How To Stop Spending Money On Unnecessary Things

How to overcome the common addiction people have with spending money on unnecessary things and gain control over your finances!!

Chapters

00:00 Start Here
01:08 Chapter 1: From Scarcity To Abundance
02:54 Chapter 2: The Age Of Easy Pleasure
04:50 Chapter 3: The Pain/Pleasure Seesaw
06:51 Chapter 4: Returning To Equilibrium
09:05 Chapter 5: Overcoming Emotional Obstacles

If you have trouble spending too much money on unnecessary things, it is not your fault. We live in a world that our brains weren't wired to live in, which has made addiction a very normal thing. In this video, I analyze this addictive world that we live in and how to overcome it to have a better relationship with money.

Chapter 1: From Scarcity To Abundance

In order to understand why it's so hard to stop spending money, it is good to look at our past. For the majority of the history of humanity, we lived in a time of scarcity and hardship. This made us be motivated to seek out pleasure and get it while we can. The problem now, however, is that we live in a world with an abundance of pleasure and when we get too much pleasure it starts creating problems in our lives. People end up spending too much money on unnecessary things because our primitive brains are telling us that pleasure is good.

Chapter 2: The Age Of Easy Pleasure

For most of human history, pleasure was very hard to come by and took a lot of effort to get, which was good because it gave us drive to keep moving. Now, however, it's very easy to get and we overindulge in pleasure, which creates an addictive behavior. This addictive behavior makes you constantly need to spend more and more money to get pleasure to the point that you can no longer control your spending. To overcome the addiction, it is important to understand how addictions work.

Chapter 3: The Pain/Pleasure Seesaw

In the book, "Dopamine Nation," the author talks about something called, "The pleasure/pain seesaw." Naturally, when we're at our resting state, our pain and pleasure should be balanced, but when we seek pleasure, it moves the seesaw up. In order to come down, we must experience some pain. However, as we seek more and more pleasure through spending money, our resting state is pain. We feel the urge to spend more and more to both get pleasure and combat pain. In order to stop spending money, you must move back to equilibrium.

Chapter 4: Returning To Equilibrium

In order to return to equilibrium, there are two solutions. The first is to abstain from pleasure for two to four week, which will give you time to detox from pleasure and move back to a balanced life. The second is to intentionally seek pain like exercising or taking a cold shower because after pain comes pleasure. These strategies can help you move back to equilibrium.

Chapter 5: Overcoming Emotional Obstacles

As you try to break your addiction to spending money and create a better relationship with your finances, there are four obstacles you might encounter. The first is prioritizing long term rewards because when we spend money, we are often only focusing on short term rewards. If you write down long term rewards, you can be more motivated. The second is recognizing and accepting your behavioral patterns. When you address your spending problem, you can recognize your bad habits and start to change. The third is isolation where we might feel the urge to spend money to combat loneliness; however, we should instead focus on developing human relationships for support. The forth is escapism where we spend money to escape the mundane world, but if we instead try to develop hobbies and passions, we can find ways to make the world more interesting.

When you overcome those obstacles, you will move back to equilibrium and think more rationally, which will allow you to have a better relationship with your finances.

**Links above are affiliate links where if you click and order, I will receive a commission at no cost to you. **

[ElAgustin]

"Dopamine Nation" was the book that opened my mind to this topic. What a book (of any genre) that has opened your mind and given you a different point of view on any topic??? (I'm looking for good reads)

[MrNiceGuy]

I realized how much consumerism doesn’t matter once I got sick. “A healthy person has a million wishes a sick person only has one”

[chriswalter]

I learnt to manage my money through investments and it really works for me. They say money can't buy happiness but poverty can't buy anything.!

[wadeharris]

The reason Warren Buffett has a lot of money is because he isn't stimulated by the crowd. He lives in solitude so no distractions. He has even said that he works in Nebraska because he likes the lack of stimulation to focus on building wealth. Its quiet and he can focus on the intellectual process. People always assume its for tax reasons. It is but not really. Lack of stimulation allows you to focus on the facts and distractions.

[bleedingear]

I grew up poor, this followed me into adulthood (not that I didn’t have money, but more that i felt i needed to “offload” my money before it got taken away).. i have since changed my Habits and have started investing instead of spending and can honestly say i am loving my new investing addiction.. i am saving rather than spending and am getting the same pleasure from seeing my savings as i did from pointless purchases.

[benedictjoseph]

I think im one among the few who likes to visit shopping malls...explore the new collections..spend time for fun without buying a single thing except a cup of coffee. I do this often..rarely i buy things.

[highlyillogical]

My biggest spending problem is caused by the ridiculous commercialization of holidays. I'm expected to go out and blow a bunch of money on gifts for the people I love. And since I don't need anything from anyone, whatever gifts I receive in return are virtually useless. So both parties end up wasting money trying to do what's socially acceptable. As a kid I loved holidays. As an adult, I dread almost all of them.

[plappin]

I think a good solution to the overspending thing is to reconnect with nature, ideally (for me) in the company of other people. Away from stores and the culture of consumption, it's easier to reconnect to the simple things that can provide joy and a sense of awe. I don't think spending is really a true addiction for most people and I fear that using that term does a disservice to people whose lives are controlled by true chemical addictions. I think most people spend carelessly because they're bored and just don't know what else to do to feel happy. Take a hike, walk along the ocean, watch a sunset, drink coffee with a friend -- works for me and, I think, most people. Great topic and very well presented, Austin!

[noseefood]

Curtail temptation such as social media, ads, tv, show off people, rich people, etc

[susandodds]

The Christmas lights are up in the local shopping precinct, Christmas ads on the TV, by the time Christmas is here I'm so sick of having it shoved down my throat, Christmas shouldn't start so early!!

[juliem.]

OH MY GOSH!! This video is for me!! Thank you! I haven't used the credit card in three weeks. I haven't stopped shopping but I'm paying with cash now. Baby steps. Thanks for these tips.

[IrinaVanRonkel]

I'm preparing for 2024 low buy year. About 4 years ago, I noticed that my problem was overconsumption, and now I am gradually working on it. I don't plan to "have fun" on Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday at the end of 2023 like I did in the past. Thank you for your videos!

[wadeharris]

Managing the feel good emotions of wanting to spend with working out instead has made me build wealth. Not to mention having a brokerage account that automatically withdraws and puts it into set it and forget it really helps. That keeps you disciplined. Any time I feel like spending I just sit and think about do I want this or do I want a boatload of money to quit my job and stop working and live on my own terms? Guess which one I pick lol

[kathleenepugh]

Yes, I know that this is true. Just today I was looking at one if the shopping channels. I had my phone in hand, I was in the process of ordering an item. I paused and said to myself, "ya know you are getting played". I stopped immediately and was in awe as to how close I came to being "played". Think ya'll think....for yourself!

[Asadc]

As someone who wasted alot of money through my younger start 20´s years of my life. Mostly being pc parts electronic stuff which kinda is a expensive hobby. But as i got older because i was kinda due to life circumstances forced to live with other people which some of them where annoying jerks as hell. That i realized that having ones own place is much more important than all that fun stuff

[gavinlocke]

Love your videos from New Zealand
Good to know your spreading great advice 👍 your awesome keep it up.

[Jerel_con_jota]

Mil gracias! Me encanta tu contenido👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[AnnMitt]

All that stuff we purchase ends up in landfills

[SYoung-sdub]

I learned how to make my addiction work for me. I can't wait to get up on payday and see how much money I can put in my savings account. I am addicted to doing this. It's like Christmas every week to my brain.

[carolynbarrett]

😮love your video!!!! I’m a liquidator of estates. Your excellent frugal ideas are spot on!!!! 😊