TULSA, Okla. — Doom shopping — buying things while scrolling social media to ease stress and anxiety — can lead to serious overspending, according to a personal finance expert.
Scrolling through social media and buying things you didn’t plan to purchase has a name: doom shopping.
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2 News Oklahoma visited with Sarah Sparks at LaFortune Park. She said she does it.
“You see ads that you didn’t think you really needed and you click on it. You end up buying things you really don’t need, so yes, it’s very easy to do.”
Sparks said she had just made such a purchase.
“I just bought some organic protein because I saw it on Facebook and I do, I know I do like it, but yeah, I ended up buying two cartons of it because it was there.”
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NerdWallet Personal Finance Expert Kimberly Palmer said doom spending is essentially scrolling and buying things to feel better.
“So what often happens is we are on our phones late at night, looking at social media, news, and it makes us feel anxious and stressed out. And so to alleviate some of that stress, we buy things.”
Palmer said doom spending becomes a problem when it leads to remorse and unplanned expenses.
“Buying things that we regret later, spending more money than we than we intended.”
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To find out if you’re a doom shopper, Palmer suggests reviewing your credit and debit card statements from the past few months. If the pattern is there, she recommends setting guardrails against overspending — something she has done for herself.
“I have a new rule that I don’t buy anything online after 8:00 p.m. and that just helps me. I can put it in my cart, I can save it, but I don’t actually hit purchase, and that gives me some time just to decide if I actually need it.”
Sparks said she uses a similar strategy.
“Yes, save for later. I, I do a lot of save for later in case I — want it later or change my mind about — it.”
When asked how often she changes her mind, Sparks said, “Oh, probably quite a bit.”
A simple habit that can help prevent unnecessary spending which would otherwise rack up substantial bills for things you didn’t actually want or need.
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