What kind of spender are you ?

We all spend money. Whether you like it or not, whether you think it is good, bad or ugly, we all use it. Your spending habits are more than just what you buy and how much you spend. They are about; the circumstances that make you tempted to purchase things that you don’t need, the feelings you get even weeks after the purchase and what you can and can’t cut out when you start budgeting.

Spending money and accumulating material things can be addictive. Most people think they’re savers because they occasionally find a deal on their purchases. Wanting to get that next hit of the good feels can mean using justifications for why you “need” to make a purchase. Let me clue you in on something, it doesn’t.

Now let’s make a list of the different type of spenders to see where you fall on.

1. Self Treat Spender

“I work hard so I deserve this” This is an old justification to indulge in some little self treat routine. I’m not saying this is totally bad but it’s way too easy to become a constant excuse for lavish spending. If you use this mentality to justify your spending one too many times, chances are you might run into debts. Treat your self but do it wisely.

2. Peer pressurized spender

If you are the type who lets other people have considerable control over when and how you spend under the pressure of not being left out, then you are a “peer pressurized spender”. You just want to be included, so you’re willing to spend what it takes to keep up regardless of what your budget says. This might be in form of taking expensive trips with friends, mimicking their social lifestyles, and trying to keep up with how certain people in your life dresses etc.

3. Soothing

This kind of spender is someone who makes a purchase (whenever they’re down) just to feel better. You are having a bad day so you decided to go shopping just to cool your nerves. The term ‘retail therapy’ is dangerous, because it leads people, usually women, to believe that spending is a legitimate way to feel better about yourself. Whether it’s what you’re buying, makeup, slimming clothes, outfits to copy someone else – take note of when you tend to make impulse purchases. If there’s a consistent pattern of doing so when you’ve had a bad day, or got in a fight with your boyfriend or got yelled at by your boss, well, this is probably your spending type.

4. Deal Seekers

These types of spenders come close to zeroing out and don’t spend much for all their purchases. Except it was on sale at a discount. But If you didn’t need it anyway it’s still a waste of money, no matter how good the deal. If you use the excuse “but it was on sale” to make purchases you don’t really need, then you are probably a deal seeker. It’s one thing if you know you have to buy new shoes or housewares, so you hold out for sale, but it’s another if you get an email alert about your favorite store having a sale and use that to justify making a purchase.

5. The Ignorer

Last on the list is the “Ignorers”. These type of people has no bloody clue about their financial situation. You’re kinda bored so you might as well just purchase some stuffs online or, even more crazy, go to an actual store! These spenders have somewhat of a ‘fuck it’ mentality.

So which one are you ? Are you normally very frugal yet seem to buy anything that is a good deal ? Do you need to have the coolest gadgets, but may or may not use them all the time ? I’m not saying that you need to cut out every trip to the mall. Make sure you are aware of what purchases you will be happy with later. It starts to set a priority for what is worth spending your money on.

So tell me, what type of spender are you ?