4 Clues You’re an emotional shopper
Your emotions are professional shoppers. They are driving your purchases my friend and spending that money in your bank account (whether you realize it or not). The good news? Neuroscience tells us we can shift that. You don’t have to live at the mercy of a good or a bad day, you can actually rewire your brain to operate differently.
But before you can do that, you have to know if you are emotionally shopping in the first place.
So, let’s hop right to it.
Clue #1: Your credit card bill or bank account numbers surprise you.
If you are practicing mindful spending, you will have a very close estimate of your credit card bill and your bank account balance. Sure, you might have a large purchase that you forgot about, but for the most part - you aren’t surprised at the end of the month. And if you are surprised, it’s usually hard for you to pinpoint WHY. And this is because: Emotional spending rarely shows up in large purchases, but multiple small transactions. Those random $5 things add up my friend. Make your best effort to give yourself a “fun money” budget that you can stick to. And the easiest way - is to put it somewhere you can easily see what you have left. That's usually cash, or a debit card specific for your fun money.
Clue #2: When you have a down moment, you immediately think of errands to run.
You might be thinking, “But Bri, I actually do have errands!”. I get it. I’m not talking about groceries, or picking up the dry cleaning. I’m talking about errands that start with:
I’ve been wanting to….
Most of us hate being bored. In fact, we live in a world that tries desperately to keep us from it. And I’m here to tell you, if you can sit in boredom, your bank account is gonna look a lot different. So much of our mindless spending comes from trying to keep ourselves busy. So before you start making up a long list of errands, really ask yourself if they are a priority or an immediate necessity.
Clue #3: You feel guilt for everything you purchase.
This one is super common and probably familiar. Often when we are purchasing and then feeling guilty, it’s usually because we were shopping in an effort to feel better. The tricky part about this: we are seeking joy, but joy isn’t processed in a different part of the brain. The anticipation of feeling better is the driver. And ironically, actually shopping and buying, can make you feel bad, and then all of a sudden - you’re in a habit loop that doesn’t serve anything but run up your credit card bill. Pause, friend. Allow yourself to feel for 90 seconds. Be, don’t react. It will have a positive impact.
Clue #4: You have packages arriving and you don’t remember what you ordered
Ya’ll - if you are getting delivery notices and you can’t remember what you purchased, that might mean you purchase at a high frequency. If you aren’t shopping regularly, you KNOW what you ordered. There is no question. This isn’t about not shopping. It’s simply about slowing down a bit and becoming more mindful.
We all spend emotionally and we won’t ever completely eliminate it. But it has you feeling out of control and is causing you a lot of stress - it’s time to shift into some mindfulness.
We THINK shopping is bringing us happiness, but in reality, it’s just causing us to shop more and feel worse.
You got this my friend!
Bri
