Windfall Impulse Spending · also called bonus blowout
why can’t I hold onto a windfall when it shows up
Windfall impulse spending is what happens the moment unexpected money hits your account — a bonus, a refund, a big check — and instead of building on it, you spend it fast on something that signals status, before the feeling of having it can wear off. You’re not buying the thing. You’re buying proof, for a few days, that you’re not still the broke version of yourself.
That splurge wasn’t a purchase. It was a costume, rented for the weekend, to feel like new money.
What to do about it
The day a windfall lands, move it somewhere you can’t touch for 72 hours before you’re allowed to spend any of it on anything non-essential.
Books that work on this
Each is a 90-day programme. Start with the first — later books assume the work in the earlier ones.
Build Before SpendComing soon
Discipline With MoneyComing soon
Pick One LeverageComing soon
Boring Money Habits$6.99
The Spending Audit$6.99
No Status Spend$6.99
Time Costs Money$6.99
Earn Before Spend$6.99Part of the Success series.
How people say it
Nobody looks this up by its clinical name. These are the ways it actually gets said.
- I always blow bonus money right away
- why can’t I hold onto a windfall when it shows up
- I got a big check and spent it in one weekend
- unexpected money burns a hole in my pocket
- I buy something big every time I get a bonus
- I feel like I have to spend it before it disappears
- sudden money never turns into savings for me
- I bought something just to prove I have money now
Written by Brian Spiker, who has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — the receipts. More terms in the encyclopedia.