1. Work out the ‘real’ cost
   If you already have a budget spreadsheet or are on top of other bills, try this neat twist on an old trick for a reality check. Start by adding up your essential financial outgoings, such as rent and bills. Then take that figure off your take-home pay, to work out your disposable income. Next, divide that disposable income between the number of hours you work.For instance, $600 of disposable income per month divided amongst 150 hours worked in a month is $4 per hour. – Depressing, we know – but use this sum to work out how much you ‘really’ earn after life’s essentials are taken care of. To finish, work out how many hours you’ll need to put in to afford something with your disposable income. It’s sure to put your shopping habits in an entirely new perspective. 
   RELATED: This Scary Budgeting Trick Will Make You Spend Less
   
2. Check out new ways to spend your time
   Reducing the time spent on online shopping is a great excuse to try some new things, as you’re freeing up time and energy as well as your wallet. It goes without saying to choose activities that don’t involve shopping, online or otherwise. Get into some irl hobbies like sport or an art class instead.
3. Get creative with DIY decor
   If you see something you want but can’t afford it, challenge yourself to make something similar at home on a smaller budget, check out Pinterest for plenty of swoon-worthy DIY inspo.

RELATED: 110 Budget DIY Ideas You’ll Want to Copy Immediately

4. Find other ways to treat yourself
   If you use shopping as a reward too often, or you always make yourself feel better by getting a little something, try to find ways to be nice to yourself other than self-gifting. It’s easy to say, “I deserve this” when you see something you like – because you do deserve it – but you don’t deserve the money stresses that might come along for the ride later on.
5. Meet the ghosts of shopping past
   Go through your closet and cupboards and do a detox. Bring out all the items you’ve either bought and regretted later, or things you couldn’t wait to get your hands on, but now barely remember you own. If you can add up the rough cost of whatever you find, even better. Being confronted with the sheer amount of ‘stuff’ you’ve bought is a useful exercise that helps you to realize that most of the thrill from shopping comes from the feeling of getting something new – not from the actual item itself. – Most of what we feel like we need or are desperate to own at the time is forgotten after a few weeks have passed. Keep this in mind next time you see something and get that ‘must-have’ feeling.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
Read the book that started it all for some inspiration, before you get started!
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RELATED: 5 Essential Reads That Will Help You Declutter
6. Have allocated online shopping 
   This strategy is useful for anyone who scrolls through the pages of their favorite stores endlessly. In the same way, as you try to do different activities at times you’re most likely to shop online if you do need to buy something from the internet, block out a time period to do it when you need to do something else, or go somewhere else afterward. Allocate yourself short time windows to shop so you don’t end up browsing (and buying) for hours on end.
7. Make it a team effort
   Get together with a friend and make a joint resolution to spend less time and money online shopping, it’ll be much easier to keep each other going and share your successes.

Online shopping can be so much fun, but it also makes it easier to spend any time, anywhere and see your credit card debt creep up.

Thanks to the internet, you don’t need to be a shopping mall queen to see your debts spiral, all it takes is some lunch break boredom or evening downtime.

But although it seems hard to stay away, like any habit, you can make changes that will help you feel good without thinking about your online shopping fix.

Just remember that most of the things you convince yourself you desperately need to own today will be forgotten in your closet by next year.

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