Useful Tips to Shop at Famous Brands while Staying in Budget. ‘Whoever said that money couldn’t buy happiness simply didn’t know where to go shopping.’ More actual words have never been spoken. It’s something that can be backed up by some fantastic facts.
Did you know that according to research, women spend eight years of their life shopping? That’s roughly 400 hours of shopping per year! Not only that, but studies have also shown that women who shop 17 hours per week are healthier, slimmer, happier, and more confident than those who shop less. While some people can be categorized are ‘normal’ in this regard, some are addicted. These shopaholics have a tough time balancing their wants and needs and staying on a budget. Sophie Kinsella’s famous book Confessions of a Shopaholic describes their sentiments aptly: ‘A man will never love you or treat you as well as a store. If a man doesn’t fit, you can’t exchange him seven days later for a gorgeous cashmere sweater. And the store always smells good. A store can awaken a lust for things you never even knew you needed.‘ It’s a love letter to all those shopping addicts out there.
How to Shop Smartly When on a Budget
Shopping brands can get incredibly simple for you economically if you follow a few principles. You can go for different low-end retailers, sales and coupons if you want to shop at low prices. The kind of pleasure you get when you find amazing deals is out of this world, especially when you are a shopaholic.
The article is going to help you out with your shopping routine and share different ideas that can help you shop on a strict budget. Also, you will get to know how you can avoid purchasing unnecessarily. These ten easy tips will make your life a bit easier since you can now add various branded items to your wardrobe without exploiting your budget.
↓ 17 – Find Alternatives to Shopping
Finding alternative hobbies is the first tip we offer to those of you with problematic shopping tendencies. Granted, it’s a great past-time, is often relaxing, and acts as the perfect escape from reality. But your credit card pays the price for this happiness. Literally. If you’re a shopaholic and are often plagued by urges to hit the mall and shop till you drop, we suggest you try and find some good hobbies and past-times that would distract you from your compulsions. Like, organizing your wardrobe and selling your least-used items? Trust us; your budget will be grateful.
↓ 16 – Go Shopping in Heels
This may be the least helpful tip and has dubious accuracy, but we have to put it out there. It has to do with psychology. A Brigham Young University research in 2013 discovered that women tend to make rational decisions while shopping if they are wearing heels. They’re trying to maintain posture and balance in high heels, so they don’t waste much time shopping. So if you’re scared of your shopaholic tendencies, grab the tallest heels in your shoe collection and go shopping.
↓ 15 – Find, Download and Use a Budget App
Budget apps are incredible financial tools that help you in monitoring your income. By choosing your preferred budget method, you can save more and spend less. These apps are available for iOS and Android devices, and most of them are free. If distracting yourself and applying psychological tricks doesn’t help, you need to know what your financial and economic status is straight up before you go on a shopping trip.
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Popular Budget Apps in 2020
- Mint
- PocketGuard
- Clarity Money
- Good Budget
↓ 14 – Shop Online
Use shopping apps or shop on websites. Some retailers offer free shipping on a certain amount of purchase. There are several other fantastic advantages to shopping online. There are no crowds; you can’t be pressured into buying, either by sales representatives or other people buying. It’s convenient. You can compare prices of various products listed quickly and choose the most affordable, and you can also find used items online.
Great Shopping Apps to Check Out
- Shopbop
- thredUp
- Net-a-Porter
- LIKEtoKNOW.it
↓ 13 – Differentiate Between Your Wants and Needs
If you want to be an impressive budget shopper, you need to realize the difference between what you actually need and what you just desire. You can go for an exercise that requires you to think for all the reasons you need to have a particular commodity (that can be a costume, a pair of shoes, or any piece of jewelry). This way, you will realize if you need something or not as well as if it is going to be used in the future or not. It is always beneficial to favor quality over quantity. Sometimes while using your bargaining skills, you just go for buying goods you do not need, and you end up losing your money on useless stuff.
↓ 12 – Prioritize Your Shopping List
Planning is always a great idea. The best way to go shopping for brands is to list all the items you need to buy and then prioritize the list in order from most important to least important. This way, you will go for purchasing the most important items first, and you may drop a few least essential items for the excellent quality and branded items. There’s a good chance that the person who buys something from her shopping list first will purchase unnecessarily. So be mindful of that.
The listing will also save up your time. Besides clarifying your preferences, search for the brands providing the best quality products to save up your precious time, which you can spend on other items. Also, try to approach the low-end retailers like thrift stores, consignment shops, and yard sales because most people with abundant money give away their stuff unused, and you can find some really incredible stuff over there if you are a shopaholic.
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↓ 11 – Compare Brands in Terms of Prices
Brand loyalty sometimes does not work for the obsessed ones, especially when a few items are sold at reasonably lesser prices by substitute brands. Always complete your research before jumping on buying specific, branded goods. You can find some fantastic brands selling similar products at lower prices. You can go with brands that are more affordable than others even if they aren’t well-known comparatively. You can also check out retailers, on and off-line that offer designer products at affordable prices and do sales.
Affordable Places to Shop
- The Outnet is a great website that sells last season designer clothing and goods at reasonable prices. It also does 70% off sales.
- Barney’s Warehouse Sale
- Target
- Kmart
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↓ 10 – Buy Items in Bulk
Okay, yeah, this isn’t foolproof. There are disadvantages of buying in bulk as well as some plus points. You have to proceed with caution and choose your items wisely. Buying in bulk means fewer shopping trips. There will be no need to hit the mall again because you’ll already have a lot of what you need. So, plus point number one is you won’t be tempted to tax your bank account. The second plus point is that bulk-buying means less cost per unit, so you’ll be saving some money the first time you spend it as well. Not a terribly bright plan, but worth a try.
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↓ 9 – Buy During Flash Sales and Discounts
Every brand does flash sales and gives discounts periodically. Make sure to purchase during that short window. Be decisive about what you want, and you might just get lucky. You can also check out flash sale websites! These websites offer astounding deals, high-quality branded products at affordable prices, plus you can discover new designers, manufactures, and brands.
Websites That Offer Flash Sales:
- Joss and Main
- Gilt Groupe
- Zulily
- Hautelook
↓ 8 – Be Thrifty
Thrift stores are a brilliant way to save money. You can find designer pieces in thrift stores after some looking, and they’re always available in good conditions and affordable prices. Thrift stores do sales too to make room for fresh inventory.
Tips for Second-Hand Shopping:
- Go with specifics in mind. If you want a particular type of dress or a pair of glasses or whatever, you will comb the store racks more efficiently and single-mindedly instead of aimlessly wandering around and wasting your time.
- Know where to go. There are several types of second-hand stores, including thrift shops, resale shops, pawnshops, consignment stores, and antique shops. If you’re eagle-eyed and carefully inspect the items, you’re guaranteed to find branded items there.
↓ 7 – Search and Use If You Find Any Coupon Codes Online
Sign up for online sites that come up with some fantastic deals like The Recessionista, and The Budget Fashionista. You can come across some marvelous money-saving deals that can expand your budget for alternative goods. Also, these sites and the official sites provide some coupon codes that can help you buy your favorite shoe pair or dress which you could not buy previously.
↓ 6 – Always go for the Sale Racks First
Never think that you cannot find anything worth it in the sale racks. There is always a sales rack or two in big brand outlets. You can also grab something you really needed previously but could not find anywhere. Sales are put up mostly when retailers want to add fresh stock to their shops, so they try to get rid of the older stock by putting sale prices on the items. The older stock always has a few pieces which are worth every penny you spend on them. The pleasure of finding some impressive products on sale is also immense.
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↓ 5 – Go for Unseasonal Shopping
Unseasonal shopping will always save you money. The prices of the latest collections and seasonal clothes and products are always kissing the sky. You can buy essential clothes in alternative seasons like sundresses are available at low prices during fall. Items like hoodies, flip flops, stilettos, and shorts are primary examples. The styles and trends of these specific products do not vary much over time. Also, a classic piece remains classic regardless of time, just like a leather jacket. Here are Top Women Leather Jacket Brands that you need to check out.
↓ 4 – Always Keep an Eye on Email Alerts by Your Favourite Brands
While signing up for your respective retailers’ sites selling your favorite brands, do not forget to subscribe to email alerts. Except for spamming your inbox, the alerts are very advantageous since you’ll get informed about any seasonal sales, coupon codes, special offers, etc. This way, you will grab on some grand deals and sales, which you usually would not get to know about.
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↓ 3 – Sign Up For Their Newsletters
Newsletters are another way of getting notified regarding all the latest offers and products along with prices. This will keep you informed of coupon codes and sales you otherwise would not get to know about. You can subscribe to various online retailers to get the newsletters.
↓ 2 – Check Blogs and Reviews Before Buying
Before directly jumping on buying some specific branded clothes or cosmetics, always check for any online reviews or blogs. This way, you will have a clear idea about the quality of the goods you need, and you will get to know if the products can give the results you actually wanted. You can look up to Chiara Ferragni, Rumi Neely, and many other fabulous bloggers.
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↓ 1 – Shop Smarter: Don’t Aim Buying Everything
In the end, you need to realize that there are products available by local brands that are equally amazing as well as useful. You can mix them up with your favorite branded clothes or other products and create enchanting styles. Always shop smarter rather than buying every lovely thing coming your way. Brands have their way of selling and advertising their products. You need to beware of any harmful consequences before buying something worth your entire income because all that glitters is not gold.
Give your opinions through comments if this article helped you manage your budget while shopping for your favorite brands.
