How to Stop Impulse Buying: A Guide to Spending Less and Saving More

Last Updated on May 26, 2026 11:17 pm by Maxwell Aliang’ana

You come to Naivas and buy a litre of milk. Twenty minutes later you leave with Ksh 3500 worth of snack food, a pair of shoes being sold and a phone case that you don’t need. At the end of the month you look at your M-Pesa statement and see that you have been spending KSh 8,000 that you can’t even remember spending on. This is impulse shopping! It’s not a personal characteristic. Kenya has become a haven for impulsive spending as digital payments make it easy to spend money and social media constantly reminds you of what your friends are spending. This article offers you some concrete, actionable steps that you can take today to curb impulse buying, without feeling deprived.

Strategy One: Implement the 24-Hour Rule

The 24-hour rule is the simple yet powerful rule. If you are tempted to buy something which is not really necessary to you, make it a rule to wait 24 hours before buying. Record it on a piece of paper or note taking app. Add the price and the date. Then walk away. Do not buy it. Avoid online shopping cart additions. Just wait. Go back to that list after 24 hours. You’ll discover that at least half of it no longer is exciting to you. The need has subsided. That ‘transient feeling’ which led you to buy the item is gone. In case of a bigger purchase (valued at Ksh 5,000 and above), wait for 7 days up to 30 days. This rule is effective as impulse buying is the result of a momentary feeling. Impulse requires a period of time to be the enemy. The wait allows your rational brain to come back in first before your wallet comes out!

Strategy Two: Remove Friction from Saving and Add Friction to Spending

In Kenya, purchasing is easy. You simply tap your card, enter your M-pesa pin or scan a till Number and money goes out of your account. No physical exchange. No time to think. This has to be turned around if you want to prevent spur-of-the-moment buying. Remove payment options from e-commerce sites such as Jumia, Kilimall and Amazon. Never store your card information on your cell phone. Use the card numbers or M-Pesa information on all transactions. Make it a habit to enter the card number or M-Pesa details on each and every transaction. The additional 30 seconds will allow your brain to think, “Do I really need this?”. In the process, eliminate any obstacles to saving. But also, ensure that your savings account is not connected to your M-Pesa debit card. Difficult to reach. The more difficult it is to pay, the less you will be tempted to do so.

Strategy Three: Use Cash for Discretionary Spending

While convenient, digital payments can also be dangerous for those who want to buy things on impulse. When paying cash, you actually give up cash. You feel the loss. Researchers have found that consumers spend much less cash than cards or mobile money. If you are keeping an allowance for your wants, take that amount of money out of your budget in cash at the beginning of the week for your entertainment, eating out and little pleasures. Place in a unique envelope or pocket in your wallet. Once the cash is used up, there’s no more desire until next week. You can’t tap the phone to obtain more. Borrowing is not allowed from the next week’s envelope. This physical limit is much more powerful than any budgeting app as it gives you a physical limit that your brain will not be able to outsmart.

Strategy Four: Unsubscribe and Unfollow

Two of the biggest platforms for impulse buying in Kenya these days include social media and e-mail. You visit a social media influencer’s page and see their outfit in a dress, receive an e-mail telling you about a “flash sale” that is about to end in two hours. You see someone unbox a new gadget on the tiktok video. All of these are well-thought-out, ‘buy triggers’ that are intended to provoke purchases. Take back control. Opt out of all promotional lists you are part of. It is a KSh 50 discount that’s not worth the KSh 5,000 that I had to spend just to view the email. Unfollow people and brands that are pushing you to purchase products that you don’t need. Unfollow if you can’t, otherwise mute them. In a few years, they will be out of sight, out of mind. Also, clear shopping applications off of your phone’s home screen. Place in a folder. When the app needs to be looked for each time you wish to browse, you will browse less. Many impulse buyers have even uninstalled Jumia, Kilimall, Alibaba and even WhatsApp business catalogs and prefer to shop from a desktop computer where it isn’t as convenient and addictive.

Strategy Five: Create a Shopping List and Stick to It Religiously

Do not go to the supermarket, open air market or online store without a written shopping list. Whether you’re going to the grocery store, clothes shopping, or even the hardware store, this will be applicable to you. The list is your “contract with yourself.” Only products listed are purchased! Nothing else. If you see something you want that isn’t listed, add to a separate “wish list” on your cell phone. Remind yourself to purchase it next week. When shopping online, use the shopping cart as a wish list. Put items into your shopping cart, but don’t checkout right away. Let them sit for 2 – 3 days. You’ll find yourself surprised at what you’re able to take off without ever feeling like you’re missing anything. Checkouts are designed by retailers to be quick and hassle-free. The friction must be created intentionally on your own.

Strategy Six: Track Every Single Impulse Purchase

What you don’t measure, you can’t improve. Keep a log for 1 month of all impulse purchases. If you made any purchases that were not planned or budgeted, they are impulse purchases. Record the name of the object, the price and the emotion you experienced prior to the purchase. Were you bored? Stressed? Tired? Hungry? Jealous? Once a month, sum up the total. For most people, it comes as a surprise when they realize KSh 5,000 to KSh 20,000 is being spent each month on impulsive purchases. That is KSh 60,000 to KSh 240,000 per year. This is a deposit of land. That’s one-year’s school fees. This is a fully paid excursion to Mombasa. You will be able to confront your triggers if you know what they are. If you buy something on impulse when you are stressed, or when you find yourself in a stressful situation, try to engage in a non-spending method of stress reduction such as a walk, a call to a friend, 10 minutes of deep breathing, etc.

Strategy Seven: Set Specific Financial Goals

Impulse buying is very much at its best when there is no clarity around goals. If there is no need to save the cash, it feels like it’s going towards a little pleasure. Record your goal for saving money. Make it specific. decide, I am saving KSh 50,000, which I reckon to buy a plot of three bedrooms in my home county by December. I have a six-month emergency fund that I’m saving for, which is KSh 30,000. I want to start a poultry business; I am saving KSh 20,000. Display it somewhere where you’ll see it daily, such as on your phone’s wallpaper, on your fridge or near your wallet! Then, each time you are tempted to buy something that you don’t, save the amount of cash that you would be spending in your savings account. If you came close to purchasing a KSh 500 coffee but didn’t, immediately transfer KSh 500 to your savings. Celebrate the resistance. As time passes, the satisfaction that comes from watching your savings accrue toward a tangible objective is great, and far more satisfying than that of an impulsive purchase.

Strategy Eight: Shop with a Budget-Minded Friend

You don’t realize how your spending is being influenced by your shopping companions. You don’t need to hear that from a friend, if they say, “just buy it, you deserve it”. When you go out on a shopping spree, especially for clothes, electronics or household items, go with a pal who will keep you accountable for your financial objectives. Allow them to ask all kinds of questions about all purchases. “Is this really necessary?” “Is this on your list?” “Have you waited a day or two? A good accountability partner isn’t nagging at you. They are keeping you from harming yourself. Or join a personal finance group on WhatsApp or Telegram to get such a friend if you don’t find in real life. Post your planned purchase before making a purchase. Have a discussion with the group about whether it is a need or a want. Sometimes, just the act of explaining why you want to buy something forces you to realise how weak your justification is.

Strategy Nine: Avoid Shopping When Emotional

Avoid shopping when hungry, tired, angry, lonely and/or stressed. All of these emotional states cause a dramatic decrease in self-control. Research indicates that hungry shoppers spend a lot more than shoppers who consume food just prior to going shopping. When tired, the mind is more prone to making hasty decisions because the brain doesn’t have the energy required to resist its urges. Don’t get into a shopping situation if you feel that you are getting emotional. Avoid using shopping apps. Avoid going into a grocery store. Go home. Eat something. Take a nap. Call a friend. Don’t make any buying decision when stressed or fatigued. The item will remain available tomorrow as well.

Strategy Ten: Calculate the True Cost in Hours, Not Shillings

Each purchase comes at a price and not just financial. It costs you time. To find how many hours an item “costs” to you, divide the cost of the item by your hourly wage. When you make Ksh 500 an hour, ask yourself is this handbag worth sixteen hours of your life, to buy one Ksh 8,000 handbag? This is a total of 2 days of work time. Would you give up 2 full days of work for that purse? This reframing is particularly effective because it links spending with the most limited of resources – time.

Conclusion

You don’t have to feel bad about impulse buying. It’s a habit and habits can be broken. The strategies listed above have nothing to do with deprivation. They’re all about purpose. There’s plenty of ways to still purchase something you like. It’s not too late to indulge yourself. Use one of the strategies and practice it for 30 days. Add another strategy next month! In less than 6 months, you will have a different relationship with money – a relationship where you are the one in control. This week you don’t spend KSh 5,000 on impulse – it doesn’t go in a bucket. It is a gain. It is freedom. It’s about you taking your own life over a joyful instant. And that’s a decision that you won’t regret.

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