Key Takeaways
- A recent study found that 57% of Millennials buy products online from ads or videos they see on their social feeds that they were not expecting to buy.
- A good way to track your finances so you can see what you truly can afford to buy, is to use an online financial portal.
- Taking the time once a week to check in with yourself and your finances can help keep you from buying things you don’t need.
I saw this funny video the other day that claimed to be selling an item to help with weight loss. It said, “Here’s how it works. You put the device on your refrigerator and when you walk up to try to open it, the device blares out, ‘Step away from the refrigerator!’ It keeps you from opening the fridge, thereby not allowing you to put food in your mouth.” And that was the whole diet!
While it was a pretty hilarious video, it reminds me of a recent study by Alliance Insurance Company North America which found that 57% of Millennials are buying products online from ads or videos they see on their social feeds that they weren’t expecting to buy.
Now, they probably needed the products, but the point is that we need a lot of things, and if we were to buy every single little thing, we’d end up broke or drowning in debt. So, like the refrigerator ‘diet’ alarm, sometimes we’ve got to step away from the social feeds!
A way to help gain a better picture of what you really can afford to buy, is to sign up for some kind of wealth portal or financial tracking website, and do Financial Fridays, which I’ve discussed in previous blogs. You look at your finances for 2-5 minutes every Friday, specifically at the whole last week of expenses. The financial portal makes it easy for you to see everything in one place, and you can easily tell if you’ve overspent or underspent in a week.
Most of our spending happens on weekends because we have more time on our hands, so looking over your finances on a Friday can get you prepared for the weekend by perhaps reminding you of something you bought during the week or previous weekend that will let you know that you need to be aware of your spending this weekend. But you need to have a way to know that, to ensure you aren’t overspending.
I used to be guilty, and sometimes I still am, of buying things off those TV infomercials, so I get it. However, it’s pretty easy to change the channel. But with social medial constantly in our faces now, it’s hard not to see all the ads clogging up our feeds for things that we actually might need, especially with how super targeted the ads have become, tailored to your buying patterns.
Using a wealth portal and taking the time once a week to check in with yourself and your finances can help you avoid making those purchases you may not really need. But also, from a positive perspective, it can show you that you might have some wiggle room to buy that thing you just saw in your social feed that solves a problem you’ve been having or a need you have. It’s just a great way to see exactly what you are spending so you can make sure you are staying within the budget you set for yourself.
Until next time, enjoy!
Gary