Survival Tactics For Shopping

The other day I actually ventured into a store with the intention to buy. Mind you the past three months I have been recycling, swapping, sharing, and refurbishing my wardrobe. Ladies, I do practice what I preach!... So to venture back out into the shopping jungle was quite a task. Nervous, I thought, “I must arm myself!” Before I left I did a shopping survival-kit check... 1.) “Budget... check!” 2.) “Clear vision of what I needed... check!” 3.) “Research sales... check!” I picked one store and one store only to go into. It happened to be a sporting goods store because I needed a pair of running pants and a fleece. The store was advertising 20 percent off most of the store. I had read this in the paper so I was super excited!
	When I arrived at the store I was immediately confused. Sale signs were on some racks... and then other racks seemed to be purposely ambiguous. Like they were screaming, “Maybe we’re on sale... maybe we’re not. Hahaha you’ll never know!” I spent 90 minutes carefully choosing my wardrobe from what seemed like the 20 percent off rack. I tried every item on and made sure I only walked to the counter with what I needed and what was within my budget. Proud, I started my transaction and when the bill came I was OVER BUDGET! (GASP) “HOW?!” I thought.
	The sales person explained to me that my fleece was not on sale. I pointed out it was on the sale rack. Then she pointed out the sale rack was really the rack on the other side of the sign... I thought, “Hmmm that is tricky!” So there I was; now it had been 2 hours since I entered the store and I had to get back to work... what was a girl to do?! So sadly I went over budget.... feeling defeated i decided to do some research the next day. I wandered into a few stores and quickly realized this “ambiguous sale sign” is an empidemic. So I started to make a list of how and what I could do better next time and I decided to add two more important points to my SHOPPING SURVIVAL CHECK LIST.
		1.) ASK QUESTIONS UP FRONT! Be that annoying shopper that confirms what is and isn’t on sale 15 times with the sales clerk. If they are going to make it tricky for us, we are going to make them work for their money! Stores know that once they get you to the counter, there is a 50% chance you will buy the item even when you discover it is not on sale. You have already invested your time and gotten used to the idea the item will be going home with you. So parting ways at the counter is tough! 2.) FACTOR SALES TAX IN YOUR BUDGET! Many major cities have raised their sales tax to 9-11%! That adds up! If you find a similar store outside the city, I recommend doing
so, but if you don’t have the time or the means to shop anywhere but in your metropolitan area PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure you factor in sales tax before you make your budget! Click here to find your city’s sales tax rate.
It is a new frontier out there ladies, and we are smart and constantly evolving as shoppers! We can take on the beast, we just have to out run and out smart it! HAPPY HUNTING! KK

Comments

[Ellen]

Kara
Love this weeks blog. Thanks so much for the tips because we all want to conquer the beast! You are a girlfriend to all of us and we thank you for it. Keep writing, I look forward to "Closet Karma" every Tuesday!

E.C.