How can I stop impulse buying and manage my money better?

[PuffinIsle]

I am in danger of getting myself in a real mess financially if I don't stop spending. To be clear, I'm not spending loads on clothes or treats for myself, I just seem to get a little kick from buying just about anything, even if it's a lemon squeezer. I am not in debt, but I leave myself super short every month by buying little things that I don't really need and I want to manage my money better.

Does anyone have any tips to help? Particularly from people who have managed to curb their own spending.

I'm doing a 365 saving challenge this year and I've got into a good routine of logging into my bank, making the transfer and colouring in a square every day. It gives me a bit of positive feedback which is kind of like buying stuff.

I also list my purchases every month, partly to track delivery but also to keep me straight.

And selling stuff can get you that same dopamine hit, might be worth a try.

I have a spreadsheet that lists all my bills & expenses for the month, subtracts them from what’s in my account & divides the reminder by the number of days until payday. I update it every couple of days & then I know how much I’ve got to spare.

We have differnt accounts

Joint main - all wages and child benefit goes in here

bills - money is taken out to cover the bills

savings account

own personal accounts with some money for us in for gifts and little bits and bobs

inwrite everything down that I buy and keep an eye on stuff as it’s so easy to just spend but we also do a lot of vinted too.

Do you have a goal you're working towards? I.e if it was to buy a house you could put the money you would have spent on stuff into a savings account and get the same buzz?
Or go to the library, you can "shop" for interesting books and don't have to spend a penny

I used to have a post it note in my diary and every time I wanted to buy something I write it down and then reviewed these on payday to see if I still wanted them. I also made a spreadsheet for a zero budget and move all of my money into dedicated pots in my banking app. Then anything left goes straight to my savings. I put half into an instant access account and half into a stocks and shares ISA. I did all this because I spent every penny I had recovering from my divorce and hated to feel panic if I had an unexpected expense. My first goal was to save £1000 as an emergency fund. I’m now a real saddo who gets more fun out of seeing my savings trickle upwards than surrounding myself by more crap I don’t need!