SOME SHOPPING TIPS

Shop with a list : Many people overspend or buy things they don’t want, don’t need and never end up using it. This is your hard earned cash and precious time you are spending so it’s worth a few minutes of preparation. 

Set a budget : This is important. Many people overspend on things they don’t want, need or use because they had no parameters around their spending. Not a smart way to shop. You need to set what you are going to spend on this trip, what is comfortable for you to spend and what makes sense for you to spend on this shopping trip.

Pick the best time for you : Shopping can be a fatiguing and stressful activity if you don’t shop at a time that works well for you. Shopping when the malls and stores are most busy can lead to shopping fatigue where you end up fractious and irritable.

Shop alone :  Many people find that shopping partners are more akin to accomplices in crime! They can egg us on to making purchases that we don’t want or need, and can have their own (sometimes unconscious) motives for encouraging us to shop.

Don’t shop when you are tired, hungry, lonely, bored or upset : This is not an exhaustive list of the emotional states that lead some people to overshop and end up buying things they don’t want or need. But they are some of the most common emotional triggers that prompt people to shop unconsciously and therefore not smartly. If you are feeling any of those emotions – you are tired, hungry, lonely, bored, and upset – don’t go shopping. 

Remember that the sales person is there to sell to you : No matter how friendly or pleasant a sales person is, here is the fact you cannot avoid: they’re in it for the sale. Yes, they may care that you walk out only with items that suit you and that you will use. But they want you to walk out with something.

Don’t buy just because it’s on sale : By all means, if you do find an item you like, it is marked down, fits right and you will wear it, BUY it! Consider it a steal! But if you are buying an item just to buy it because it is on sale, consider it you getting robbed, as you will be paying for something that will be of no use to you anyway.