Spending Freeze Success?
I put myself on a spending freeze at the start of 2025. After about 5 years of no credit card debt from month to month, and then about 3 years of over-spending and bailing myself out with balance transfers and pulling from my savings, I knew I needed to break the cycle. If I wanted to get out of debt, permanently, I needed to tighten the reins and stop spending on non-necessities.
I think I’ve been successful.
I say “l think” because I’m not out of the woods yet. It’s only been 10 weeks since my last non-necessary purchase. How long until I know for certain that I won’t overspend? What if as soon as I buy one thing, I buy them all?
Without a doubt, I’ve broken some sort cycle. I started making a list of things that I want, naming the doc “Wants but no buys!” (Exclamation point included.) Every time a brand I love launches something new, or something catches my fancy, I add it to the list with all of the details that I need. When I’m itching to buy again, I go back to this list. I’ll search for reviews, which usually lean me towards ‘yes.’ I’ll open up the website and look over the item(s) again. When I’m this close to buying, I walk away from my computer and pull out what I have, comparing the owned and the wanted. Can I recreate it somehow? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
Ultimately, the thought of clicking “check out” is killing me.
So far, I haven’t succumbed to the urge.
But why does this matter?
Yes, there are the literal logistics of living within a budget. Eventually, I hope to have part of my budget purely for non-necessities. But, I’ve tried spending freezes in the past. This is the first time I’ve been any sort of successful. Before, I’d break it just because “I had to have it.” Other times, I’d think, “well, I have nothing like it.” Or, “This money is coming in soon, so that’ll pay for it.” The worst “it’s limited edition!” If it’s not, “What if it sells out? I need it now!”
There’s such an emotional arc to any and all spending we do. Whether we’re upset and need a pick me up, or we’re happy and want to celebrate. When we buy something, it’s always in an attempt to satisfy some sort of desire. The basic necessities of life are obvious.
But that elusive joy we all seek is so rare and fleeting, we convince ourselves ‘this will be the thing that allows me to finally attain such joy.’
My emotions over the last ten weeks have been relatively calm throughout it all. Even when I look at my list and say ‘but!’, my emotions, not my mind, remind me how excited I am at the thought of finally being out of debt. The true joy that will come from breaking the cycle, from not worrying minute to minute about each penny I’m spending, is keeping me successful. When I picture that day when my debt is $0, my motivation is reinvigorated.
As I haven’t been getting any emotional satisfaction — or dissatisfaction — from my purchases over the last ten weeks, there has been space for that to come from other things. Instead of shopping, I’ve been reading more, writing more, working out and meditating more. I’ve been diving into the collections I already have, from makeup to video games, finding new ways to enjoy and remembering why I chose those in the first place.
It’s been the most even-keeled I’ve felt about…everything. In a very long time.
We need to be more open about the connection between emotions and spending. And not secretly reading the articles online, but actually having conversations with the people around us. There’s such a great shame around debt and spending. The more we lean into that shame, the worse it gets.
Hopefully, you can find someone in your life to talk to. To admit, to voice, to share — whatever word feels best to you — about your financial life. In being open with my people about my spending freeze this time, about my worries and my goals, I’ve finally been able to succeed. I see the light, and even though the train is moving slowly, it isn’t moving backwards.
