Emotional spending leaves our wallets weeping

BEING bored or simply having a bad day is enough to make many of us splash cash.

Australians admit they spend up when they are feeling down in the dumps, and it’s setting them further behind in their ability to successfully save.

New research commissioned by MyState Bank found 62 per cent of Australians said their emotional state was enough to make them open their wallets. And one in 10 said they would struggle to make it to the end of the month with money still left in their pockets.

MyState Bank’s chief executive officer, Melos Sulicich, said the surge in buy now, pay later schemes, such as Afterpay and Zip Pay, also meant many people were buying things without saving first.

“More than a quarter of people don’t have a budget, they don’t track expenses and don’t work out what they spend their money on,” he said.

“And aside from emotionally spending, we seem to lack discipline when it comes to saving money.”

Buy now, pay later schemes have more than two million users nationally and allow consumers to front up in store or online with little or no cash before making a purchase. The customer is then required to repay the amount owing in strict instalments or they face being hit with hefty fees.

Unlike credit cards, interest charges do not apply.

Crown Money Management’s chief executive officer, Scott Parry, said “we are our own worst enemies” when handling money.

He said implementing an extra hoop to jump through before you could access your own cash made it not as tempting to spend money.

“One of the best things that works for our clients is we have an everyday living account with, say, $600 per week for fuel, food and entertainment expenses in it, and if they need anything above that it is 24 hours away,” Mr Parry said. “Clients don’t have ATM access or a card to access the other account, so it delays the ability to get the funds.”

The boom in online shopping has meant consumers can spend up around the clock seven days a week – meaning they can shop without any time constraints, such as store opening and closing times.

Mr Sulicich said shoppers should not save their banking details on shopping websites, to make it harder to follow through with a purchase. Instead, they should find a relevant card and manually enter banking details if they really want to make the purchase.

“It makes it a little more difficult next time to make the purchase,” Mr Sulicich said.