How mood affects spending habits

I’ve always wondered at what time/on what day I spent the most money. What caused me to reach into my wallet and splash the cash for items I could do without?

As part of my plan to get my finances under control I started to write down and record exactly how much money I spent and on what I spent it on. I didn’t make any attempt to curb my spending as I wanted to get a true understanding of where all my money was disappearing.

So each day I would write down exactly what I spent, where I spent it and who I was with when I spent it.

As I mentioned in a previous article this was an eye opening exercise. I was provided with a wealth of very useful information. To begin with I was spending way too much in local convenience stores close to my home. I then switched to larger discount stores on the edge of town for my shopping. I have saved a small fortune since.

One thing that stood out like a sore thumb to me was that I seemed to spend more on a Friday and a Saturday than on any other day of the week. Also I noticed that I seemed to spend a lot more on the Friday and Saturday after I got paid.

This got me thinking.

Why the heck was I spending more on these days? Ok you might think that I was doing more ‘stuff’ on these days, for example going out on a Friday night. This was true to a certain extent - I was spending more as a result of different activities. However even when I stripped out these different activities I was still spending a lot more than I would on an average day.

Mood enhancers = more shopping

A light bulb went off in my head eventually when I looked at what is different about these two days – Friday and Saturday – from the other days in the week.

As a member of a cubicle farm (i.e. an under appreciated office worker) I put extra significance on these two days. Simply put these are my favorite days of the week. I love Fridays because I am in anticipation of the weekend and the freedom to come and I love Saturdays because I am free and I still have half my weekend left to enjoy.

Since I love these days so much I am much happier on these days and my mood soars.

Now conventional wisdom has it that people tend to spend more when they are down and in a bad mood. The term ‘retail therapy’ is one that I would associate with someone who is in a bad mood and determined to shop their way out of it. But surprizingly I somehow managed to operate in reverse.

The happier I am the more I spend

The changes were only subtle – for example on a Friday I would buy a large coffee instead of a medium. I would be more inclined to eat out for lunch instead of either using the staff canteen or brown bagging my lunch. On Saturdays I would have both the means and motivation to spend more. I might eat breakfast in a nice café and lounge around reading the newspapers drinking a nice expensive coffee.

The thing about mood and spending money for me was that I always felt more confident in my ability to manage my money and earn more when I was in a good mood. I always thought that I was ‘allowed’ to spend more on Fridays and Saturdays since I had put in a week’s work and I deserved a treat.

Oh how we are the masters of our own downfall.

Time for a change

I realized that my logic was flawed and that I needed to correct this behavior if I was ever to get on top of my debt.

Once I made the connection between my good mood and my increased spending I tried to increase my alertness on the days in question. On both Fridays and Saturdays I would try to be extra vigilant for overspending.

If I’m honest I found it tough. The fact that my nice comforting weekend spending routines were stopped did actually dampen my mood.

Was it too extreme?

I personally don’t think it was. Sure I didn’t enjoy my weekends as much since I wasn’t spending anywhere near the amount of money that I had been. But on the flip side the stress of worrying about my finances was in time greatly reduced. I began to feel a little better on a Monday morning and not feel like I was trapped in a job I didn’t like just to pay my debt.

Sure some of you will probably argue that I did deserve a little treat as it was the weekend and I would agree. However I was spending way too much on these ‘treats’. I did continue to treat myself at the weekend but I did in ways that didn’t cost much.

How does your mood affect your spending habits?

I’m interested in getting feedback from readers about how their mood affects their spending habits. Does it have any affect on your spending? Do you spend more when you are in a bad mood or like me when you are in a good mood? How do you manage your moods and in turn control your finances?

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Related posts:

1. Impulse spending – it’ll be the debt of me