We are being tricked
An Online Shopping Addiction? Many forms of technology are being used to do one simple thing, remove dollars from your pocket. Online shopping has exploded over the years, and became especially ubiquitous during the pandemic. Take from this guy who was an early investor in WebVan during the Dotcom crunch, unfortunately I was 25 years ahead of the curve. The point here is to stop online shopping addiction!
Online Shopping Addiction and Gambling
Believe it, online shopping can become as addictive as gambling. And some people need to seek professional help and treatment or suffer psychological and financial trauma. Check out this article about why online shopping can become so impulsive and addictive. And read our own article on how Robinhood might be getting us addicted to investing.
Money Vikings Approach
Here at MV, we are interested in delivering a broad range of holistic tools to build wealth. And if we suffer from an online spending problem, chances are we are eating away at our opportunity to live a life of True Wealth.
A few ways to stop
Set a Budget and Stick to It
I personally like to refresh a simple budget each year. And I use no more than a piece of paper and a pencil or I type it out into a word document. I do it this way because if it is not simple, most people will never take this first step. Sure, a person can advance to excel spreadsheets and other great tools, but it all starts with a simple list of recurring expenses starting with the largest one and going down the line.
The first step to overcoming online spending addiction is to set a realistic budget for your online purchases. This will help you to understand how much you can afford to spend and avoid overspending. You can use online budgeting tools or apps to help you track your expenses and stay on track.
Here is a video of how to manage money during challenging times:
Take a Technology Break
Our brains are literally being re wired in this never ending screen time we live with today. and not in a good way. I am generally a supporter of technology that improves the human condition, but there is typically a dark side that needs to be managed.
Sometimes, taking a break from online shopping can help you to break the cycle of addiction. This can involve temporarily deactivating your social media accounts, unsubscribing from email newsletters, or disabling one-click ordering on shopping websites. Taking a break can help you to reassess your spending habits and focus on other activities that bring you joy. online shopping addiction
Seek Support
If you are struggling with online spending addiction, it is important to seek support from friends, family, or a professional therapist. Talking about your challenges with others can help you to gain a fresh perspective and find new strategies for managing your behavior. Additionally, seeking professional help can provide you with additional tools and resources to help you overcome your online shopping addiction.
Understand Your Relationship with Shopping
Technology aside, many people have shopping addictions or poor shopping habits. It is critical to wealth building to have a frank conversation with ourselves. Why are we buying what we buy? Do we have some kind of childhood experiences that have lead to poor decisions? Are we addicted to a kind of endorphin rush that comes from acquiring a new shiny thing? online shopping addiction
What is your relationship with Money
Check out our psychology section for many articles that provide valuable insight and tools into mastering psychological money concepts.
Dig deep into your relationship with money and shopping, this could prove to be the very foundation of building wealth and opening new opportunities for your life!
Our book also contains a whole chapter on the subject that can help a person build true wealth: