How to Stop Spending Money on Things You Don’t Actually Want

Have you ever made a major purchase that you later regretted? I definitely have. In this article, I’ll explain my method for realizing which things are actually important to me and which items I would likely regret purchasing.

Start a Gratitude Journal

In order to spend money on the things that you actually want, you have to know what you want. That turns out to be harder than it seems because humans are actually really bad at knowing what they want. To get yourself familiar with what things actually bring the most happiness, I’d suggest keeping a gratitude journal. Spend 15 minutes every day writing three things you’re grateful for and why. You want to get at the core of why you’re grateful for those things. What deep need are they fulfilling for you? (As an aside, a gratitude journal can also help you pinpoint the things that you most appreciate that don’t cost money).

Here is an example of an entry in my gratitude journal:

I’m grateful for my iPad and Apple Pencil. Having these tools helps me take good notes, stay organized, and not get overwhelmed by the things I have to do. I stopped using my iPad for a little while and I noticed that my desk got covered in random sticky notes with tasks all over them. It was making me feel really scattered. I moved everything to my iPad and was easily able to position things in the right places to feel organized again. It immediately made me feel better

In a similar vein, I’m grateful for my Apple watch and Airpods. The Apple Watch helps keep me motivated to work out with the rings feature and the Airpods allow me to listen to music while I jump rope without getting tangled up in cords. The Apple watch also helps me keep track of things about my health such as my heart rate and sleep. Being able to keep track of these things and share them with my doctor makes me healthier overall.

Reflect on Your Purchases from the Last Year

Once you’ve kept a gratitude journal for at least a week, read over what you have written. Are there any themes? When you talk about physical items, what kind of items seem to pop up over again over again. Keep those in mind. Once you have an idea of what kinds of things you value, you’re ready to reflect on your major/most impactful purchases of the year. Make a table with the item, how much it cost, how much happiness/usefulness it gave you on a scale of 1 to 10, and any notes. When you’re rating an item on a scale of 1 to 10, think about how much you use the item, how much you enjoy it when you use it, and how effective the item is at fulfilling its purpose (does it work?).

For example, in the past year I have bought some Airpods. They scored a 9.5 because they are really convenient and I use them every day. I use them when listening to podcasts and audiobooks on my work commute and when I work out. I jump rope a lot and it’s really helpful not to bother with cords when jumping rope — I don’t want to worry about cords getting all tangled up. They didn’t get a perfect 10 because they lost some points for functionality. They have a pretty short battery life of around 3 hours, so sometimes I can’t use them because they aren’t charged.

Another one of my purchases was a rowing machine. I bought it because I wanted to work out more. Unfortunately, I almost never use it; I don’t enjoy rowing, and the machine just stays in my garage, neglected. It gets a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 because it gets some points for being functional. It works just fine and I could get a lot of use out of it if I wanted to.

Here’s an example of what a purchase reflection table looks like for me.

Now examine the table. Are there any exceptional items that you really enjoyed but did not cost that much money. Those are low hanging fruit. Are there any items that cost a lot of money but you actually didn’t enjoy? Those are candidates for expulsion.

In my example above, I bought several items around the theme of wanting to exercise more. Some items were helpful and some were not. The items that weren’t helpful were the weight set and the rowing machine. The items that were exceptional were the Airpods, the Apple Watch, and the jump rope.

Sell/Give Away Items You Don’t Enjoy

Now, what you want to do is get a red marker and circle the items with a high cost but low ratings in red. The rowing machine and weight set have a low rating but a high cost, so they are circled in red. All of the items circled in red are good candidates to sell. You can sell these items on platforms like Offer Up or Facebook Marketplace. Because they were expensive, you should be able to still get something for them.

Circle all of the items that got a low score but cost less money in blue. Blue items are good candidates to be given away. Why should you give away things? Giving away items that aren’t providing you any happiness makes room for the items that do make you happy. You also probably regret buying the items you don’t like, and you don’t want to have reminders of your regret sticking around in your face.

Buy Things Most Similar To Highest Performing Items

Now, take a look at the successful items, items that brought you a lot of happiness. Are there any themes? My themes are gadgets that make my life easier and intellectually enriching items (tickets to Hamilton and various non-fiction books). Therefore, I have a good chance of making a good purchase if the product is some gadget or something intellectually stimulating.

Finally, add the items that you are thinking about buying to your spreadsheet. Based on the ratings of the items you’ve bought this year, can you estimate what the score of this item will be? Choose the most cost effective item in terms of its expected score. Does it still seem worth buying? If so, buy that item for yourself. After having it for about a month, revisit your spreadsheet. Was your estimation correct?

Continue To Reflect

As you continue to estimate ratings and reflect on your purchases, you’ll hopefully get better at being in tune with anticipating which things to buy and which things are not worth your time. Gradually, you’ll be able to prune the things you don’t actually like out of your life, and you’ll be surrounded with the items that you enjoy the most.