I was filling up my home with clutter and struggling to balance my budget – how I broke my impulsive spending habit and my tips to help you do it too

Amanda Jones is one of Ideal Home's new Open House contributors, sharing her thoughts on sustainable living and decorating a home in way that is good for the environment. See the rest of her articles here.

In a world that is so fast paced and demanding, my aim over the last few years has been to live more intentionally. I want a home that is curated, meaningful and easy to maintain. Simple routines that make sense and bring peace and calmness into our lives.

Like a lot of families, we live on a tight budget. Breaking my habit of impulsive spending has given me a financial peace that I just didn’t have before, it’s helped me take back control over our finances. We waste so much of our hard-earned cash, without even realising what we are doing.

After years of decluttering my home, the last thing I wanted to do, was fill my house back up again with stuff. When I looked at what I had let go of, and how much it has cost me, I was horrified, most of these purchases had been bought impulsively.

Over the years people have often asked me how to stop impulsive spending. Facing up to what you’ve wasted over the years is a good start, but here are a few other things you can do to help break an impulsive spending habit.

Ask yourself why

Knowing why you want to stop your impulsive spending, is a good and crucial start to the process. Once I’d linked my impulsive spending to my accumulated clutter, I knew that cracking the habit would be key to not drowning in stuff again.

For you the reasons may be different, perhaps you need to budget better or pay down debt. Maybe you understand the ecological impact our overconsumption is having and want to stop. Are you an emotional spender? Knowing why you want to change, will keep you motivated and on track.

Make a wishlist

Have a physical list of things you know you want to buy. This will keep your mind focused. Each time you write something down, ask is it a need or a want, we need far less than we want, and once to see this you will automatically buy less.

Press pause

When you put an item on a list, pause for at least 30 days, to assess if its something you REALLY need. This will be hard to start with, but with practice you will get better, I promise. It’s a decision muscle you need to build up that’s all.

Work out the real cost

Work out what the real cost is of something you want to buy. Think in terms of how many hours you will have to work to buy it. Is that item worth ten hours pay, or weeks’ pay?

This can often be quite a sobering exercise, and may give you a different perspective on what you buy.

Unsubscribe

Remove yourself from companies' mailing lists and email lists. Stop the temptation. Emails can come through thick and fast, making it difficult to make intentional purchasing decisions.

Unsubscribe from social media accounts that encourage you to spend mindlessly, that are full of ads, or just generally make you feel ‘less than’. We just don’t need that extra pressure.

Take inventory

Do you know what you own? What’s in your wardrobe, your kitchen cupboards, on your bookshelves? This is where having a decluttered life helps, you automatically know what you have, where it is, and what you may need to replace soon.

Having a good idea what you already own, will save you making impulsive purchases.

No spend days

Set yourself a couple of no spend days each week, and don’t buy anything on those days. As you get more practised, increase these to a no buy week, or month. We did a low buy year; and learnt so much about my spending habits.

Again, the more you practice this, the easier it will become. You will get to the point where know what you need as opposed to just what you want, significantly slowing down your purchases.

Another idea for an extra incentive if needed, each month keep a tab of what you almost bought, and total the amount, you can either pat yourself on the back for saving £££ or better still transfer that cash into a savings account, or pay down some debt.

Stopping impulsive spending gives you a freedom that’s hard to quantify in an article. I’m not saying we should never allow ourselves to have any treats, but what I’ve learnt by being very intentional with my purchases, is that I’m more appreciative of what I DO have, rather than continually seeking more.