Last time I had a rant about buying less, I focused on quality over quantity, reuseables over disposables, and recycled over virgin materials. Today, let's talk about strategies for buying less for people who stress shop or buy on impulse.
Shop Less Often
I know someone who buys on impulse a LOT. She knows this about herself and her strategy that she has tried to employ is to not go to the physical store, where she will see things and buy on impulse, but to order her things online. Okay, but now she's ordering online several times a week. Any time a thought pops into her head of "I want that," she hops on her phone and orders. Is she really saving any money?
My advice if you're like this is, keep a shopping list. Whether that's a note app on your phone or a physical marker board/piece of paper/whatever (I write on my chalkboard), making a list and letting it sit for a while can help you avoid unnecessary purchases. Similarly, if you're a big Amazon shopper, you can go, choose your deals, and stick them on a wish list and let it sit. Give it a week or so and see if you really want that thing. Often times, you'll find that you don't. Don't believe me? If you shop online a lot, how often do you let a package sit unopened for days? My neighbor does. Was it really that important if it's just sitting in an unopened box? Did you really need it? Probably not.
Understand the Psychology of Stores
Did you know that stores are strategically laid out to get you to spend more? Google it, there are tons of stories about the phenomenon. Understanding the basics can help you spend less, too. A primer:
When you walk in the grocery store, what's up front? Produce, generally. I know of one store that's an exception, where they've got fresh baked goods up front. But generally, you walk in, and think, "Mmm, fresh, healthy food, I can buy lots of yummy things here." You have a positive feeling right away.
Think about where milk is in the store. All the way in the back. Because milk (cow or otherwise) is frequently an item that is the reason someone comes to the store in the first place. You think, I'm just gonna go buy some milk and maybe something for dinner and be quick. But in order to get to the milk, you have to run the gauntlet of all the other aisles full of things that might tempt you. If all you're after is milk, power walk past those aisles and don't linger, looking at all the yummy treats. Those end caps (the ends of long aisles, that face the wide, front to back aisles) are prime real estate that companies literally pay to get their products put on so you're tempted by them.
Similarly, companies pay to get their products at eye level. A better deal might be all the way at the top or bottom, because people are just looking at what's easy and not crouching down on the ground. Look high and low, and you might find the better deal than the shiny-but-more-expensive thing right in front of your face. Similarly, companies pay Amazon to put their things at the top of search results. Scroll down, even look at the second or third page of results, and you might find a better deal.
In general, fresh, refrigerated, and frozen foods are on the periphery of a grocery store, and prepared, processed foods (and dry goods like sugar and flour) are in the middle aisles. If all you need is milk and vegetables, go around the edges and avoid the middle.
The cash registers are designed to get you to buy stuff on impulse too. Candy bars and other snacks, drinks, and magazines. Maybe you start reading one in line and throw it in with your purchases. Maybe you think I'm thirsty and grab a bottle of water or soda. If you're thirsty and you don't carry around a water bottle with you (why don'tcha?), and you don't want to wait 'til you get home, then find a drink in the middle aisles or in the refrigerated section in the back (it's probably cheaper). If you're snacky and it's going to be too long until dinner, grab a snack elsewhere too. The register snacks are probably worse for you and priced up for the convenience.
In Conclusion
Don't take a tour of the store, looking for things to catch your eye. Don't go grocery shopping looking for ideas. Browse recipe websites or cookbooks if you need dinner ideas, and go to the store with a list. A list also helps you avoid "Go to the store, buy a bottle of hoisin sauce, open the fridge, oh no! I already have a bottle of hoisin sauce" (that video makes me laugh, btw 😂).
I know this is a very North-America-with-our-giant-supermarkets kinda advice column, but we don't have fresh markets here like y'all do in more human parts of the world ("but we have farmer's markets, Phoenix" ...for two hours once a week across town during the summer months, doesn't really count). If you wonder why Americans eat so much crappy food, it's because the places where we buy food are like 85% crappy food in shiny packages designed to make you waaaaaaant iiiiiiiiit (with ingredients that are often banned in other countries and with more sugar, witness orange Fanta 😩). So I hope it helps someone who always comes home with twenty bags from a Walmart wondering what you just bought because you only went there for milk. ;)
Thanks for reading and have a great day! :)
Believe me that from now on when I go to the supermarket and I am paying at the checkout, I will remember you 🤭 In the supermarkets in my country there are tempting lollipops waiting for me at the checkout counters 🤭 Thanks to you I know why they are there 🤭
I liked your tips for before buying. Making a list of what you are going to buy is very good 🤩
Ohh we have lollipops at convenience store counters! LOL
Oh and I forgot to mention!
Yanno how grocery stores rearrange periodically and you can't find your normal stuff because the layout is all different and you have to go search for it now?
That is also on purpose, to force you to poke around looking for what you want, and maybe be tempted by something else. They know us list people who avoid temptation learn where things go and avoid the "mosey around being tempted," so they move everything around.
Dastardly!
Grocery prices being what they are now, I don't know how anyone can impulse shop at the supermarket!
I feel that for sure.
It’s always important to be able to hold back at so many things. If you keep buying everything that you come across or everything that comes your way, you won’t even be able to save up. That’s just the truth
She needs to be able to learn this
I used to be like that but I learned in the hard way
Yeah, I think she comes from a well-off family, so these days at her job she thinks she's broke but it's just her spending habits because she's used to having money.
I think it was Chris Rock who make a joke about how "poor" is not having the money in the first place, and "broke" is just that you spend all your money, lol.
Very relatable! I think it's not so much money they're saving as time (or so they think). I have a friend who's getting packages delivered several times a week, then ends up sending a lot of it back, so more time wasted. It's a rabbit hole, this whole online shopping thing.
I think you're right about the supermarkets, although I gotta say, if I walked into one and they had delicious freshly baked goods on display right up front... well, I mean I would be giving them my business :))
Lovely post!
I may or may not often buy a muffin there. 😅
I love this idea so much “ making a list that I will allow to sit for a week “. Am sure many of us will see that after a week, most items on that list will not be under “Scale Of Preference “
My long term system of buyings that has helped me a lot is “Scale Of Preference”. Buying the Immediate Needs”.
We all do have desire for more, but discipline has kept me on track.
Scale of Preference/Immediate Needs is how I write my list, too. One side is groceries I want to get next time I go to the store. The other side is long term things that aren't urgent. Sometimes I end up deciding against the long term things after a while.
Of course. That is a very good strategy to let go off things that are not pressing.
Another tip here for me. Blessings 😇.
You made a good point there. We should learn to adjust and buy based on priority.
Wow
She spends a lot
It’s cool but they are so unnecessary so it is very good to be on a budget so we don’t keep buying impulsively
Oh my, I certainly do wonder if you're some business psychology expertise because I feel like I've been let in on some juicy company secret.😆
I struggled a lot with impulsive purchase in the past but knowing the psychopathology behind why I'd be tempted to buy stuff I didn't need certainly makes it easier to avoid it all together. Love this!
Hahaha nah I just read a lot and have read several articles about it over the years. 😂
Nice article on how to make minimal purchase. Sometimes I check the Amazon and post some to the wishlist, but as told later it stays only as a wish, because something cheap and better comes up.
Also for online things I recommend looking at eBay. When I bought my carpet sweeper, the company itself was on eBay offering the same price as Amazon with free shipping (whereas with Amazon I would have had to buy more to get free shipping because it was under $35).
Surr will check