Create a No-Shopping Savings Account to Accumulate Your Impulse Spending
You will probably buy unnecessary nonsense . Maybe you’ll buy a lot. If you want to know exactly how much, create a separate savings account and dump every penny you planned to spend on something frivolous.
As the personal finance blog Blonde on a Budget explains, banning purchases is a common way to save money (temporary or long-term). The problem is, if you have nowhere to put the money you saved, you will be tempted to spend it. Instead, create a dedicated no-shopping savings account so you have a place to save the money you were planning on spending:
A better idea might be to transfer every penny you don’t allow yourself to spend without making impulse purchases. For example, if you tend to buy multiple books and even put them in your shopping basket, look at the total you nearly spent and transfer that same amount in cash to your no-purchase savings account. After the first year, I had almost $ 3,000 in my account and spent another $ 700 on a new bed (which was on my approved shopping list).
The idea is that every time you want to spend money on something, you transfer that amount to that savings account instead. You can apply this concept to just about any outside purchase: shopping, eating out, going out for fun instead of staying at home. Every time you exercise a little restraint, your savings account gets bigger.
The Ultimate Guide to Stop Shopping: Part 1 | Blonde on a budget