Categories: SavingSpending

Why I Don’t Go Shopping

I’ve never been much of a shopper. I hate the idea of spending an entire day at the mall looking for one or two items. I don’t shop until I know exactly what I need. My underwear is disintegrating? OK, I’ll get exactly what I need, nothing more. I’m the king of not buying on impulse.

Online Store Are Always In Stock

Last year, I wanted to get a book and a shirt. The book was Will Schwalbe’s “Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home.” The shirt was just a polo to replace an old one in my closet. I set out for the mall, which had a Barnes and Noble and an Old Navy next to each other. I set out and found the book, but it was $17. It’s a tiny book. A great book, but tiny. There was no way I was going to spend $17 on something I would read in 2 hours. So I went next door and found the polo shirts. O wait, I didn’t because they were all out of my size. I drove home, disappointed that my shopping trip had been a disaster.

I went shopping online, and found the book on $8. And the polo shirt was easy to find for a great price. In the color and size that I wanted. Oh, and the Internet was not sold out of my size. So I had to wait a few extra days, but I learned an important lesson: It rarely pays to leave the house.

OK, so that’s not quite true. For clothing, it’s always nice to try something on before you buy it. But in this situation, I thought it was nice to know that I could always find stuff for cheaper online and never have to deal with the hassle of driving, parking, and navigating my way through a bunch of middle-aged moms. The advantage of getting my book and shirt that day was greatly outweighed by the extra cost I would have to pay to buy it from the store.

Is It Worth The Trip?

Before you run off to the mall, decide how important it is that you get that item immediately and whether maybe you’d be better off waiting a few extra days to save yourself both the money and the hassle of having get yourself to and from the store.

Sweating the Big Stuff

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Sweating the Big Stuff
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