Breaking The Shopping Habit

[Shell]

http://stretcher.com/stories/04/04nov29h.cfm

Learning to break the shopping habit can really help with frugality!

[Emerald_Mommy]

Good article, stretcher always has some of the best. I totally agree with the uncomfortable feeling. Anytime I'm at the mall I ask Philip "Are these people really buying this stuff?"

[Indy Granny]

That article describes the way I feel when I see people walking out of WalMart with carts packed full of what I call stuff. My mother used to tell me "you can only wear one pair shoes at a time". She has been gone many years but when I even think about buying something I don't really need I always think of that statement.

[dwallyfam]

The Dollar Stores are one of the worst. I see people spend $140 in there and they think it is okay since it only cost a dollar. But I want to ask, how much of it are you really going to use, give? How much are you going to let sit?

[Dixie]

Good article, Shell. Thanks for posting the link.
Dwallyfam, I agree about the dollar stores. I tend to overspend in those stores, because 'it's only a dollar'.

[SHOPGIRL]

I agree completely. I often think the same thing. I wonder where people are going to put all the things. It's amazing how much useless "stuff" is out there in the market for us to buy.

[daddys3chicks]

Interesting article -thanks! You know, one of things missionaries have a problem with, once their term is over, is assimilating back into American society. Most of them have lived in countries where there are no clocks and life is run by the cycles of the sun and moon. They have also lived with people who have little to nothing and made do with less. They find coming back to all the options overwhemling, and often continue in missionary service because of this.

[Nada.Leona]

I used to work in a dollar store and you'd be surprised how often people would come up to my cashes laughing at some little item, like a cheap-o plastic figurine, or a cheaper version of some gadget and would buy it, saying "It's only a dollar." The thing is, that little item is going to be funny til you get it home and show your spouse or child. Then it's going to sit there and be clutter. Two months later, you're going to look at it and say, "Why in the world did I buy this thing?" That little bit of guilt pops into your body and you toss the little thing away. So basically, you've taken a $1 (or a loonie, for me) and torn it up and tossed it in the garbage (or were you smart and recycled it? ). Not only that, you've paid tax on the item too, so the government got some money on an item that you didn't even use. I try so hard to remember that -- when I go shopping and see something, I try to invision the money it would cost me and weither I would end up tossing it into the garbage or actually using it for something productive. If I see it going into the garbage, then I try not to buy it and instead put that money towards groceries and such.

[schellie69]

You have to watch the dollar stores sometimes what they have for a dollar I can find at walmart for 87 cents so you still have to watch what you buy, I only go to the dollar store when I know they have something that I need and its the cheapes price I also use some $1.00 items for fillers for gift baskets for birthdays and christmas gifts. I do like the clearance at the dollar store that is when i stock up on items for the next holiday. I also hear kids tell their parnets that they need the more expensive shoes because they last longer but then 3 months later they want new shoes because there is a new style or they have out grown the old ones. my kids get shoes from walmart I never spend of $20.00 for a pair of shoes and if I can i always try and get them on sale.

[MandiDawn]

This is so true - I had a bad shopping habit, and I broke it in Feb/March of this past year. I used to go shopping every payday. The first month I stayed far far away from the mall, it was hard to do. Then it got easier and easier, and it hasn't even been a year yet, but now I can go shopping for 3 hours, see nothing I like, and walk out without buying anything. It's amazing to watch others spend so much on stuff.

[sanderson76]

Great article, thanks for that

[Mojjo]

I can't buy like I used to...I'm always thinking...will I still want this in 6 months?

[ironmaiden]

I'm like that at the mall. There is so much stuff, that it turns me off. Someone was talking about the Christmas Tree Shop (mass amounts of cheap priced stuff) and how she buys so much stuff there cause it is all so cheap. I told her that I look at how cheap the stuff is and think of all those people working in sweatshops.
After she look I got, I didn't mention my thoughts of the trade deficit between us and China and the how the US is in debt to all these countries cause they are the ones financing this American spending spree by buying treasury bonds

[forestdale]

I agree that spending is a habit. Some people never break that habit. I look at people who shop at our store and wonder why they aren't somewhere else enjoying themselves.