Nine ways to digitally detox and stop spending in sale season

MSE_Katie

Read MSE Katie's blog: 

Nine ways to digitally detox and stop spending in sale season

Let us know if you are trying these digital detox tips and if they are working for you. Have you found it less tempting to spend? Have you avoided buying anything unnecessary? Has it helped you make savings?

MSE Katie

merixmas

On Apple devices use Reader View, which appears as an icon in the top-left corner of the Safari search bar, and it displays the webpage as a perfectly organized, ad-free layout.  Its magic! 

MSE_Katie

Does this work on all webpages or just some for you? I've just tried a couple of random sites and the reader view option is greyed out.

 merixmas said:

On Apple devices use Reader View, which appears as an icon in the top-left corner of the Safari search bar, and it displays the webpage as a perfectly organized, ad-free layout.  Its magic! 

Nifty_Purse

For on-line shopping the aim should be to increase the time between your initial interest in the product and payment.

1. Don't use shopping apps. They are designed to create impulse buying that's why retailers push them so much.
2. Use a browser. It's easier to shop around, compare product characteristics, prices, etc. That increases the decision making process.
3. Don't store your payment details on retailer websites/apps or on your device. Having to type them in each time slows you down. (Or at least restrict it to necessities such as regular grocery shopping and paying for prescriptions).
4. Don't shop on a mobile phone. Using a device with a bigger screen means bigger photos, which can allow you the ability to identify poor quality items and undesirable characteristics more easily. 
5. Don't shop away from home (for example on the bus, in cafes, round your friend's house). Home should be less distraction, no rush buying and it limits overall time spent shopping.
6. Don't shop while also doing something else (for example watching tv). You won't be paying enough attention.
7. Do something else to manage emotions. Shopping is not a healthy way to relax, calm down, be a distraction from other things or increase confidence.