How to Win the Battle Over Holiday Shopping Temptation

A sale sign has never once said, “Go home. You don’t need this.” Funny how that works. The holidays make it especially easy to confuse a tempting price with a necessary purchase, particularly when a countdown clock is involved. Before the next “limited-time offer” gets your money, let’s make sure it’s something you actually wanted in the first place.

Christmas shopping list and closed wallet beside a laptop on a kitchen table

If you’ve ever stopped by the store to pick up milk and walked out with a week’s worth of snacks to go with it, you know something about the power of temptation.

These days you don’t have to leave the house to get into trouble. Advertisers, those hidden persuaders, follow us around on our phones, begging us to click “Add to Cart.”

But it is possible to learn how to face down temptation and win.

Identify the weakness

‘Fess up. What are your areas of temptation? Clothes, shoes, collectibles? Movies, food, gadgets? Electronics, crafts, plants? Figure it out, name it, claim it.

Take a look at your last few unplanned purchases. See a pattern? Maybe you’re most vulnerable when you’re tired, bored or feeling particularly deserving of a little treat.

Stop flirting with danger

If you’re ever going to win over temptation, you must stop cozying up to the very thing that causes you to stumble. If you are easily tempted by clothes, don’t spend hours cruising the mall. In fact, don’t even go there unless you have a specific need and a reasonable plan to fulfill it.

The same goes for online shopping. If browsing your favorite retailer’s website usually ends with a delivery at your front door, stop browsing for entertainment.

And those shopping apps on your phone? If they’re making it too easy to spend money you hadn’t planned to spend, delete them. You can always visit the website when you actually need something.

I’ve written about the shopping tricks retailers use to tempt us. Once you start noticing them, they’re hard to unsee.

Don’t open mail-order catalogs

Even as many print publications have switched to digital, they’re still out there. I know. I get them! And I take them to the garbage and push them way down to the bottom to head off a middle-of-the-night retrieval.

The digital kind is even sneakier. It lands in your inbox with “Last chance!” subject lines and sales that end at midnight.

Unsubscribe from promotional emails that tempt you to shop. And while you’re at it, turn off shopping notifications on your phone.

You cannot be tempted by an offer you never see.

Develop a diversion

Temptation is usually fueled by emotion, rarely by reason. It comes and goes depending on our moods and thoughts, and can come quite unexpectedly.

When it whispers in your ear, divert your attention to something equally enjoyable but less injurious to your financial health.

For me it’s ironing. You might be more drawn to a book or crossword puzzle. Or a nap.

Try this, too: Wait 24 hours before any unplanned purchase. Put it on a wish list, close the browser and go iron something. If you still want it tomorrow, it may be worth a look. Chances are you won’t.

Identify true needs

Here’s the difference between a need and a temptation: Needs are never realized while standing in the aisle of a store, while flipping through the pages of a catalog, surfing eBay or watching the HSN. Those sudden desires are temptations.

You, not retailers or advertisers, should set your own agenda. And if you don’t have a need, don’t go shopping. You’ll only set yourself up for a fall.

Before you shop, make a list of what you actually need and what you can reasonably afford to spend. Then don’t let a sale talk you out of your list. Something you don’t need doesn’t become a necessity just because it’s 40% off.

And if Christmas spending is already tugging at you, my 40-Day Christmas Challenge will help you get ahead of it, one small step at a time.

MORE: Moneymaxxing? Honey, I’ve Been Doing That Since Before It Had a Name

Assess the true cost

When you spend compulsively, you’re doing more than giving in to temptation. If you’re paying with credit that you cannot repay fully by the due date, you’re building debt.

That $30 item could end up costing you $60 or $75 by the time you finally pay for it, depending on your interest rate and how long you carry the balance.

If you pay with cash, you’re also giving up the opportunity to put that money to work for you for the rest of your life.

Economists call it opportunity cost. That’s a fancy way of saying that when you spend money on one thing, you give up the opportunity to use that money for something else.

That $30 impulse purchase could have gone toward groceries, a family outing, paying down debt or your Contingency Fund.

Before you hand over your money, ask yourself: Would I rather have this, or have that money doing something else?

Sometimes the answer will be the item. That’s okay.

Seek accountability

It takes a great deal of courage and character to be accountable to another person for your actions and behaviors, but it’s one of the best ways to win over temptation.

Make a pact with your spouse or other friend. Set an amount over which you will not spend without first discussing it. Fifty dollars, say. Set boundaries and then ask for help to stay within them.

No one to check in with? Keep a running list of your unplanned purchases and read it over once a week. Seeing them all together can be a real eye-opener.

Make it a little harder to buy

Here’s something worth trying today. Remove your saved credit-card information from the shopping websites you visit most often.

When buying means getting up, digging out your wallet and typing in all those numbers, you’ve built in a little time to change your mind.

It’s not foolproof. But a few extra steps are sometimes all it takes.

Winning the battle over temptation is as rewarding as it is hard work. It takes commitment, tenacity, and for some a great steam iron.

Question: What gets you every time… the clearance rack, free shipping or one of those “last chance” emails? Tell me your shopping weakness!

If I can help you close a shopping tab before it turns into a credit-card bill, I consider that a good day’s work. That’s the kind of practical help I share in my free Everyday Cheapskate newsletter: smarter shopping, household fixes and ways to keep more of your money for what matters. Subscribe here and I’ll send it straight to your inbox.