Tips to Avoid Doom Spending and Safeguard Your Wallet - Money Tip Tuesday

Are you often worried or discouraged about economic factors or current events? Not surprisingly, current events can substantially impact how we behave with money.

Many people react to news or events with coping mechanisms, one of which involves overspending. Fortunately, there are ways to keep current events from impacting your mindset and, ultimately, your money.  

Links:

• Check out TCU University for more financial education tips and resources! 
• Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! 
• Learn more about Triangle Credit Union 

Transcript:

Welcome to Money Tip Tuesday from the Making Money Personal podcast. 

If you've heard of Doom Scrolling, the term describes when people mindlessly scroll through newsfeeds and social media feeds, glued to negative headlines. It tends to evoke feelings of anxiety or depression. 

Another term has popped up recently describing a similar phenomenon called Doom Spending. This term describes a person's tendency to mindlessly spend money to cope with stress or anxiety, particularly stress or anxiety due to current events or economic factors. It's a type of emotional spending or even retail therapy. And because so many shopping apps make it easy to scroll through thousands of items, many people may run to those apps to scroll through products and shop for all kinds of things to offset negative feelings.  

Doom Spending poses many problems for those who fall into it. It's dangerous and can wreak havoc on your finances by derailing your financial plan and interfering with your ability to establish beneficial money habits. 

It can also cause you to make financial decisions you may regret in the future, as well as missing out on wealth-building opportunities as they arise. 

If you're susceptible to Doom Spending, you may find yourself shopping through an endless scroll and blowing a bunch of money to help you feel better.  

Remember that your feelings start with what you choose to focus on. Don't focus on all the negative. Remember that headlines tend to be sensationalized and promote what will most likely get a reaction out of you. Scientifically, headlines with negative messaging get more engagement than those with positive messaging. 

If you're engaging in doom spending to cope with stress, here are a few things you can do to guard against it.  

Change your routine. If you're scrolling most often at a particular time of day, say late at night before bed or on your way home from work, you might find that this is the time you feel more likely to spend.  Turn off the media and take a break from your phone. Keep it away from the nightstand, or swap it with a book instead. If you spend too much time on the couch with your phone or in front of the TV, try taking a walk instead to get away from the devices.  

Develop a method to stay on top of spending. Take charge of your money. Set a budget, make a list on paper or your phone, or use a money management app to track your weekly spending.  Knowing how much you're spending is the first step to taking charge of your finances. If you don't know it, you can't control it, and you won't succeed at managing it properly.  

Put your mental energy into reaching financial milestones. Part of the reason people spend money mindlessly is to feel better. But you can also get those feelings when you achieve milestones. Set a savings goal for yourself, like saving your first $1,000 in an account, having a certain amount of money in a retirement account, or paying off some debt. Focus on building a solid financial position rather than slipping into doom spending.  

Budget some of that money for positive purposes. Cut down on impulsive behavior and mindless shopping by planning to spend your money on beneficial things. If you're feeling anxious and emotionally worn, then put some of that money into things that will help bring you mental rest. Instead of spending it on the accumulation of stuff, set some money aside for a unique experience or leisure event that will help you refresh mentally and take some of the emotional burden off your mind.  

Make it more of a challenge to spend money. Creating barriers to spending might be needed to stop mindless spending. Saved payment information, shopping apps on phones, and notifications are all designed to tempt you to spend and to spend quickly. Setting up a barrier to spending is an easy way to reduce doom spending. Barriers interfere with the purchasing process, making it more challenging to spend. Remove saved payment information in checkouts, turn off shopping notifications, and even uninstall shopping apps from your phone if they're tempting you too much.  

Letting external circumstances drive your money habits can be unproductive and dangerous to your financial health. We hope some of these tips will help you avoid doom spending and empower you to succeed financially.  

If you are facing a financial crisis due to an economic issue, seek advice from a financial professional who can help you adjust according to the situation. Their expertise and experience will provide proper guidance to navigate many situations.  

If there are any other tips or topics you'd like us to cover, let us know at tcupodcast@trianglecu.org, and don't forget to like and follow our Making Money Personal FB page and look for our sponsor, Triangle Credit Union, on Instagram and LinkedIn to share your thoughts.   

Thanks for listening to today's Money Tip Tuesday. Check out our other tips and episodes on the Making Money Personal podcast.   

Have a great day!