impulsive spending habit

5.7

A habit of buying things quickly without thinking first

noun

: hábito de gasto impulsivo

She blamed her credit card debt on her impulsive spending habit developed during college.

Examples

His impulsive spending habit often left him with very little savings at the end of the month.
Many people try to break their impulsive spending habit by setting strict budgets.
She has an impulsive spending habit that gets her into debt.
Do you think my impulsive spending habits are a problem?
His impulsive spending habit often left him with very little savings at the end of the month.
Many people try to break their impulsive spending habit by setting strict budgets.
She blamed her credit card debt on her impulsive spending habit developed during college.

Synonyms

profligacy

vsimpulsive spending habit

Formal

3 9.8

A very wasteful use of money or things that shows little care about cost

is less extreme, more about sudden urges and repeated acts

wastefulness

vsimpulsive spending habit

1 4.6

Using money or things carelessly in a way that causes extra loss

is specific to using money suddenly and without thought rather than general waste

extravagance

vsimpulsive spending habit

1 6.8

Spending a lot of money in a wasteful way

is focused on sudden urges rather than deliberate lavish choices

thriftlessness

vsimpulsive spending habit

1 9.9

A habit of spending money and not saving for the future

is about sudden urges rather than general lack of carefulness

spendthriftiness

vsimpulsive spending habit

1 9.2

A habit of wasting money by buying things you do not need

is driven by sudden urges rather than steady careless pattern

Antonyms

budget

∞ 2.1

A plan for how much money to spend and receive, or the money set aside for something

saving

1 3.7

Careful about spending money and avoiding waste

How Impulsive

impulsive spending habit

5.7

to dropitis kick in

Slang

9.9

to impulse-buy

5 4.4

Surface Forms

impulsive spending habit singular

impulsive spending habits plural

Morphology

impulsive + spend + habit

The phrase is directly compositional: 'impulsive' (acting on sudden desires) modifies 'spending' (expenditure of money) and 'habit' (repeated behavior), which yields the meaning 'a tendency to spend money without careful thought.' This follows a common adjective+noun pattern that is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The phrase impulsive spending habit comes from a simple picture: impulsive is like a sudden push to buy, spending is using money, and habit is something you do again and again. Picture someone who sees a shiny item and immediately reaches for their wallet many times, and you can see why it means 'a habit of spending money without thinking'.