How to shop without buying anything

[LSP]

When i shop I often find myself using different strategies to stop impulse buying. Wrote about this in my blog here:
http://organically.blogspot.com/2008/01 ... thing.html

The most useful 'anti-buying mantras' are:

1) “Do I really need another of those?â€

[red]

not going to the shops in the first place helps a lot...

[Annpan]

not going to the shops in the first place helps a lot...

works for me every time... except on amazon... a good book or film gets me everytime library and DVD rental have helped but, it's just not quite the same.

I tend not to go out to the shops because I hate other customers (all those years of working in a shop )

[red]

must admit i do like amazon...

not keen on crowds and.. well.. people.. much.. so dislike actually shoppingin shops

[ina]

Amazon or play.com are only on when I'm after a particular book. But going into bookshops is always dangerous... Other shops leave me cold. Most of them have musac on, which drives me out doublequick, even if I do need something!

[Ellendra]

I prefer shopping online too, I even signed up with this program where I get rebates if I shop starting from the links on their website. Not having any money usually keeps me from impulse buying.

[Green Rosie]

..... if it is fashionable now it will be out of fashion next year ....

[snapdragon]

I really dislike shops and shopping

so
don't go there
and
can't afford it

sorted

[farmerdrea]

What about looking at it in terms of how many hours you'd have to work to be able to pay for it?

Andrea
NZ

[Mainer in Exile]

The best thing I've found is to simply make a list of what I need before I leave the house, and then stick to the list when I get to the shops.

[Archie]

In supermarkets...I think....that all the tins are leeching lead, all the veg and fruit is full of pesticides, the meat has blue tongue or something, the eggs are from confined chickens, loadsa sugar anyway, loadsa salt to keep products on the shelf longer.
Have to dom this especially at shops like Lidl where they have 40% off and as recently 70% off.

[LSP]

all the tins are leeching lead, all the veg and fruit is full of pesticides, the meat has blue tongue or something, the eggs are from confined chickens, loadsa sugar anyway, loadsa salt to keep products on the shelf longer.

Thanks! Made me laugh. Especially when I've just been reading about lead in vinyl lunch boxes that children take to school.

I have to walk through the 'fashion' and 'accessories' bit of a store to get to the food section. I go there during the week to get some fresh produce and bread because it's within walking distance. The sales have been on and I imagine it must be quite difficult to walk past some of these 'bargains' when they scream '20% off today'.

[Milims]

I have to confess I do like wandering thru shopping areas. I like to people watch, to look at the colours, the way things are put together and to generally disappear in a crowd. In fact the entire scenario amuses and distracts me. Therefore I have lots of "mantras". My usual one for clothes/ accessories/household goods is "buying that is like having an ar**hole - everyone else has one too!"
My biggest failing is food - having been skint for a long time and having a real desire to make sure my family doesn't go hungry. Apart from having Chris telling me "there's no room in the freezer", I've really started to be conscious about how things are produced, what's in them and mostly the effect they have on my children and on their future - health wise and for the future of their word. So now I find it really uncomfortable to walk down the cleaning products aisles and I take my time when buying the other stuff. If there was a better choice and better quality of local producer and I had the means to produce more of my own - I think I'd avoid the supermarket altogether!

[farmerdrea]

I hate shopping. That's the deterrent for me. I make my lists, schedule a day out about once a fortnight for errands/shopping (we live rural, so I try to be organised about it), and just put my head down and go. I like farmer's market type shopping, and that's about it.

When we had more disposable income, what helped me not overspend was to think about how many hours I or my husband would have to work to pay a particular item.

Andrea
NZ

[Thurston Garden]

I hate shopping, have no money, but on the rare occasion we do have some spare (there is always too much month left at the end of the money ) there's nothing we want.

I do like looking at eBay though - second hand stuff....kitchenalia, land rover bits, books, tools....

I am not allowing myself to buy anything new this year anyhoo save consumables, underwear and essential land rover parts. So far, so good (although almost fell when I saw a 3 Daft Monkeys CD on play.com for £5.99!)