Good Morning Green Panda Readers. I hope that you all had a nice weekend and I hope that you all had a great St. Patrick’s Day. Today we are discussing our spending habits; how we spend our money, when we spend our money, why we spend our money, and how we spend our money. Take a moment and think about the last item you bought – what was it, how much did it cost, and where did you buy it? If we examine our spending habits then we can break bad habits and save more money.
What Type of Spender Are You?
Organized – An organized spender plans their shopping list and their budget ahead of time. Organization is the key to staying in budget as well as avoiding overspending. Organized spenders may buy unnecessary items, but they do not buy anything that is not on their list. You are an organized spender if you maintain the same fixed budget every month and never give in to impulse purchases or last minute overspending.
Impulsive – Impulse spenders try to plan ahead, but very often go over their planned budget. Impulsive spenders often buy items that they don’t need but that are on sale, on promotion, or currently discounted. You are an impulsive spender if you have a planned budget and a shopping list but you end up overspending because you grab additional items throughout your shopping trip. If you are an impulsive spender then you should try to avoid bulk stores, discount warehouses, and sample kiosks.
Necessities Only – A necessity only spender buys only what they need and nothing else. Necessity only spenders are not tempted to overspend when they see sales and promotions. This type of spender does not necessarily have a list, but they know what they need and they know what they don’t need. Extra money is not spent on luxury items because necessity only spenders purchase only the items that they need for basic their living.
Whatever You Feel Like – A whatever you feel like shopper has no plan and no budget; they completely go with the shopping flow. You are a whatever you feel like spender if you know that you need something, but you don’t know exactly what you want to buy. You may go to the grocery store because you need food to eat, but you don’t know what you want to buy ahead of time. Whatever you feel like spenders walk around a store and purchase whatever catches their eye, and whatever items they feel like purchasing at that time. This type of spender may or may not have a predetermined budget.
Influenced by Friends – A spender who is influenced by their friends considers shopping as a past time and not as a chore or errand. Spenders who are influenced by their friends often make their weekly shopping trip an entire day event that includes another social activity such as lunch. Spenders who are influenced by their friends often overspend because they spend way more time shopping than they need to.
Photo by the Italian voice
Tahnya is 30 years old and lives in Montreal Quebec. She graduated in 2005 from Concordia University, and she currently works for a major International Financial Institution. She recently launched http://www.mediamadam.ca/. You can follow her on Twitter @TahnyaP.