13 Aug 2011

a year as a minimalist / / part three


Part III: IMPULSE PURCHASES

Questions to address:
1. What makes me impulse buy?
2. Do 'special offers' seem irresistable to me?

To answer these questions and to have a real effect with them is to answer them honestly. So I will.

Impulse buys happen to me a lot; at the supermarket, when on a shopping spree, when buying lunch... The list is endless. However, recognising what makes me impulse buy can help me combat it! I know that on a weekly shop; if I go while hungry, I tend to pick up things such as a bar of chocolate or a packet of something not so good for me or my purse. So, to limit the number of impulse grocery buys I make a month, I tend to go grocery shopping straight after lunch or breakfast. For lunch, I find bringing just enough money for a sandwich/salad and a drink is usually enough; and to save even more, I usually bring my own lunch. Sometimes, though, I forget or don't have the time to pack my own lunch but this only happens about once a term anyway!

However, an impulse buy I made during a clothes shop turned out to be one of my best buys!

The dress was bought on the whim and I have to say that I love it. I have worn it so many times since I bought it back in January and the quality really is good! But, I am not condoning impulse buys as I know most of my impulse clothing and footwear purchases have ended up on eBay within 6 months of owning them (and barely a wear too!)

Next, special offers. When I get an email with money of a purchase of something, or an email for a discount code for one of my favourite stores, I usually find it quite difficult to resist having a browse of the website. As a consequence, an order shortly follows this 'innocent' browse! In order to reduce this temptation, I have opted to unsubscribe from emails from clothing stores. It was painful as I kept thinking 'what if I miss out on an awesome bargain?' but then, I realised that I won't be missing out at all. My wardrobe is complete and if I ever need anything, I can hunt out these discount codes on Google anyway! For those who don't know, the unsubscribe link is normally at the bottom of all 'spam' and 'weekly newsletter' emails from companies.

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