Spending Habits

Kolkata, November 4: Do you love shopping but know a friend who does not? Or do you prefer to shop online while someone else you know always goes to a shop to buy things? All of us have different spending habits. It is important to identify your spending habit.  This will help you understand your spending behaviour and also help with budgeting. Here are the four spending types that cover most people. 

1. Impulsive spenders: As the name suggests this type of spender shops on impulse. They want to stay updated with the latest trends and buys things even when it may not be required. In most cases these products are bought without putting much thought to it and sometimes later the buying decision may even be regretted. Such shoppers tend to depend a lot on credit cards to make purchases and may also opt for long term credit card EMIs because they work out to be low, but they end up paying a lot of interest. If you belong to this category, it is recommended that you give every purchase some time, maybe a month. If you still want to go ahead after a month, maybe you really want to buy the product. 

2. Bargain spenders: These shoppers keep track of all bargains, deals, discounts and coupons and make the most of them when they shop. They will know when an offer is on and make the most of it. This is a good thing because this can actually help one save a lot of money. On the other hand, shopping just because there is a bargain, is not always a wise decision. Also, this way one may end up with things one does not actually need but are bought just because it is thought to be a good deal. The idea is to strike a balance and not get carried away. 

3. Online spenders: This is a new breed of shoppers who are not used to spend too much on shopping before online shopping came around, but tend to buy a lot of stuff online now. Online shopping is easy and convenient and you can buy any product you want with a few clicks on your phone, so such people also tend to spend a lot more than they should. If there is a guy from Amazon or Flipkart ringing your doorbell almost every afternoon, you belong to this category. Like everything else you need to set a budget of your online spends and stick to it. 

4. Cautious spenders: These shoppers would remind you of an earlier generation of people. They are thrifty and will never make any sort of impulse purchases. They will evaluate every purchase and go ahead only when it is very necessary. These people tend to save a lot of money and they are mostly in a better financial condition than other types of spenders. The only drawback is while it pays to be careful about spending, too much of caution can mean that you are missing out on some of the things in life. This is a spending habit which one should inculcate but as mentioned, one should not take it to the point of being miserly. 

Which type of spender are you? Please let us know.