SHOPPING HACKS THAT WILL SAVE YOU A LOT OF MONEY

Article by Rahel Kaaya

Lately, I have been reading a lot of sites and watching videos about minimalism—a concept about owning less stuff. I’m not a full blown minimalist, but I am trying to take a few things that I find are easy for me to manage and do. For example, I am slowly clearing out my closet (one section at a time) and getting rid of kitchen utensils that have just been sitting around in my cupboard for years without much use. So while doing this, it got me thinking about how I got here; asking myself what was I thinking prior to buying these things and why I saw no value in them anymore. It got me thinking, where do we make the mistake? I realized my shopping choices play a huge role. If you’re like me, maybe try out some of these tips. It might help you own less stuff, and also save a lot of money while doing it.

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1. GO SHOPPING WITH A PLAN

If you don’t have a plan, the chances of you buying the things you don’t need are really high. Fast forward a few months later, you are looking at all the money you spent on things you do not need. If your plan is to window shop and to see what is in the stores, do not leave the store with any purchases; chances are you don’t need what you just spontaneously bought.

2. MAKE A LIST

I am big on lists and writing things down. For some reason, you get a clearer idea of what it is that you want. Once you know what you want, you will then find out how much it costs, so it will be slightly hard for you to spend money on the things that are not in your list. A LIST IS KEY, GUYS!

8-23. JUST BECAUSE IT IS ON SALE DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULD BUY IT

We all love a good-bargain, but I think we make most of our shopping mistakes on the sale section. So instead of going to look for cheaper options on the sale section, maybe what you need to do is look for the things on your list that might be on the sale section. People spend a lot of money on what they think was a good bargain. However, and I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you lost money because you didn’t save any. Chances are, a few months later, you will be looking at your closet and saying to yourself, “What the hell was I thinking?”

8-44. SAVE MONEY FOR YOUR SHOPPING PLANS

It might be tempting to just go to a store, look around and purchase what you think is good. But since we have already learned that we should have a plan, make a list and not go on a sale frenzy, you should also plan your money as well, by setting some aside for your shopping purposes. It’s safe to say you will not be overspending, and all the pieces you will own will be exclusively what you need.

5. QUALITY IS BETTER THAN QUANTITY

You have a plan, you have a list, you have saved your money. So, why buy crap? Invest in good quality pieces. If you cannot afford an expensive brand, find an affordable brand with good quality products and buy from there instead. We live in China, we see dupes of everything everywhere we go; I personally think it is so much better to buy a genuine shoe from your favorite retail store instead of buying a dupe of some high end brand for the same price. A new mantra of “SAY NO TO JUNK” will save you a lot of storage space (and money too). So, use your money wisely and buy something that will stand the test of time.

8-36. ORGANISE YOUR CLOSET

I don’t know about you, but whenever my closet is in a mess, I tend to get frustrated and wear only what I can find and start thinking that I don’t have any more clothes which may result to more shopping and more hoarding. An endless circle of mess. But, if you are slightly organized, it will be so much easier for you to know what you have, what you need to add and what not to add, thereby saving yourself a lot of time and money.

I hope this was helpful. Please check out my personal blog site, rahelkaaya.com and leave a smiley or something. I would love to collaborate with some creative minds. ‘Til next time.

For more tips and wisdom from Rahel, check out www.rahelkaaya.com