Shop till you drop? No thanks
photo by noel zia lee
Even small impulse purchases can result in overspending because they add up quickly. It helps to have a list of frugal activities to do when the urge to splurge strikes. Avoiding temptation is an important part of reaching your goals. It’s a powerful feeling to be in control. Simply avoid situations that cause you to spend unnecessarily.
Retail merchandising is designed to lure you in. It’s not just the scents and sounds that encourage you to shop. Merchandisers manipulate how you’ll walk through a store and go as far as creating stations to encourage frequent pausing and touching of merchandise. It becomes a complete sensory experience. Retailers are counting on your impulse buying. Often, having a shopping list as a disciplinary measure isn’t enough.
I’m happy to share reader-submitted frugal ways to avoid even stepping into retail stores.
Keep this list handy so you’re prepared and can take control of your spending. Remember that “stuff” doesn’t define who you are.
THRIFTY FUN: Go to the library for books, magazines, DVDs and CDs. Look through all your craft supplies for a project to do. Play free games online. Throw a stick for your dog or dangle a toy for your cat. Watch the wild birds. — Laurie, Colorado
FRESH AIR WITH KIDS: If you have kids, go to a park or their school to play an outdoor game. — karone, e-mail
MAKE MUSIC: Play an instrument or learn to play one. — acidcookie, e-mail
SIMPLE PLEASURES: Take a long, hot bubble bath, borrow a movie, make popcorn and snuggle into the couch for a movie night. — Missy, Colorado
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL WORKOUT: Surf the Internet, read, cross-stitch, do chores and/or exercise. — Paula, e-mail
ENJOY THE OUTDOORS: Do work in the garden. Walk in the woods and collect items to make decorations. — Carrie, Maryland
CELEBRATE LIFE: Crank up the music and dance! Play board games and cards. Visit a nursing home. Offer to help those in need. Have a picnic. Finish up those projects at home that you’ve been putting off. Tell someone they’re special. Send a note to someone. — lilk, e-mail
MANAGE YOUR TIME: Make a schedule of free things to do, such as running, cards and bike riding — and stick to them. If you schedule your daily time, you don’t have time to shop and spend at the stores. Also, if you find a friend to do these things with, you’ll be more committed to go. — altbaby, Texas
WORK ON HOBBIES: I do crafts, bake and write. — Donna, Florida
APPRECIATE WHAT YOU HAVE: I organize. Seeing everything curbs my appetite for buying new stuff. I love window-shopping online. Bake something and take it to a neighbor or friend. — Constance, New Jersey
BROADEN YOUR HORIZONS: Try a new recipe, learn a new language or trace your family tree. — Melanie, e-mail
LIVE IN THE MOMENT: I enjoy taking pictures with my digital camera, browsing in bookstores and doing puzzles. — Misty, e-mail
REVISIT YOUR GOALS: I go over our budget. That always works for me. — Susan, e-mail
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I have such a problem with impulse purchases and need to somehow get it under control.
A couple of things I’m going to try in April are:
1. Track “every” penny I spend
2. Try the envelope system for when going to Walmart and leaving my debit card & checkbook at home
Love,
Jen
Impulse buying reminds me of something I read recently about dieting. We often take a bite here or there and think, “oh, it’s only a bite.” But each bite could be 25 calories–four bites in a day, 100 calories–in a month or so, you could gain a pound just from those ‘little bites.’ The same is true for ‘oh, it’s just a dollar’ type thinking. I have gotten really good at putting things back when I’m shopping. I never feel deprived when I do this. My reasoning is that I don’t need one more thing to pick up or clean. Appreciating what you already have is key–but knowing what you have is even more important. So organizing is a smart idea. My ‘organizing’ job this week was to do an inventory of all the meat I’ve been accumulating through various sales. I didn’t realize I had several roast beefs buried in there, LOL! Unless something we really love goes on sale really cheap (we like sirloin, but hardly eat it), I’m not buying meat for quite a while, LOL!
Whenever I leave home to shop I alway’s leave with my shopping list in hand and cash only. I bring just enough cash with me to cover what is on my carefully planned list. I do not rely on a debit card because it is just too easy to pull out that card and spend money on things that I do not need. My weakness has alway’s been the magazines that they display at every checkout. I could easily spend 10 to 15.00 on magazines alone. Now I go to the library and I look online for free magazine subscriptions. And my motto is now that of The less I own and have to take care of the more free time I will have to spend with myself and my loved ones doing the things that really matter the most to me in life. It has really worked well for me.
I try to appreciate what I already have and choose wisely when I shop, since I don’t want an overstuffed closet but only clothes I love to wear and will wear to death. Impulse shopping though can be good, it’s on impulse that I’ve bought some of my best pieces.
Anyway: I try to keep in mind a list of items I don’t need to by for a while: now it’s bras, perfumes, jeans and more. And I’m keeping since Jan. a written list of the clothes I buy, marking the ones which were on sale or cheaper on eBay. They’re a while, so far so good.
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