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7 Bad Spending Habits and How to Break Them
It’s time to evaluate the ‘why’ behind what you buy — and find ways to curb costly shopping behaviors
6-minute read
Andrea D'Aquino (Getty Images, 2)
Key takeaways
- Overspending could be a result of deeply ingrained shopping habits.
- Marketing emails and text messages from retailers can encourage spending beyond your needs.
- Simple habits like delaying purchases and buying staples on sale can help control costs.
Did you know you might be wasting money without even realizing it because of deeply ingrained shopping habits?
“There’s a familial tie that shapes what we buy, when we buy it and what we’ll spend on something,” says Jacquette Timmons, a New York-based financial behaviorist. Read: If your parents spent freely, chances are you do too.
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Add online shopping, payment apps and buy now, pay later (BNPL) services and spending intentionally becomes even harder. “The system is set up for us to fail,” says Wendy De La Rosa, a behavioral scientist and assistant professor of marketing at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Fortunately, there are small changes you can make to become a savvier consumer. Here are seven costly shopping habits, along with tactical advice on how to break them.
You shop for products at the wrong times
Whether you’re buying a sweater or an outdoor sectional, the best time to shop is never in peak season. “You’ll often get the best deals when seasonal merchandise is on its way out of stores,” says Julie Ramhold, senior editor at DealNews, a comparison shopping website.
Patience can go a long way. For example, you can score major markdowns on everything from sandals and swimsuits to outdoor furniture and grills if you wait until summer winds down.
When it comes to buying a new car, Ramhold recommends holding out until the end of the year. “While you can certainly find incentives around Memorial Day or July Fourth, the real effort to begin moving cars off the lot begins in October and lasts through the end of the calendar year, when dealers strive to make room for the newest models.”
You’re a creature of convenience
Food delivery and rideshare apps make it easier than ever to order dinner to your doorstep and hail a ride to the airport. But, as De La Rosa points out, “you’re paying a premium for these services.” That premium comes in the form of delivery fees, service fees and tips.
Occasionally, opting for convenience is merited. The key is to use these apps sparingly. “If you can’t limit your use, I recommend deleting the apps from your phone,” says De La Rosa.
Another strategy? “I would delete the card you use to pay for DoorDash or Uber, so that when you order, you have to go through the pain of reentering your payment information,” she says. That friction allows you to take a beat to think about whether your money could be better spent elsewhere, she adds.
You’re retired but spend like you’re still working
Retirement has lots of perks, but being on a fixed budget isn’t necessarily one of them. While you might have purchased big-ticket items, like designer suits or showstopping jewelry, while you were bringing home a paycheck, “what worked for you five years before retirement may not work now,” Timmons says.
She suggests establishing boundaries around spending. One she employs herself: “If I see something I want to buy, I’ll screenshot it and decide later whether I want it or not.”
De La Rosa recommends creating and adhering to a “frequency budget” instead of a traditional budget. For instance, foodies could set a rule to dine out only a couple of times a month rather than set a fixed amount for restaurant dining. “It’s a lot easier to say, ‘I’ll eat at a restaurant twice a month’ than to track what you spend on each meal and how much remains in your budget,” she says.
You don’t stock up strategically
Do you wait until you run out of items that you use regularly, like paper products, cleaning supplies and shampoo, before restocking? If so, you might be throwing good money away along with your empty toothpaste tube.
A better strategy, says Ramhold, is to buy eight to 12 weeks’ worth of frequently used items when they go on sale, “as long as you have the physical space to store them and no plans to switch brands.”
A few items to consider buying in bulk are HVAC filters, trash bags and tin foil, especially if you can shop for them at a warehouse club.
You subscribe to too many marketing emails
Many online retailers offer discounts in exchange for signing up for newsletters, text messages or other marketing communications, since it requires you to provide personal information such as your email address or phone number.
But if you share your information to save 10 percent on your first purchase, you don’t have to subscribe for life. “One thing that has helped me spend less is unsubscribing from marketing messages,” says Ramhold. “Once I stopped getting inundated with those messages, I learned which retailers I prefer to shop at, and I basically only visit them when I need something.”
Typically, you can reply “stop” to a text message or scroll to the bottom of a promotional email to find an “unsubscribe” button. Ramhold says that unsubscribing removes the temptation of yet another “sale” or discount code popping up in your inbox.
“Once you narrow the focus to your preferred retailers, the white noise goes away, and you can better focus on promotions that are actually worth your time to investigate,” she says.
You pride yourself on buying the latest model
If you’re always the first in line when a new Android phone, Apple Watch or designer handbag drops, you’re what behavioral researchers call a “novelty seeker.” And there’s a rationale behind it: “What happens when you get the latest thing? You’re the cool kid, even if you’re the adult. You’re the early adopter or the innovator because you were the first to get it,” Timmons says.
But always jumping on the brand-new model has drawbacks — most notably, you might go into credit card debt or spend money that could be budgeted for more important expenses.
Plus, the emotional high you get from purchasing, say, a new top-of-the-line car model is fleeting. “It doesn’t increase your social capital in the long run, because people are only going to ask to ride in your new car once,” De La Rosa says. “It’s almost always a losing proposition.”
You fall for the ‘free shipping’ ploy
One moment, you’re shopping online for a new pair of jeans. The next, you go to check out and a message appears: “Spend $20 more for free shipping!” Suddenly, you’re adding an extra item — or several items — to your cart that you weren’t planning to purchase.
You’re hardly alone. About 4 in 5 shoppers say they’re willing to increase their spending to meet a retailer’s free shipping threshold, a 2024 FedEx and Morning Consult survey found.
“If you’re only a few dollars short, adding a small item may make sense,” says Ramhold. But more often than not, paying for shipping is a better approach than filling your cart with things you don’t need.
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