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One day at work two years ago, an notification hit on my mobile device: my paycheck had come through. It was a decent sum for a student, so I did my what I always did when payday arrived: I launched every retail application on my device. From Amazon to Zara, the list was endless. In under 60 minutes, I had parted with £90 on apparel, decorative items and a totally useless weighted blanket that I never used.

A short while after, I went online again and purchased a blow dryer. I already owned one, but thought an extra one couldn't hurt. Then I added LED strip lights and two shoes that weren’t even my size. This wasn’t new behaviour. In fact, I’d been notorious for it since I started earning.

Whenever I felt anxious, tired or bored, I would mindlessly scroll until it inevitably ended in an unplanned shopping binge. My justification was always: “Oh well, it’s just £5.” But £5 turned into £10, then £20, and so on.

I was never completely certain why I did this. Perhaps it was due to my upbringing in a low-income family, where we’d experience months without buying new clothes or anything to decorate the house. So any time I had extra money, there was always a hidden yearning for novel and thrilling things. Or possibly, and almost certainly, I was just bad with money and succumbed readily to the lure of demands.

The Game-Changing Strategy

In the end, I decided to try something new. Prior to acquiring anything, I’d place it in my digital cart, wait 24 hours, then decide whether to check out. The best part of this method was that it provided me time to think – an action I’d never done before. For the first occasion since adulthood, I started questioning: “Do I truly need this? Is it within my budget?” Most of the time, the response was negative.

If I accessed Amazon, Depop or Zara and discovered products lingering in my cart, I’d clear them out and begin anew. By employing this method, I stopped acquiring things that I knew deep down I would never utilize. I once considered buy a trio of games, but after a waiting period before going to the store, I understood I never actually play board games.

I also wanted to buy a single-use camera for my first trip to Croatia. After pausing I recalled I had a phone, like everybody else, that has a perfectly adequate lens, and therefore had no requirement to acquire a separate camera.

The Enduring Benefits

It additionally signifies I am more selective about the items I do buy, and I can finally look at my bank statements without feeling shame or embarrassment.

Of course, there have been occasions I’ve slipped back into old patterns – it's human nature. The key change is that I can recognise the signs early, particularly when I’m hastening into a transaction. I’ve realised boredom is a strong catalyst. It’s probably the biggest driver of my reckless expenditure.

Consumer culture exploits this boredom and our desire for instant satisfaction. That’s the reason, looking back, forcing myself to pause before buying has felt strangely freeing. To be able to have control over my impulses and remind myself that I don’t need to spend my hard-earned money on unnecessary products feels as revolutionary as it is straightforward.