Being Confident with your Spending: 4 Strategies to Curb Impulse Buying

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Ever walked into Target for "just one thing" only to leave with a cartful of unexpected purchases? You're not alone. After my own wake-up call—buying a shirt my son didn't need—I realized my shopping habits needed a serious overhaul.

This transformation didn't happen overnight, but by implementing four simple strategies, I've dramatically reduced my impulse buying and unnecessary spending. The first game-changer was creating dedicated shopping lists in my phone that I actually maintain. Before any purchase, I check my list—if it's not there, it probably means we don't need it. This system has saved me from countless "but I thought we needed this" moments that used to drain my wallet.

My second strategy might sound simple, but it's been revolutionary: a separate "things to buy" list for non-urgent items. That cheese grater that broke? The extra storage basket that would complete my dining room set? They go on this list rather than becoming immediate purchases. When I have extra spending money or receive a gift card, I already know exactly what would bring lasting value to our home.

Grocery pickup has been another unexpected ally in my battle against overbuying. Without those tempting store aisles, my impulse purchases have plummeted. And finally, limiting online orders to once weekly gives me the crucial cooling-off period needed to separate fleeting wants from genuine needs. The number of items I've deleted from my Amazon cart during this waiting period is staggering!

Whether you're trying to stick to a tight budget or simply want to be more intentional about what enters your home, these strategies can help you shop with greater purpose. Everything we bring into our homes occupies not just physical space but mental space too—a realization that's transformed how I view every purchase. Ready to break the overbuying cycle? Share your own shopping strategies with me on Instagram @confidentlybeautifulpodcast and let's build a community of intentional consumers together.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
you're listening to confidently beautiful with
sierra a podcast to help youstay confidently beautiful,
because we all have confidenceinside us.
We just need to bring it outand I'm here to show you how
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we cover it all.
Get ready to stay confidentlybeautiful.
Hi friend, have you ever goneshopping for just one thing and

(00:29):
somehow you left with an entirecart full of things you didn't
really need?
Yeah, me too.
I am guilty of overbuying allthe time, grabbing things on
impulse, buying duplicates,spending money on stuff that
ends up just collecting dust orbeing stuck in my closet and
never touched.
But over the past couple ofmonths, I've been really
intentional about changing thishabit, and today I'm sharing
four simple strategies that havehelped me to stop my overbuying

(00:52):
and overspending.
If you feel like you'reconstantly overspending or
bringing home things you don'tactually need, this episode is
for you.
This is for people who have alot of money who don't have a
lot of money.
All of us are guilty ofoverbuying, overspending, buying
things we don't really need,and so I hope that this episode
can be helpful for you.
So, before we get started, makesure you subscribe.

(01:13):
Share this episode with afriend, I have story time as we
dive into this episode.
So this is my Target wake upcall, is what we're going to
call it.
Last fall I walked into Targetas I was prepping all of my fall
festivities.
The fall was in the air and Ifound the cutest little fall
button up shirts.
I'm a sucker for the little boybutton up shirts and I was like

(01:35):
, oh, these are going to be socute, so I put them.
I grabbed one size for mythree-year-old, one size for my
baby and I put them in my cartand, like, just went on with my
shopping and they were adorable.
They were, I felt like,affordable and I felt like I was
getting a great deal.
But then here's the problemwhen I got home, I opened up my
three-year-old's closet to putit away and guess what His

(01:57):
closet was like?
Overflowing with long sleeveshirts.
We were just entering fall andso I hadn't really been paying
attention to, like, his longsleeve situation.
He was overflowing with longsleeve shirts.
So did I really need that shirt?
No, I wasn't buying out ofnecessity, I was just buying out
of impulse and legitimately, mybaby did need it, but my little
three-year-old, he did not needto have a matching shirt and I,

(02:20):
if I had been more organizedthen I would have stopped my
overbuying.
Probably I would have alreadyknown that his closet was
already bursting at the seamwith about 20 long sleeve shirts
, so I didn't not need to dothat.
So here are my four strategiesthat I have really been trying
to implement this year.
This is these are my strategiesto stop overbuying and to shop
smarter.
Number one keep an updatedshopping list in my phone.

(02:44):
Phone.
So I have a note in my phonewhere I can track easily what
each family member needs.
I have a close.
My kids need note in my phone.
So this year, before I'vebought anything, I have checked
this list to see if it's onthere.
If it's on there, then I canget it.
If it's not on there, Iprobably don't need it, because
I'm pretty good at keeping thislist up to date.
Every time I go through the kidscloset, I always try and update

(03:05):
it, because I'm pretty good atkeeping this list up to date.
Every time I go through thekids closet, I always try and
update it.
If I put something in thedonate bin, then I go and update
the list, knowing that I'mgoing to need to replace that
item.
This has saved me so much moneyand it has prevented those.
Do we already have this moments?
Because I can't keep track ofeverything in my home?
Let's be honest, I already haveenough in my head I I can't
keep track of everything in myhome.
Let's be honest, I already haveenough in my head I can't keep

(03:26):
track of it all, and so this hasreally helped me with that.
So put a note in your phone.
I even do it for myself.
I even have a note for myselfLike these are the things I need
.
Yes, sometimes it's stilltotally fun to treat yourself or
treat your kids to somethingthat you might not necessarily
need, but if you're trying tostop the overbuying, I have
found this has helped me feel somuch more confident while I'm
shopping, to make sure that I'mnot buying something that I

(03:46):
really don't need and that I'mgoing to get home and feel happy
with my purchase.
Number two is a use a things tobuy list for non-grocery items.
So, again, a note in my phone.
I keep a separate list.
That is just a things to buylist.
I have that note in my phonefor specific like clothing items
or shoe items that my kids need.
But then I also have like athings to buy list.

(04:07):
This is like things that arenot urgent, they're not my
weekly grocery list items,they're just things that
eventually it would be nice tobuy.
So, for example, I have thiscute buffet in my dining room
and when we moved into this newhouse then I was organizing
things and I found, oh, this isgoing to be the perfect spot for
, like all of my paper goods,and so I put all my paper goods

(04:27):
in there and I had these blackbaskets that I could put them in
, and I organized them.
Well, I noticed that I haveonly three black baskets and it
really ideally I should havefour in there, because that's
just how the setup is, that itwould fit best with four.
So I just opened up my app inmy phone and I put black basket
for the buffet, okay, and that'sall I have to do.

(04:48):
And so then, like, if I get agift card or I'm like, oh, I
have a little bit of extraspending money this month, I can
open up that list and see whatit is that I am needing.
Another example is my cheesegrater broke.
It really isn't the end of theworld, I don't have to have a
cheese grater.
I can just buy the pre-shreddedcheese, even though I prefer
the fresh cheese because it'shealthier for you, and it's

(05:08):
healthier for you and it's, inmy opinion, tastes a lot better.
It's just, it just tastes fresh, and so I do.
I have to have the cheesegrater?
No, I don't, but I put it inthe list so that if I have a
birthday coming up, if I havesome extra spending money, then
I can grab that cheese grater ifI want and I don't have to sit
there and think what do I wantto spend my money on?
This can also help me if I amout shopping with friends and I

(05:36):
want to be able to, like, buysomething to treat myself.
I can know what I actually havebeen wanting and needing and
not like just impulsively buyingthings that I may end up just
sticking somewhere and nevertouching ever again.
My number three tip is to dogrocery pickup.
I don't know how I survivedwithout grocery pickup.
I started doing grocery pickupin 2020 and my life has never
been the same.
It has helped me in so manyways, but specifically with

(05:58):
being confident, with notoverbuying or overspending.
It has helped me to have fewerimpulse buys.
I do occasionally like, as I'mon their website and I'm filling
in my cart, I do occasionallysee something and I'm like, ooh,
I want to try that or thatsounds good, and I, you know, I
add it to the cart.
But I find that I do that a lotless frequently when I am doing
online grocery pickup, versusgoing through and walking up and

(06:22):
down the aisles and shopping inthe store.
I also keep a Costco list.
So my grocery pickup is like,for I shop at my local Smith's,
my local Kroger store, but thenI also like to do a Costco run
at the beginning of every month,and so I also keep a Costco
list in my notes app to makesure I'm only buying what I
actually need when I go there,because, oh my goodness, we all

(06:43):
know the damage that can be doneat Costco, right.
And so I have a running app inmy phone to make sure that I can
always know what I'm needing atCostco, so that when I sit down
to write my list or I walk intothe store, I'm not just
wondering, oh, what do Iactually really need from here?
And I have an idea of what Ineed before I even go inside.
And number four is to limit myonline orders to once a week.

(07:06):
You could do once a week, youcould do once a month, whatever
works best for you.
It's so easy to just buy thingswith one click, so I have set a
rule that my Amazon and myTarget orders only happen once a
week.
Occasionally, yes, of course,I'm going to have something that
I'm like oh well, I have tohave this in two days, and so I
will order stuff occasionally,but overall, I really try to

(07:27):
just do a once a week Amazon andTarget order, and so throughout
the week, if I see somethingthat I want, I can add it to my
Amazon cart or I can add it toan Amazon wish list and instead
of checking out immediately, Ican wait, and then by that week,
when it's ready for me, timefor me to place my order, I can
go through and I can take outwhat I actually really didn't

(07:50):
want, like maybe I just soundedgood in the moment, it sounded
like something that I needed inthe moment, and I have found
that I have deleted so manythings from my cart when I do it
that way, so that has beenreally helpful for me.
My Amazon wish lists are foreverand ever and ever long.
They are so long, which alsomakes it really great for when
people ask me what I want forgifts, because I have a list.

(08:10):
I have an ongoing wish list,which is really good, but it
also keeps me from not justbuying things and then being
like, oh, I don't actuallyreally need that and I have
found, even when I put it on mywish list, I'm thinking that I
really want it.
Then when I like go to puttogether a Christmas list for my
mom or whatever, and then I cango through the list and be like
, actually I really don't wantany of this stuff.

(08:30):
I would not be happy if I gotthis stuff and so I can take it
off and it's just funny.
I think it's funny how we thinkwe want or need something in
the moment, but then, if we lettime go by, we can see what we
actually would never use thatitem or we actually don't really
want that.
Those are my four tips.
I hope that they are practicaland easy for you to implement
into your life and maybe they'llhelp you with your overbuying

(08:51):
and shopping smarter.
Maybe this isn't a problem foryou, but I think that we all
could be smarter with our money.
No matter how much or littlemoney we have, we could all be
smarter with it.
And we could also be smarterwith what we're bringing into
our homes.
Everything that we bring intoour homes is going to take up
some space in our brain.
Every time we walk past it it'sgoing to be seeing another mess
that we need to clean up orsomething else that we need to

(09:13):
put away.
I'd love to hear your best bunnysaving and overbuying
prevention tips.
So DM me on Instagram atconfidently beautiful podcast
and let me know what works foryou.
Do you have something that youdo that really works for you?
And I would love to share someof your responses on a future
episode or in my Instagramstories so that we can all learn
and grow from each other.
So I hope this helps you to bemore confident with your buying

(09:35):
and overspending and be moreconfident with your finances and
what you are bringing into yourhome.
Until next time, stayconfidently beautiful.
Thanks for listening.
Connect with me on Instagram atconfidently beautiful podcast
and share this episode withsomeone in your life who could
use a little reminder of justhow amazing they already are.
Stay confidently beautiful.