This is something that I have tried and continue to strive to do, therefore this post has a little of a “do as I say, not as I do” undertone to it.
I think that as bloggers we have a responsibility to our readers not to just become another part of the peer pressure that can force some people into a danger spiral of spending and debt from trying to keep up with all of the trends all of the time. This is something that was discussed in this Friend Friday discssion. Sure, there are some people – and bloggers – who can afford to spend all of their days dressed head-to-toe in designer clobber but I’m not one of them and I don’t think that many of my readers are either.
1. First – and this is the one that I struggle with the most – make a budget and stick to it. Make it realistic. Look at how much you actually spend each month and work out roughly how much you can afford to spend. Don’t make it so limiting that within the first day of the month you’ve bought one thing and blown it and then end up scraping the budget and spending too much. Again. I speak from personal experience.
2. Sleep on something you want. If you still want it the next day, it’ll still be there. If, of course, it is the last one and in your size, why not buy it but then leave it in the bag, with its receipt and tags on, and sleep on it. More often than not, when I do either of these I find I didn’t actually want it as much as I thought I did and I end up “saving” however much I would have wasted on it.
3. Look out for things that you lusted after, but didn’t fit in your budget, at sales time. I have managed to find a few things like this and it always feels even more like a bargain.
4. I have read this so many times and have never seemed to be able to do it but if you can, I think it must work: take an inventory of your wardrobe and work out what is missing from it and make a list. Then, when you’re shopping, hunt out these rather than going into a shop with no plan whatsoever.
5. Allow yourself one frivolous, non-essential buy every couple of months. If you’re always waiting till you find the one thing that your wardrobe’s missing, or your waiting to see if that one piece you’re lusting after goes into the sales, you’ll soon get despondent and likely give up on the whole thing. So allow yourself frivolous buys occasionally. They make you feel good and will add something to your wardrobe.
Of course, there is no real sure-fire way to stop yourself from bankrupting yourself with your shopping, except to go cold turkey. If you think you might be a bona fide shopaholic, check out my post here. And to see how I did when I went cold turkey last year for six months, go see my posts here.
What are your tips for budget shopping? Do these apply to you? Do you think bloggers have a responsibility to encourage readers not to overspend?