How Can I Better Manage My Online Spending?

The global online retail market is continuing to grow and is expected to reach 8.8% of total retail spending in 2018, up 1.4% compared to the year before. With the ongoing advancement of technology, greater availability of apps and just the sheer convenience online shopping provides, many people can easily get carried away. If you’re someone who realises their online spending sometimes gets out of control, then there are a few ways you can manage it better.    

Delete Shopping Apps 

While shopping apps for your favourite stores on your phone provide a high level of convenience, they also make it too easy to spend money. Many of us find ourselves mindlessly browsing products that we don’t need when we’re bored, which ultimately leads to unnecessary purchases. Especially as these will highlight deals, the temptation can be too great. Get rid of any shopping apps to prevent yourself from falling into the trap. 

Unsubscribe From Newsletters 

In a similar vein, marketing emails and newsletters from online shopping outlets can lure you into spending at times and on items you otherwise wouldn’t. These will definitely highlight any deals, often proclaiming them to be limited offers or only available for a certain time. Simply unsubscribe from all such emails that regularly land in your inbox, it will only take a few minutes yet should save you plenty of time and money in the future.  

Use Preloaded Gift Cards 

An effective budgeting technique for online shopping can be to only allow yourself to spend using preloaded gift cards. With one click payments and saving your bank details online, it makes paying for items all too easy. Each month you should load up an online gift card with the amount you have budgeted for and force yourself to only use this for online purchases. Then once it’s gone you shouldn’t be able to make any more unnecessary purchases for the month. 

Research Savings 

Before you make any kind of financial commitment, whether it’s borrowing money or spending a lot on a new car, you should do plenty of research. The same is true when shopping online, to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal and not overspending. Compare the product at other online outlets and see if you can find a discount elsewhere to cut down on the amount you’re spending online. 

Have an Accountability Partner 

If you really struggle to control your online spending alone, then find an accountability partner to help. This could be your actual partner, a friend or family member. They can talk to you about your money goals, any big purchases and even set up a joint account which they control, to limit your online spending.  

Hopefully these tips will help you better manage your online spending in the future.

XOXO