The poll of 2,000 people by British firm Npower found that men in UK regularly shell out an average of 25 pounds a week on items they bought on a whim, while women spend close to 19 pounds per week.
Food, beer and DVDs are the most common treats for men while clothes, magazines and wine topped the list for women along with books, shoes and toiletries, the Daily Mail reported.
The survey also found that over a typical adult lifetime around 70,217.28 pounds will be frittered away purely to satisfy the overwhelming urge to shop.
Researcher Emily Stag said: "Twenty pounds a week might not seem a lot, but can add up to a huge amount over a lifetime.
"For 70,000 pounds you could easily put a large deposit on a house, pay off all your debits or buy a sports car.
"General consensus would suggest consumers are trying to save every penny at the moment, but our research shows we still like to treat ourselves or our loved ones."
According to the study, triggers such as receiving birthday money, coming into an unexpected windfall such as cash back from a company, or a small win on the lottery often result in spur of the moment purchases.
The survey, however, found that men are little better than women at resisting their temptation to shop.
Six out of ten women said they regularly give in to temptation if there is a sale on, while only four out of ten men said the same thing.
It also emerged one in three girls admit they don`t bother telling their other half about their recent purchases.
Furthermore, one in five couples argue as a direct result of overspending each week, the study found.