The holidays have come and gone, and hopefully you’ve gotten to enjoy the things that truly matter. You’ve gotten some time with your friends and family; you’ve gotten some much-needed rest off from work or school; and you’ve gotten to catch up on the sleep you’ve been missing.
Those are the things with a lasting impact during the holidays, but people also make a big deal of the shopping that comes with them. For stores looking to unload their merchandise, it isn’t enough to have big sales leading up to the holidays. Instead, when the holidays pass, they continue with the steep discounts to get rid of the inventory they still haven’t moved. It’s all one big cycle, but it’s one out of which you can make the most if you come prepared.
Choose a certain amount of time to devote to shopping, and don’t go over it. Data from the website TrackYourHappiness.org demonstrate that people tend to be happier than normal during the holidays—except for when they are shopping toward the tail-end of the season, during which time they are far less happy.
Because such shopping trips can make you less happy (perhaps by reminding you of your limited or resources or by distracting you from more meaningful things), it makes sense to limit the amount of time you spend shopping. Additionally, by planning out in advance a schedule to which you’re going to stick, you increase the chance of your actually following through on the goal. Let your friends and family know your plans to limit your shopping time, and ask them to help you follow through on them. You’ll thank yourself for this later and for other tips to achieve your goals.
Decide upon a number of maximum spending rather than a list of items. If you don’t give thought ahead of time to how much you are willing to spend, you will likely leave the store with less money than planned. Stores are very good at getting you to snap up items you don’t necessarily need, and unless you’re okay with their taking advantage of you, you should work to prevent this.
Committing to a number and explaining to yourself why sticking to that number matters is a great strategy to reduce your holiday impulse buys. For example, if you know that you can only spend $200 because you need to have money to make a credit card payment at the end of the month, you’ll be less likely to treat your budget flexibly. Instead, you’ll look for deals or ways to cost-cut that can help you be happy with what you purchase rather than ways to rationalize a budget change.
If shopping online, use Ebates to get free cash-back on your purchases. I’ve written about this before, but that’s because I think this is a really great program that people should use. How Ebates works is when you make a purchase through one of its partner stores, which include most major retailers, you earn a certain percentage of your purchase back in the form of a check from Ebates. Plus, when you make your first purchase of $25 or more, you’ll receive a free $10 check from Ebates. You essentially get paid for the shopping you would have done anyways.
Of course, any discounted deals site runs the risk that it will prompt you to shop more than you otherwise would have, but I haven’t found that to be the case with Ebates. The only difference for me is that now when I do shopping I would have done anyway, I save a percentage of my purchase, and that money can really add up over time. I highly recommend signing up for Ebates.
The holidays are about much more than shopping, but it makes sense to shop smart with the shopping you will do. Best of luck with your shopping excursions, and I hope the rest of your year ends on a great note.
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