers
Once you are aware of what triggers your spending, think about removing these triggers by..
- removing your card details from websites you tend to buy from
- unsubscribing from marketing emails sent to tempt you to buy
- Imposing a browsing ban. If you know that you tend to spend at the weekend when you’re relaxing and browsing on your phone, then ban yourself from browsing during those trigger times.
To make these changes more permanent, you will need to consider some long-term behavioural changes otherwise your behaviours around spending may return. Companies are really good at targeting those impulse buy emotions within us so be aware!
Tip 5 – Forgive yourself
Finally, do yourself a favour and give yourself permission to stop self-sabotaging. When we don’t feel worthy, we develop patterns that prevent us from having the money we want and when we feel we aren’t good enough we also fear we will never have enough. This can affect our financial wellbeing and distort our beliefs that lead us to underestimate our capabilities
If you have made bad money decisions in the past forgive yourself and let the emotions go.
These 5 tips will all help you to be more mindful of your beliefs and your habits, and will help you to identify ways to save money through mindful spending.
- Be mindful when spending
- Stop making comparisons
- Identify your triggers
- Remove your triggers
- Forgive yourself
Catherine Morgan is a multi-award winning, qualified financial planner and money coach. She is the founder of The Money Panel.
