Unsubscribe: Saying Bye to Promo Emails

My personal email inbox is a hot mess.

Because I know it’s a hot mess, I’ve gotten skilled at scanning the many senders and subject lines to identify messages that may actually be of some importance. So, when I noticed an email from Gmail in my Gmail inbox, I paused to take a look. I scoffed as I read the message. ‘What do you mean I’m about to hit my inbox storage limit?’

The inbox in question has belonged to me since 2012. And though it started innocently enough as my primary personal email, I’ve watched it morph into a monstrous collection of what amounts to roughly 2% personal business and 98% promotional sales ads.

I’d been all too happy to hand over my email every time 15% off or a onetime freebie was on the table. The number of digital shopping carts I’ve filled due to “this weekend ONLY” promos is comical. The number of $20 off $50 coupons I’ve turned into an unintended $20 off $200 is downright tragic. I hadn’t thought too much about it before, but now that I’m looking at a charge of $2 a month for an email inbox that I feel should be 100% free, I’m noting my missteps.

Other than your payment details, your email address is the most valuable thing a retailer can know about you.

Other than your payment details, your email address is the most valuable thing a retailer can know about you. Your email is like digital gold. Once a brand has it, they can bombard you with ‘personalized’ messaging. This messaging can convert even the most casual browser into a reliable buyer. Because it’s based on the principles of human behavior, email marketing is very successful at getting people to buy things they weren’t even thinking about before they got a promo link in their inbox.

So, what am I going to do about my inbox storage problem? I’m about to scroll to the bottom of every one of those promo emails and hit ‘unsubscribe.’ I figure if I can unsubscribe from 10 stores a day, I should have my email back to a manageable state by the end of the month. And I’m going to do it too, because I don’t need the extra temptation to spend and I’m not paying $2 a month for a personal email account.

Topic: financial psychology, spending habits