8 tips on how to stop shopping addiction

What are the 3 most common signs of a shopping addiction?

1. Compulsive Spending

Those who suffer from a shopping addiction often spend a large amount of money on unnecessary items, even if they can’t afford them. 

2. Compulsive Thinking 

People with shopping addictions tend to spend a lot of time thinking about shopping, what they want to buy next, researching products and looking through online stores. They might also feel this need to reduce their stress or boredom through the avenue of shopping.

3. Emotional Attachment 

Shopping can often release a type of dopamine after buying something new. For those with a shopping addiction, they might have an emotional attachment to shopping where they feel excited or euphoric after buying something new.

Top 8 tips on how to overcome a shopping addiction

1. Unsubscribe and Unfollow

One of the best ways to keep yourself from spending is to avoid situations that tempt you to spend in the first place. A lot of us spend hours a day on digital devices and therefore are subscribed to many store emails offering us deals and discounts. So, if your weakness is online shopping, and you want to get rid of this shopping addiction, the first step would be to start unsubscribing from these emails and blocking these sites with BlockSite. Any site you block on our mobile app or Chrome Extension, you can sync across your devices so you won’t be tempted from any device. 

By unsubscribing from all retailer emails, you’ll avoid the urge to impulse spend and temptation will become a thing of the past. Additionally, if you like social media, especially Instagram – you may want to think about unfollowing ‘influencers’ that push you to spend through what they promote.

In fact, if you are reading this article so far and feel like your phone promotes habits you aren’t fond of, check out our article on how to stop phone addiction for tips and tricks to limit your time online and on your phone. 

2. Track Your Money

Are you sure you’re aware of how much you’re actually spending? Most people don’t keep track on a day-to-day basis of their spending and often lose track of how much they’re buying, and spending and whether or not they actually need it. As an idea, you may want to start tracking every single dollar you spend. You’ll be able to notice your spending habits and patterns and where you fall short, what you’re spending most of your money on, and how you can save. When you are able to visualize your spending patterns, you can act on them, and better overcome a shopping addiction.

Try Wally to help you with this. Wally is an integrated expense tracker app that provides insights into your spending habits using artificial intelligence and other trendy technologies. Wally has a big focus on expenses and presents feedback and useful information on your spending, but it also has a social feature for shared expenses. Perfect!

3. Cash Not Credit

As we mentioned, more often than not, we often don’t realize how much we’re spending because we’re using credit cards. Credit cards often fuel our ‘addiction’ as it seems unrealistic and we make excuses that we’ll work out a way to pay for our goods and make it work ‘until the end of the month…’ If you’re a shopping addict, you’ll be better off without the credit cards, well at least until you’ve learned better spending habits. 

Once you’ve cut up your cards and totally got rid of them, start carrying cash only. It’s inconvenient and that’s the point. If you’re addicted to shopping, the goal is to break the habit, and to do this, you need to make sacrifices. Using cash only and spending cash is a great way to constantly remind yourself that you’re spending real money. Additionally, you could also withdraw a certain amount each week and spend only that amount to make sure you are aware of how much you’re spending and when.

4. Set Goals

You could also try setting yourself some financial goals. It can be anything from ‘save $1,000 for emergency fund’ to ‘save for a luxury vacation.’ By setting goals, cutting back on spending money will seem easier as you will have a reason to save. The goal here is to create a clear path between saving money and getting to do the things you love as well. Implementing this habit will also keep you focused on something other than your addiction, naturally helping to lessen the urge to buy things. Win, win.

5. Change Your Environment

Our environment plays a huge role in our lives. Whether it’s our friends, co-workers, workplace, or where we live – the environment can influence our behavior. 

And even though we can’t always choose our ideal environment, we do have the power to control some aspects of our surroundings. For example, if you have a shopping addiction, it doesn’t make sense for you to browse the mall or browse fashion sites online if you’re trying to kick the habit so you need to make sure you don’t put yourself in places that make it difficult. 

Once you start understanding the root cause of your shopping habits and what drives you to shop – which could also be related to your time management,  you’ll start learning how to overcome your addiction. For example, a lot of people find certain environments such as the workplace stressful, which in turn drives them to buy things online in order to calm down. Our environment plays a huge role in our behavior and we must use it to our advantage by knowing where we should be and where we shouldn’t go for addiction’s sake. 

6. Invest in YOU

As with any addiction, you need to find a healthier alternative to fill the need. The goal here is not to swap an addiction for something else that can become addictive but rather trade in a negative and destructive addiction for one that is positive and healthy, or at the very least neutral. In this case, figure out what’s more important to you than shopping. What do you value most in life? Your family? Your friends? Whatever it is, you must link how continuing to shop will destroy what you value most. If you value the love from your family and friends, it’s easy to see how you will ruin these relationships if you keep borrowing and spending. 

7. Get Help

Sometimes, we can’t deal with our issues alone and there really is no shame in asking for help if you’re finding it hard to curb your addiction. Talk to a friend or family member about your problem and get their advice.

If that’s not enough, you may want to seek professional help – just make sure you’re ready to hear the whole truth and that you’re ready to start learning better habits and dealing with your problems.

8. Block the sites 

Online shopping makes overcoming a shopping addiction so much harder as everything is just a few clicks away, and while visiting a shopping website may give you a few minutes to unwind after work, you’ll end up buying something you don’t really need or can’t really afford. 

There are plenty of other things you can do to pass the time and unwind and while you’re doing those things – you can block the websites that make you spend the most with BlockSite – no willpower required!

BlockSite enables you to block websites – on desktop and mobile that waste your time, or in this case – fuel your addiction. Once they’re blocked, if you try to visit them, you’ll be stopped. Couldn't be easier to start overcoming that addiction after all eh? 

Stop your online shopping addiction

With just a few initial steps you’ll be on your way to controlling and stopping your online shopping addiction. Never be afraid to ask for help from family and friends – it often helps to have someone who keeps you in check and who wants the best for you. Additionally, there are plenty of self-help books and apps like BlockSite that can help curb the addiction. Just remember – these things take time and to be patient with yourself. It’s never easy but it’s always worth it. Good luck! 

FAQs

What are the warning signs of a shopping addiction?

• Shopping due to ‘emotions’ or emotional distress and chaos in your life

• Buying items on credit cards that you wouldn’t buy with cash as it feels reckless

• Lying to others about what you bought and how much you spend

• Juggling accounts to keep on top of your spending and debts.

What are the 3 most common signs of a shopping addiction?

• Compulsive Spending

• Compulsive Thinking 

• Emotional Attachment

How can you stop a shopping addiction?

Unsubscribe and unfollow! By unsubscribing from all retailer emails, you’ll avoid the urge to impulse spend and eliminate temptation. Additionally, if you like social media, especially Instagram – you may want to think about unfollowing ‘influencers’ that push you to spend through what they promote. 

Use BlockSite. BlockSite enables you to block websites – on desktop and mobile that waste your time, or in this case – fuel a habit you want to break. Once they’re blocked, if you try to visit them, you’ll be stopped.