How To Become A Smart Shopper?

Let’s face it, we work for our money and so for most people, like you and me, who aren’t filthy rich, it’s important to be wise with how we spend our money. That’s not always easy though. If you’re like me and have a passion for fashion and love shopping, being wise with how you spend your money is going to be a challenge, especially when you find yourself shopping for clothes, constantly and often for no reason. Being a smart shopper might come naturally to some, but to others it doesn’t. It certainly didn’t come naturally to me.

A few years ago, I decided to update my wardrobe but I ended up wasting time and money buying clothes I didn’t need or even want. I didn’t know what being a smart shopper meant or how to become one. Really. What does it mean? Does it mean shopping only when there’s a sale? Comparing prices and getting what you want for less? Does it mean being conscious about what you need to buy and what you want?

It took a while for me to unravel the mystery. So, if you want to look your best, or if you’re planning on updating your wardrobe or giving yourself a makeover but don’t have a fortune to spend, my intention in this blog post is to help you avoid making the same mistakes I made.

Accessories — To become a smart you have to invest in statement wardrobe pieces. Metallic accessories, go with anything and everything!

Step 1: Develop Mindfulness Around Shopping Habits

When you’re shopping, get into the habit of asking yourself: Do I need it? Do I want it? Can I afford it?

What I buy & Why I buy it?

Becoming a smart shopper started the moment I began aware of my shopping and spending habits. This meant being mindful of what I shopped for, where, how, why and when I shopped. I would ask myself questions such as: Why am I buying all these clothes for? Do I need them? Why do I feel suddenly unhappy? Why am I buying cheap clothing?

When I reflected on my shopping and spending habits, I became aware that I:

Bought clothes and accessories because they were on sale not because I needed them, wanted them or even liked them.
Shopped when I was feeling frustrated or to avoid make a decision or addressing an issue, i.e. shopping was an escape.
Bought what I wanted, first, not what I needed, which left me with little money to buy what was important.
Spent most of my time shopping online for no reason whatsoever, I browsed endlessly and aimlessly.
Fell for the trap of ‘buy more and save’ before I realised that if I’m buying more things I don’t necessarily need or want I’m not actually saving money, I’m just spending it.
Bought the same style or item in different colours. In the process, what I ended up with was something more of a uniform than a personal style.
Bought clothes to validate myself, then I realised that if the only way to feel happy or fulfilled from within is to buying a thing whether it was clothes or anything else, then that’s a really sad way to feel happy. That kind of happiness didn’t last more than a a few minutes, hours, days or weeks.
Bought cheap clothes although I could afford to buy good quality clothing and ended up spending more money because they wouldn’t last for more than a year
Didn’t know what style, colours or prints I liked so I bought clothes I didn’t wear.

They say self-awareness is huge, and it is. After coming to terms with my shopping habits and mistakes, I’ve put some boundaries for myself to be wiser with how I spend not just my money, but also my time.

Wardrobe Essentials — As a smart shopper, you’d want to invest your money on clothes and colours that you love. Do you know what your favourite colours are?

How to become a smart shopper?

The good thing about making mistakes is that we have the opportunity to learn from them. Here are some of the changes I made on my journey to be a smart shopper.

Creating a shopping list and sticking to it! I got into the habit of writing a shopping list and started buying a couple of items every month. I learnt to prioritise items I had on my shopping list based on what was most important. If I couldn’t afford to buy all items at once, I would buy the items I needed the most.
Setting a budget. I started using my bank application, which has a budget planner, I used it more as a tracker to see if I’m overspending or not. I didn’t have any fancy budgeting techniques, all I did was simply ask myself every month what items I wanted to buy and how much money I wanted to spend.
Setting boundaries. This was huge for me because I had no boundaries at all. Here is a list of some of the rules and boundaries I set for myself
- I don’t shop when I’m feeling emotional.
- I don’t double buy or get the same item in 2 or more different colours. I check if I have an item I want to buy first, before I buy it.
- I check my balance before I shop.
- I only check the marketing emails that I receive from online fashion stores if I wanted to buy an item on my shopping list.
- When shopping, I’d ask myself: “Do I want this item” or “do I need it” and “can I afford it”. That made shopping a lot easier, I didn’t waste my time being indecisive and spared myself from feeling guilty and regretful buying things that I didn’t want, need or costed more than I could afford.
Being specific about what I want, need and like. I learnt to be very specific about what I like so when I was writing items on my shopping list I would write for example “white crop top – Occasion: Christmas party”, that was a lot more helpful than writing “white top” which could be anything, really!
Shopping during sale season. If I wanted to update my winter wardrobe for instance, I wouldn’t shop at the beginning of the season, if I don’t need the items urgently, I would leave it till until the winter sale was on.
Investing in good quality clothing. Why? It lasts longer so it’s actually cheaper in the long term. I now would rather spend $100 on a shirt that will last me more than three years than buy a $30 shirt every six months.

Conclusion

They say, there is more to life than increasing its speed and I believe that there’s more to life than spending time and money on shopping! I used to spend hours and hours shopping aimlessly, without knowing exactly what to shop for or why I was shopping in the first place.

Here are some of the things that have helped me become a smart shopper:

Developing awareness around my spending habits: what, why, where and how I shop.
Creating a shopping list and being very specific about what is it that I should buy
Having a budget
Shopping during sale season
Investing in good quality clothing
Being clear on what I needed and what I wanted and buying what I needed, first