5 common shopping mistakes

Ola! How are you doing?  I am back from a lovely vacation feeling absolutely rejuvenated and excited to share more content with you all. Now that I am settling back into routine, I am also thinking about Thanksgiving and of course Black Friday/Cyber Monday!

Do you love shopping? Ah! I heard you say “yes”. So do I 🙂  As much as I love shopping, I am trying to do mindful shopping and avoid some mistakes while shopping. This is a conscious decision taken as a consequence of some of my own mistakes. Also because these days I am purging many belongings that I no longer use and shopping mindfully will help me reduce that clutter too.

So, here are the 5 common mistakes that you can avoid while shopping this season and beyond.

1. Auto-renewal subscriptions 

It all begins with the free trial sign up. I know it sounds awesome and luring especially with the discount offered with the first purchase. But remember they all lead up to auto renewed paid subscriptions. We surely do not want to spend more to get rewards. Unless you are someone who remembers to cancel your subscription before your free trial ends or you really want to continue with the subscription  you may want to think twice before you sign up for free trial. I recently had to hunt down my emails and bank statements just to check for the various subscriptions I signed up for so that I could unsubscribe for the ones I am really not using.

2. Not checking the dimensions before buying 

This is not just a mistake while shopping online. It could happen in physical stores as well. And its not just for clothes and footwear but for other things including decor, furniture etc. Paying little attention to the dimensions before getting something home to check if it fits in well with your need goes a long way. May be try carrying a measuring tape to the store and check before hand the required dimensions. Don’t forget to read the dimensions mentioned in the product description while buying online. Return is always an option but why go through the pain when we can avoid. Sometimes it comes with a cost.

3. Coupon codes and Sales

This could be very luring and is like a chicken and egg situation. Do you buy because you have a coupon or do you look for a coupon because you want to buy? I know its hard! I prefer to do the latter and I am guilty of doing the former. Just think what works best based on the product, the sale season and of course the price difference based on the coupon. This may be important this time of the year as we tend to just buy something because the price is marked down. Well, just ask yourself “Do I really want it? Do I see myself using it?”  Do yourself a favor and delete the coupon email or discard the physical mail instantly if you did not intend to buy a particular thing until you saw that coupon(except for grocery).  Rather, I try to find a coupon or wait until I find a coupon (if the thing is not really a necessity) before I shop for a certain thing.

4. Shopping lists are not for fun 

That was a note to self! Most of us are good with making shopping lists, but how many of us really take them or look at them while shopping and even if we do, stick to it? Well, that is what we got to do. As you get ready for Thanksgiving shopping, make a list of the stuff that you have been waiting to buy at reduced prices and try sticking to it. Brownie point : If you stick to the list, you may want to get yourself just one thing you have not planned for but you just found it worth buying.

5. Waiting until last minute 

When you wait until last minute to buy something, especially which you are likely to spend more as we are desperate to get it so would not mind spending extra bucks to get it. You may not get enough time to do research, compare prices and may also end up buying stuff that you really don’t need but purchased as a precaution.

That’s it folks. Putting this list together helped me introspect my mistakes and work towards correcting them.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Shopping! What is that one thing on your mind you know you are waiting to grab this season?

– Signing off