How do you go shopping and spend money, but still save?
My daughter is turning 16 and so I took her to the outlets yesterday to go shopping because everyone knows a 16 year old does not want her mother to pick out her clothes! There were many shoppers there and although we were one of them, I consider myself a saver, even when I’m spending.
The first thing I do when I get there is do a positive affirmation to get a close parking spot and “poof” we got the second spot in the row.
The next thing we do is proceed to customer service to get our savings discount booklet filled with tons of deals for almost every store there. Then we proceed to shop.
Here are a couple of tips for you to consider when you shop at an outlet to save more than the initial discounts.
Stack Savings
When we were making a purchase, I stacked savings.
What does that mean?
There were great sales going on, but I still wanted more off the retail price. So in addition to the % off sale, I added a coupon from the savings booklet. Then I browsed the internet or my emails to see if there was another deal to add.
So instead of just settling for the 30% off they were having in the store, I was able to get:
- An additional $10 when I spent $50
- Then add another 20% off on top of that as a final deduction.
Sounds confusing, but in the end you can purchase $75 dollars worth of stuff for $34 – that’s $41 off.
Trust me, this makes shopping a lot more fun and it really stretches the dollar!
Keep my goals in mind while shopping
One store we walked into was a famous handbag designer store that was advertising 70% off. There were so many people in there that they were doing line control out front! Everyone wanted a $300 bag for $90.
I was enticed, who wouldn’t be? I’m sure you’ve all been in this situation.
So how did I walk out of that store empty handed?
Well I had $100 in my pocket that was given to me as a gift. I could afford the beautiful purchase that was calling my name, so that wasn’t stopping me. What stopped me was taking a moment to think about my goals for this year.
If I purchased the handbag, I might have felt great yesterday and showed it off to a few people in the days to come. But in about a month, it would be just another handbag.
If I instead took the money and put it toward one of my goals, the feeling of accomplishment I would have would last forever. Achieving that goal would provide happiness for more than just a month.
So I said no to the bag and yes to me. It’s hard to do, but practice makes perfect. Today I don’t regret leaving the bag in the store, but if I had brought it home I might have regretted having it in my closet.
No regrets, I’d rather invest in me. Sometimes I splurge and sometimes I save.
Hope these 2 tips help you next time you are out shopping. Make savings fun while you shop and you will feel much better about each purchase you make.