One thing I noticed when I lived in North America was how everyone told you what they bought on sale. Over lunch break @ work people would pop into the local mall or drug store (nothing like our small chemists here!) and come back armed with cheap tops, jeans, shoes, cosmetics galore! Friends would often say things like “it was soo cheap, reduced for over $50 to only $15″. Britain, in recent years, has its fair share of sales as well! Lots of racks of clothing for £5, £10, £15. Sales assistants are only too happy to tell us what the “real cost” was, and people walk away feeling happy and smug. However, I have a different view entirely!
Firstly, if you don’t need something, it isn’t a good bargain. If you have a few shirts in your closet, shoes on your feet, a couple of pairs of trousers and skirts, underwear….well then anything else is simply taking money out our your pocket and putting it in to someone elses!!
Secondly, it is a very dangerous concept to think that something is only £5/$10 or even £1/$2! It is a mentality that in my opinion leads to debt! Those small spends add up pretty quickly. For example, if you go out once a week and spend £20/$40 on “odds and ends” i.e. new tops for yourself or your kids, make-up, creams etc and another £20/$40 on things like coffees and ice-creams, muffins/pastries etc, well very soon it adds up. Even though none of those may cost more than £2/$4 each, the reality is together, over the course of a year, not including interest, you’ve spent £1920 = $3840! That’s not including that quick £10/$20 pizza meal deal for your family, meals out, gifts etc. That is a LOT of money to be buying on cheap “stuff”.
Finally, to me it smacks of a mentality of entitlement. If we see a top we want and buy it, if we see a cute toy for our kids and give in because it’s only £5/$10, well then where does it end? What will they want you to buy when they are 16, 18 – laptops, cars?? Money is so readily available by the use of cards, that people often don’t even think about bigger purchases like cell phones, new video games, appliances, furniture and the list goes on! The “I need it” “it’s on sale” and “it’s only…” mentality will no longer suck me in! For me that means my money is sitting happy in my ISA and Emergency account instead of in a six figure CEO’s paycheck!
hear hear!
By: neimanmarxist on July 31, 2008
at 1:52 am
I think you already know where I stand on this issue so it probably won’t come as a surprise that I totally, 100% agree. Sales are just another way of luring money out of us and as you say, better in our own bank accounts than added to somebody else’s, especially as that somebody else probably has tons more than most of us simplicity bloggers put together.
By: Sharon J on July 31, 2008
at 8:18 am
I love this blog and want to comment!
Two things have changed my approach to shopping:
1. When I had to tighten my budget because of a job loss, I was able to cut out a large amount of unnecessary spending by asking myself before every purchase “If I don’t buy this, will my life be less complete?” The answer was almost always “no”.
2. Four years ago, I had to empty my parents’ house of 40 years of accumulated ’stuff’. It took a week of my time, sorting and pricing, followed by a monster 2 day yard sale. My mother was sad to see some of her things sell for yard sale prices. I vowed at that moment, I would stop buying non-practical things for my own home, especially on vacations, that can’t be eaten, worn out, or used up. This has made a sea change in my shopping habits. Now instead of decorative knicknacks, I bring home a T-shirt, a local specialty food (like Stilton from the UK–yum!), or French perfume etc.
By: margot1257 on August 1, 2008
at 3:05 am
I so agree with this post. It is all too easy to get sucked in to spending little amounts in a steady ‘drip drip’ way, especially if something seems like a ‘bargain’. I try to always use the ‘accumulator principle’, adding up the little spends that happen each day, or each week, and seeing how much will have been spent over a month, a year, or two years. Often the figures really add up and it is much easier to not buy that ‘bargain’ or your favourite takeaway sandwich or magazine if you think how much will be spent on such fripperies over a sustained period of time.
By: Elizabeth on August 1, 2008
at 7:29 pm
That is one thing the Wife is really really good at, finding good work clothes that compiment each other without spending a fortune. I’ve learned to trust her judgement on that one.
Speaking of shopping we’re heading home in a few days to spend some of those wonderful euros in Canada, to keep our selves on budget I’ve created a detailed shopping list of things we need. 90% of what we buy, we buy becuase A it is a regular purchase it and B it’s much cheaper
By having a good list (mouthwash is one, way way cheaper) we avoid the tempation to “stock up”
I’ll probably post daily on how well we do.
By: robinmadrid on August 1, 2008
at 7:41 pm