Americans love their monthly budgets – 74 percent have one, according to a Harris Poll survey of more than 2,100 adults. But they aren’t great at sticking to their self-imposed limits.
Some 84 percent of consumers have gone over their budget at least once, with 83 percent saying groceries are where they sometimes overspend, the survey found.
Gaining control over spending can be difficult, but there are multiple unconventional ways to rein in budget-busting habits.
Kakeibo
The Japanese practice of Kakeibo (kah-KEH-boh) is a throwback approach to budgeting. Instead of using an app to track expenses, participants write down in a journal or ledger every transaction they make.
The methodical approach is good for the brain, too. Handwriting strengthens memory, activates a wide range of brain functions that lead to better mental interaction with what’s being written, according to a 2025 study published in the scientific journal Life.
In addition to writing down every transaction, Kakeibo offers a budgeting framework, too. It divides spending into four categories:
- Survival: Basics such as food, rent and transportation
- Culture: Entertainment
- Optional: Non-necessary purchases like eating out
- Extra: Intermittent purchases like birthday gifts and unexpected repairs.
CNBC contributor Sarah Harvey tried the Kakeibo method after moving to Japan in 2017.
“While kakeibo was effective in helping me stay on top [of] my finances, what it really did – that other systems I’ve tried in the past didn’t – was force me to think about my purchases and what motivated me to buy them,” she wrote in 2020.
After dark
Impulse purchases can bring down even the best-intentioned budgets. In fact, 85 percent of shoppers have regretted an online impulse buy. That’s why consumers who want to protect their spending should set a simple rule: Don’t buy anything after 6 p.m.
Some 42 percent of shoppers confessed that they typically make spur-of-the-moment purchases between the hours of 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., according to a 2025 study of 803 consumers and 201 e-commerce decision-makers from hosting solutions firm Liquid Web.
Fridays and Saturdays tend to be the most popular days for spur-of-the-moment evening purchases, the study found.
Part of the draw of frivolous spending has to do with retailer tactics – some have sped up their checkout process to improve their customer retention rates.
“Impulse buys feel good in the moment, but not every transaction leads to long-term satisfaction,” the study said. “As checkout speeds increase, so do feelings of buyer’s remorse, especially among younger consumers.”
Avoid BNPL
“Buy now, pay later” has become a popular way to pay for purchases, especially among younger shoppers. Some 91.5 million Americans were projected to use BNPL in 2025, with 40 percent being Gen Z shoppers, according to a study from Capital One Shopping Research.
The payment method offers a low barrier to entry – users typically don’t have to get a formal credit check to be approved. The ease of access has its drawbacks, though.
BNPL customers have a higher chance of succumbing to a trio of expensive realities than non-BNPL users, according to a study led by Ed deHaan, an accounting professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business:
- 4 percent higher rate of overdraft charge
- 1.1 percent higher credit card interest rate
- 2.3 percent more credit card late charges.
Those numbers more than double when shoppers use BNPL offered by retailers.
“This adds up to $176 per year in extra charges for the average user and up to $252 per year for especially vulnerable users,” the study noted.
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