How many times we’ve heard people say every time you’re tempted to buy something, transfer that to another account? I finally decided to try this out.

Background -

Like so many of us here, I use shopping as a coping mechanism. I am tired, overworked, have ADHD and PCOS which means I run low on energy, have mood swings and dopamine rushes are addictive as I chase my next happy feeling.

I make okay money to not be needing to live paycheck to paycheck. My bills are low enough to not be needing to dip into my already meagre savings. But I do because I vastly overspend. And because I’m so far into the hole, the idea of making the effort to get out of it is exhausting so I continue to lie in the financial hole I dug myself into.

What I did in 2023

I did a year of conscious spending. I tracked when I first wanted something, kept a sheet of when I spent on something. I did all of it without self judgement.

My only ask from my self was to track my spending on Goodbudget app. Tracking enabled me to see how much I spent in each category and where I was seeing gross wastages. I subconsciously started to delay purchasing things.

If I was low on funds, I really really disliked seeing myself going in the red, so I waited to buy in next month.

Just by tracking, my yearly expenditure on makeup/skincare/body products came down by over 70%!!

What I’m doing in 2024

• I’m not allowed to buy anything that’s in makeup, skincare or bath category
• the exception to this is replacements and buying things with gift cards already received.
• no more perfumes.
• I’m allowing myself to buy nail polishes as it has a longer shelf life, I use and pan polishes often and it’s not a high risk category for me (yet! I’ll do a no-buy here too if needed).

Most importantly, I started a 100 envelope saving challenge. Each number corresponds to the amount you need to save in each envelope. Anything that’s in my bank paycheck - bills, investment, IRA, I’m putting into my savings envelopes. So far I have saved up over 34 envelopes. Seeing savings grow is now my dopamine hit that no lipstick can replace.

Ultimately what my ADHD brain needs to get fixated is one of the following - newness, challenges, personal interest or urgency. Doing the savings challenge is hitting 3 of 4 categories for me. Makeup hits only the newness and interest category so yay for tricking my brain into saving.