Smart shopping is, well, smart

The busy shopper’s best friend

Smart shopping is, well, smart

27 February 2006 One Comment

[ shopping bag image ] The stereotype of a woman who is interested in shopping is unkind — we’re (unfairly) portrayed as a bunch of bimbos.

Smart shopping is actually an intelligent, rational thing to do, and today I’ll show you why.

Plus, how you can be a smart shopper too.

The consumer conundrum

Every day, we see stacks of ads encouraging us to buy more stuff. Here are three possible responses to seeing all those beautiful things:

Go out and buy the lot, credit card be damned!
Learn to ignore them and be content with the things you already have
Become a smart shopper so you can keep to your budget and still have nice things

Which do you think are the intelligent responses?

While the hardcore frugality crowd might say that #2 is the only way to go, I recommend a combination of #2 and #3… but then, I believe that appreciating beauty is part of what makes us human.

Beautiful things are good for the soul

Have you ever been somewhere so beautiful that it took your breath away? Do you remember how wonderful it felt to have all your senses overwhelmed by the loveliness of everything around you?

Personally, I’d like to feel like that all the time.

It might not be realistic to make your surroundings match up to the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen, but you can certainly bring a little of that home with you — and that’s what I try to do every day.

Beautiful things on a budget

I’m not rich enough to buy every lovely thing that catches my eye… and even if I could buy them all, I wouldn’t have time to give them all the attention they deserve.

I want to have just enough beautiful things around me to enjoy the aesthetic pleasure they bring, without busting my budget. So I take the time to appreciating what I do have, and use smart shopping strategies when I do need to buy something.

How to be a smart shopper

There are only two steps to smart shopping:

Step one: Ignore what you don’t need

There are many gorgeous things on the glossy magazine pages that I don’t have any use for. It’s relatively easy to resist any temptation I feel to buy these, because really, what would I do with them?

That’s acid test #1 before you buy something — will you ever use it?

There are also things that sound brilliant, except they would lead inevitably to bankruptcy. Think private jets, couture outfits and $60,000 dining tables. You don’t need bankruptcy, so these also belong in the ‘don’t need it’ category — there are cheaper alternatives if you do really need something similar.

If you want to be a smart shopper, keeping away from the things you really don’t need is a good start.

Step two: Shop around for the things you do need

When you do need something, it makes sense to shop around.

For example, I really need a new winter coat, and I have a reasonable budget for it. I could spend that money on the first thing that fits the bill, and it would probably do the job adequately. Or, with some more shopping around, it could stretch to something beautiful and top-quality on sale, which would be a pleasure to use (and last longer than the adequate version).

With a little more hunting, I might find something lovely at an op shop or market. Then I’d get to have a beautiful coat and keep most of my money. If I’m really lucky, I might even find one for free. It does sometimes happen.

Sometimes all my hunting doesn’t turn up the thing I need. That’s OK too — the more you know, the easier it is to find exactly what you need next time.

Smart shopping pays dividends

I spend a reasonable amount of time shopping around, but I’ve done the calculations and I get a good return on the time I put into it.

My home looks (and works) great but cost very little to decorate. Likewise, I’m very happy with my wardrobe (OK, most of the time!) If I’d bought all the things I use on a daily basis at recommended retail prices, it would have cost me tens of thousands. I spent a small fraction of that.

The return I get on the careful shopping time I’ve invested isn’t just about how much money I’ve saved though. More importantly, my life runs more smoothly for having the things I need at my fingertips — and I enjoy having those lovely things to use. That gives me more time for other things, and a little more enjoyment of the mundane things in life. To me, both those things are priceless.

Is smart shopping really dumb?

So is the stereotype of the shopping-obsessed bimbo correct? Is it dumb to know what’s available, how much it costs and where to get it?

Being interested in beautiful things might be perceived as shallow, vain, superficial and dumb, but it actually takes serious smarts to be stylish without much money. There are arcane skills and specialised knowledge involved, like knowing if a fabric’s good quality, if that skirt makes your ass look big or if a trend’s almost over.

Smart shopping is an intelligent response to living in a consumerist world — not dumb at all!