No seriously, she did.
My parents have been awesome influences on my living large on less lifestyle. Growing up, my mom & I spent many a Saturday spending “Mom/Daughter” time at the mall. She instilled in me a shopping style I use to this day: Never purchase anything on the first round.
We would walk around the mall once and hunt for the best bargains. We would then put all those steals on hold. (Every store will put something on hold, at least for a few hours. Especially if you ask nicely. If they don’t, take your business elsewhere. That’s a ridiculous policy and they don’t deserve your money.)
By putting the items on hold, we were able to actually think about the purchases – clearly. Remember – a good deal is never a good deal if you aren’t going to wear/use/need it in the next year. We would grab a pretzel & talk about each item. Discuss its pros & cons. Think about what we actually needed, as opposed to making impulse “oh my gosh I have to have that ruffled white shirt” decisions, only to realize when you get home that you have 10 identical items in your closet.
After the shopping power snack, we’d go back to the stores and purchase the winning items. It’s a great feeling to walk out of a store with a worthwhile purchase, not another end up at the bottom of your closet bargain.
Takeaway: Living large on less means spending money on things you will actually use, not just finding bargains for the sake of finding bargains.
Total Yearly Savings: If you cut at least two impulse buys a month, you’re looking at saving upwards of $480/year.
*photo by manza
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