2 Simple Ways to Reduce Your Spending Online

Americans are spending trillions of dollars on e-commerce purchases. In fact, U.S. consumers spent an estimated $1.1 trillion online in 2023, and online purchases accounted for an estimated 20% of all retail purchases.

Sometimes, shopping online makes good sense. After all, it's a lot more convenient to just click on an item, add it to your cart, and have it show up at your door -- rather than having to actually pack up your credit cards and head out into the real world to make your purchases.

But a lot of impulse buys also happen online, and this can lead to overspending that leaves you with less money than you might prefer in your bank account. The good news is, if you want to reduce unnecessary spending online, you can do it pretty easily. Just take these simple steps.

1. Don't store your credit card information on websites

One of the best ways to reduce the frequency of impulse buys online is to stop storing your credit card on websites.

Stores encourage you to do this because it makes it really easy to buy something. You can just pay with a single click, often without really thinking about it -- especially if you're mindlessly scrolling late at night and something catches your eye when your defenses are down.

If you don't store your card, though, you have to make the conscious choice to get up, go find your card, and manually enter the card number into the website every time you want to make a purchase. Often, that sounds like enough work that it will likely deter you from buying any items you're not absolutely certain you truly need.

The process of retrieving your card and typing in the card information forces you to really think about what you're doing and whether buying is worth the effort. Often, you'll find it's not and you'll just pass up the item -- leaving you more money for your savings account.

2. Unsubscribe from email newsletters

If you've ever bought any item on pretty much any website, chances are good you're now getting marketing emails from that website. The majority of sites ask for your email address when you place an order and then sign you up for their mailing list, unless you expressly opt out.

The problem is, all of these email marketing newsletters just end up prompting you to spend. In fact, research shows that 50% of people make a purchase at least once monthly after receiving a marketing email.

If you're constantly being sent emails that are designed to entice you to buy, odds are good you're eventually going to give in and buy one of them -- even if you don't really need it. But if you simply stop receiving these emails, your inbox won't be a constant source of temptation.

Opting out means you'll buy stuff from websites when you want and need it -- and you'll navigate to the site to get it -- rather than because something catches your eye in an email. If you're worried about missing out on coupon codes, you can always search for them when you're ready to make your purchase or use tools like the Honey app that can find deals for you automatically.

These two simple steps alone can make all the difference in reducing online spending and improving your personal finances, so give them a try today and see how much less you spend.