How Did I Get Here?

I am not a shopping guru. I do not have bags of money that magically levitate around my bed, or trees in the back yard that sprout cash instead of leaves. Actually, my budget is pretty tight compared to most incomes. That is how the "quest" to master the art of spending money successful began. I don't want to try two, three, four or more times to "get it right" when I look into buying a product. I don't want to buy the same thing six times in five different flavors for no reason. When I part with my cash, I want to hit the nail on the head the first time.

I have a monthly budget that I use for entertainment purchases. Depending on how your bills and responsabilities work, you might have daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or who knows what else that governs your funds. The bottom line is, unless you have the above-mentioned money-growing trees in the backyard, you only have so much cash flow to go around. And I'm sure you, just like me, want to make it count.

The first thing that I discovered as a self-proclaimed shopaholic is this: Learn to pay your bills first. Look after your needs. Do you have food? Is your rent paid? Did you pay your brother back for the movie ticket last month? I love shopping -- but I won't touch debt with a ten foot poll. To someone who enjoys shopping, debt is the equivelant of the Game Over screen in Super Mario Brothers. We don't want this.

The next thing that I learnt is to look before you buy. Impulse purchases are much more likely to become "What was I thinking?" moments then those things that we buy after careful research and examination. If you want to spend $5 on a new hairbrush, go for it. But if you are looking into something costly $30, $40, $50, etc. make sure that you think about it if you can.

The exception to this rule is if the item in question is a one time opportunity. For instance, I saw a wall hanging at a Florida Flea Market this February while on vacation of a singular circle that had the sun wearing the moon as a mask. I really liked it. Did I need it? No. Was I interested? Yes. It was $15. Since I could not answer what I felt was an imporant question -- How will I display this? -- I decided to come back next weekend and pick it up if I reached an answer. The flea market vendor was not there. While this was not heartbreaking (I had not really found a solid answer anyway) I still wonder if I would have been better off buying it the day that I saw it. Its not something that I can go and pick up from my local Wal-Mart after "sleeping on it".

Most things do not fit here though. That awesome game that you saw at Target? The DVD title that looked interesting even though you have never seen a trailer for the film? That $300 netbook that might be handy for two weeks while away from your main PC? These are the moments when thinking it through becomes the golden rule.

But how does one do this? How long, or how many times, should we tell ourselves "No."? That depends on your budget, the cost of what you are considering, and the type of shopper that you are. These methods below might not work for everyone but they work great for me.

The Rule of Three: For anything $50 or under I tend to use this. DVDs? Books? Games? If I see something on a store shelf that catches my interest that is a bit more costly (I usually do this for items $30 and above) I pay attention to how many times that I gravitate toward it in a store over the following weeks. This method probably works well for me since I do not drive and my trips to the shops are spread out since I go with family or friends. If I continue to keep thinking about getting something and going back to it, I will generally buy it the third time. While waiting to buy it, I also tend to research it via the internet to determine whether it is something I will like.

Windows-Shopping: Another method that I find really useful is to actually "go shopping" for certain items using sites like Amazon.com. Not only can I take as much time as I want while I "browse", I also get access to reviews, discussions and -- if I really want to delve deeper -- even video footage for more important purchases. I have no qualms with using a credit card to buy things that I know are going to be harder to get locally. But I do not use them for larger items (like electronics) and I do not use them impulsively. How do I do it? My favorite place to shop online is Amazon and I slow my trigger finger from firing off orders by checking with my family to see if they want to order anything to ensure free shipping. Waiting for the answers gives me time to access whether I am getting the right stuff. Rushing on internet purchases, at least for me, does not usually go well.