If it were possible to give budgets a voice and you asked them who they considered their worst enemy to be they would without hesitation or a single moment of doubt answer ‘The Impulse Buyer’. If you were honest with yourself you wouldn’t even have to think about it for very long before you would agree that your very bad habit of impulse buying is the main reason why you can’t seem to climb out of that deep dark hole of debt you dug for yourself (or fell into – some people really are just victims of circumstance!).

And if you are guilty of the crime – yes – the crime of impulse buying then you need to read this article immediately and take every word to heart. Because if you don’t curb that bad habit soon – you are going to end up in a whole heap of trouble that will take a miracle to get out of!

Become a smart shopper

The greatest thing about being alive in the age of the internet is because it has given birth to the most wonderful concept in the entire world – the online store! When you are shopping online it is much easier to browse right past anything you don’t need. And another thing the internet has brought us? Google - and the ability to search online for coupons that will earn you great savings on literally anything you might want to buy. If you want to be able to pick a great deal from a selection of what's on offer, why not visit a dedicated deals service. You can try and visit Discountrue  to get an idea of what I have in mind.

Put it on hold

If you are in a physical store, snap a photo with your camera phone and send it to yourself along with the price tag – then carry on shopping for the items that are on the shopping list you prepared before you left home. When you have finished getting all the items you were SUPPOSED to be buying find a relatively quiet spot or even better, go home before browsing through any photos that you’ve taken. Decide whether any of those items still strike your fancy or if it was a momentary attraction. If you decide that you really still want one of them then use a price checking app to make sure that you won’t get a better deal somewhere else. This ‘cooling off’ period will help to curb that ‘OOOOhhh I want it!’ feeling enough that you can make a rational decision.

Choose your shopping partner wisely

If you are one of those people who prefers to shop socially then make absolutely sure that the person you take with you is not a poster child for impulse shopping. Seriously – the wrong shopping buddy can convince you to buy something that you normally wouldn’t even consider looking at, never mind actually paying for. If you have the right person with you, that has the same frugal mindset as you do and who knows exactly why you are in the store in the first place, they will be able to keep you on track and within budget. In fact – if you see something you really like – they can check online for a better deal while you drool!!!

Put aside a little Mad Money

Controlling those really big impulse buys is a whole lot easier when you have been allowing yourself a little bit of indiscriminate spending - within a certain budget of course! By allowing yourself these teeny indulgences , be they a single item of clothing, a whole slab of chocolate or adding yet another Rom-Com to your collection you are rewarding yourself for being such a well behaved spender and making it far easier to resist the impulse buys that literally break the bank!!!

As you can see, none of these is very hard to do although at first you will find that your willpower is sorely lacking. If you think you need more advice, Discountrue blog has a ton more. Until you’ve gotten the hang of these tips it may be a good idea to leave your credit cards at home and only carry very small amounts of cash!