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Shop ’til you screenshot.
Social media is rife with ads for the latest, influencer-touted viral goodies. And as the seconds turn to minutes — then hours? — of scrolling, it’s become all too easy to mindlessly smash the “buy” button.
Though it’s fun to make a new purchase, this impulse buying habit can do harm to your wallet — but TikTokkers have come up with a hack to break this habit.
User @renee.benes shared that taking a screenshot of the product to come back to later is an easy trick to save money. With a screenshot, you have time to think it over and decide if it’s something you really want or need.
“You would be amazed at how much your desire for something reduces just by snapping a quick pic or screenshot,” she captioned her video.
People in the comments agreed with her, noting that this method and similar hacks have worked for them in their personal lives.
“If I see it on Amazon I put in my cart and then do ‘save for later’ it’s been so helpful!” one person shared.
“Also let your kid do this instead of asking for things in the store,” another added.
“So true! I keep an album of stuff I think is cool- the stuff doesnt have to live in my house,” someone said.
Creator @mara_sumner uses the screenshot method as well. “I screenshot things so I don’t buy them (I have to wait at least 30 days, that’s my rule!),” she shared in a video.
She added in the caption that this “helps [her] not impulse shop, be more intentional, and obviously save money.”
In her comments, someone noted that they “panic about things selling out,” but Mara suggested to “try to just take the mindset of if it’s meant to be it will be there!”
Andrea Woroch, a consumer finance expert and author, agreed that screenshotting things is a helpful way to go if you’re trying to spend less money on things you don’t need.
“I love this trend because it can truly help you dodge impulse purchases and save money,” Woroch told Bustle.
She noted that it helps the shopper to take a minute and think about what they really want and need before breaking the bank — similar to adding things to a cart then exiting the screen.
“Screenshotting an item works in a similar way but can even deter [the purchasing of] unnecessary items further since it’s not added to your cart and calling you back,” she explained.
If you want to try this money-saving hack but aren’t sure where to get started, all you have to do is take a screenshot or photo of the next item you want to buy and save it to your camera roll.
You can even create a folder in the Photos app dedicated to all these screenshots for organization and easy access.
From there, give yourself a set amount of time before you can go back to look at the screenshot. Woroch suggests waiting at least 24 hours.
“This is a good amount of time and in many cases can make you forget about the item,” she said, though some people may need more than just one day.
If you forget about said item, you just saved money that you would’ve spent impulsively. But if you can’t stop thinking about it, then you can give yourself permission to revisit it and potentially make the purchase.
When the waiting period is over, Woroch recommends deleting the picture so you don’t stumble on it months later and go through the same wanting process.
“When you scroll back, you will be reminded about the item kind of like a targeted ad that follows you online,” she said. “Out of sight, out of mind.”
