Tackling a sale, for the sale-shy

Here at Spend It Like Beckham, at the moment it is just me, Chris 🙁 So, I thought it would be good to get in a guest post from elsewhere, and I thought it would be even better if this particular guest post was written by someone of the female persuasion. Women like football and money saving advice as well, right? So why should they listen to me and my manly advice. Here is Emily’s most likely more pragmatic post for us. And by us, I mean me…

Many people find shopping in the sales extremely stressful and so avoid them all together. Personally, for me, it’s my favourite time to go shopping. The satisfaction of walking away with 10 discounted items that together cost next to nothing is often far more gratifying than coming away with only one item. I know that much of life is about quality over quantity but that’s the beauty of a sale – you get to have the best of both worlds – quality and quantity.I’ve therefore put together three tips on how to tackle a sale:

Avoid the mad rush

A lot of shoppers seem to think that if they don’t get to the sale on day one of it starting then they’ll miss out on all the good deals. Not necessarily. Of course, this will vary across different shops but from experience I’ve found that I’ve had better luck after leaving it a few days until the mad rush has passed. That way, the shopis slightly quieter which means you don’t need to feel guilty for spending too long looking at an item and this will ultimately allow you to make better purchasing decisions.

It also reduces the chance of having someone stand quietly in your personal space whilst they eye up the same product as you. Ultimately making you either a) feel uncomfortable so you walk away or b) you start to produce feelings of hate towards a perfect stranger for trying to buy the item that you had your eyes on.

Neither are situations that we want to get ourselves into I’m sure.

The guy in the hat actually thinks that’s the line for the restroom

Don’t get carried away

A common mistake made by shoppers is that when the sale time comes around, they end up spending far more money than they had planned and wind up asking themselves how this happened.

It happened because they listened to their hearts instead of listening to their heads.

We’ve all been a sucker to a bargain and anyone who’s moved homes will I’m sure have encountered various items that have resulted in them asking themselves ‘what an earth was I thinking when I bought this?’ The answer is – you probably weren’t thinking at all.

Avoiding buying things just because they’re a ‘total bargain’ is a good place to start. Yes, it’s a bargain but do you really need that toastie machine when you already have one that’s still in its box back home? Or that pair of jeans that is the identical twin to the pair you already own?

The best thing to do in this situation is to set yourself a budget before heading to the shops. That way you won’t allow your emotions to get the better of you and instead will be thinking carefully about every purchase you make.

“But they cost so much more when they’re not on sale!”

Try before you buy

Trying before you buy isn’t always an option. Referencing that toastie machine again – I don’t think staff would be too pleased to walk through their shop and find you making yourself lunch whilst a distinct smell of melted cheese and tomato lingers in the air.

Clothes’s shopping on the other hand is a whole different story. If there’s ever a time to try clothes on, sale time is it.

When returning sale items, a lot of shops only refund you with a gift card or ask that you replace the item with another item. Not ideal if you’re trying to get some extra pennies back into your bank account.

So there you have it, three small simple steps that will hopefully make you sale savvy and save you some pennies in the process.

Know any more tips for successfully conquering a sale? Let us know in the comments below.