--- description: Retail therapy does work—to some degree title: Why You Spend Too Much Money and How to Stop image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb052f20cc86ec7c9/698858ee5f570f0279b1c3f0/coins-falling-money-bag.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Psychology](/tag/psychology/) ## Psychology Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why You Spend Too Much Money and How to Stop by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 30, 2015 4:01 AM CUT  Losing money Losing moneyGetty Images by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 30, 2015 4:01 AM CUT * [What our neighbors buy](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/if-your-neighbor-gets-a-new-car-do-you-buy-a "undefined") affects what we buy, as does [our names](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-your-last-name-affect-how-you-shop "undefined"), the [weather](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-does-the-weather-affect-your-shopping-hab "undefined"), and the [type of floor](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-the-type-of-floor-youre-standing-on-affe "undefined") a store has. * Music manipulates us into spending in [flower shops](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-the-music-playing-at-a-flower-shop-affect "undefined") and [restaurants](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-kind-of-music-makes-us-spend-the-most-in "undefined"). * Which products are next to each other on the shelf [influences what we buy](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-which-products-are-next-to-each-other-on "undefined"). In fact, one product can [catch “cooties”](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-one-product-catch-cooties-from-another "undefined") from another. * [Attractive salespeople](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/should-every-store-have-a-beautiful-female-em "undefined") mess with our heads too, especially if they [touch the products](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-an-attractive-person-touching-an-item-enou "undefined"). Truth is, we’re [more satisfied after buying from good-looking people](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-customer-satisfaction-higher-when-people-b "undefined"). * Stores use [lots of tricks](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-tricks-do-stores-use-to-get-us-to-buy "undefined") to get us to spend. Limits on how many items we can purchase [make us purchase more](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-a-limit-on-how-many-you-can-buy-make-you "undefined"). So does [stocking fewer items](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-stores-trick-you-into-buying-more-by-stock "undefined"). * The word [sale](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-seeing-the-word-sale-make-you-less-likel "undefined") makes us less likely to comparison shop and [yellow tags](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-can-you-make-someone-think-theyre-getting "undefined") fool us into thinking we’re getting a discount even when we’re not. * [Retail therapy](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-retail-therapy-work "undefined") does work, but being happy can end up [sapping our self-control](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-being-happy-make-you-less-able-to-resist "undefined") in the face of tempting sales. * Materialism may be [connected to unhappiness](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-materialism-lead-to-unhappiness-if-so-wh "undefined") but buying generic products can [reduce your self-esteem.](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-buying-generic-products-reduce-your-self "undefined") * Luckily there are fast, easy tricks [to avoid buying too much](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/fast-easy-tricks-to-avoid-spending-too-much-w "undefined") and [breaking a budget](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/whats-a-quick-trick-to-help-you-spend-less-mo "undefined"). * Learn the key elements of [influence, negotiation and persuasion](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/the-last-damn-thing-youll-ever-need-to-read-a-8759 "undefined"). **Join over 190,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD "undefined")**.** **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/06/10-things-manipulating-you-into-spending-too/ "undefined")**_._** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/ "undefined") [How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/10/how-to-get-people-to-like-you/ "undefined") [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3940378/why-spend-too-much-money/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3940378/why-spend-too-much-money/"},"headline":"Why You Spend Too Much Money and How to Stop","datePublished":"2015-06-30T04:01:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:33:22.016Z","description":"Retail therapy does work—to some degree","url":"https://time.com/3940378/why-spend-too-much-money/","keywords":["Psychology","Money","Spending"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb052f20cc86ec7c9/698858ee5f570f0279b1c3f0/coins-falling-money-bag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb052f20cc86ec7c9/698858ee5f570f0279b1c3f0/coins-falling-money-bag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"money-bag-coins-falling","caption":"money-bag-coins-falling","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3940378/why-spend-too-much-money/","name":"Why You Spend Too Much Money and How to Stop"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"MONEY Staffers' Best Financial Advice from Dad","description":"In honor of Father's Day, MONEY staffers share lessons learned from their fathers about saving, spending, and other financial matters.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0bI50AM3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-12T16:06:07.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0bI50AM3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3940378/why-spend-too-much-money/","duration":"PT1M43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3940378/why-spend-too-much-money/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```