In the age of seamless payments and instant checkouts, a surprisingly low-tech habit is quietly resurfacing among working professionals: deleting UPI apps.
The reasoning is straightforward. When spending becomes too easy, it also becomes harder to control. Let’s say carrying Rs 5,000 in cash for a shopping trip creates a firm boundary. Once the money runs out, the trip ends. But when a UPI app is just a swipe away, it’s easier to override that limit, rationalising one more item, one more indulgence.
This friction, or rather the return of it, is at the core of a growing budgeting method. The act of physically paying, of seeing currency leave your hands, adds psychological weight to every purchase. And that small resistance, over time, can shift spending behaviour.
The same logic is now being applied to grocery shopping. Apps may promise convenience, but they also come with hidden costs, including delivery charges, handling fees and algorithm-driven nudges that push users to spend more money than they had planned to. The pressure is off when you’re in a store, putting you in control again. There is no cart minimum to meet, no sale alerts to chase.
But at the core, it depends on one discipline: saving before spending. By automatically saving money through SIPs or other methods soon after receiving your salary, you put up a barrier to your spending any more than that. It’s a (reverse) twist on the all too common scenario where saving is left to the end of the month, and there’s often nothing left to add.
Those testing this method have noticed a measurable difference in their monthly account balances. Removing digital payment options, at least temporarily, forces intentional spending. The lack of instant access makes every purchase more deliberate, and often, more necessary.
In a financial environment saturated with convenience, uninstalling UPI apps may seem counterintuitive. But for many trying to keep their spending in check, it’s proving to be more than a digital cleanse, it’s a practical reset.
