Buying what you don't need
I went to Target this weekend to buy toilet paper, bathroom cleaner and paper towels and walked out with $80 worth of impulse purchases that filled four bags.
I'm not the only one out there that gets sucked in to buying stuff I hadn't planned. ShopSmart, a shopping magazine published by Consumer Reports, will publish a poll in its November issue that found that 60 percent of women have bought something on a whim in the last year. The average cost of these impulse purchases was $108.
More than 35 percent of women have buyers remorse, regretting things that we've bought. Women most often impulse buy because they can't pass up the good price. Clothing and food were the most recent purchases.
And I'm not the only one that was enticed at Target. The survey found that 33 percent of women made their most recent impulse purchase at mass merchandisers, such as Walmart and Target.
So how many of you out there have impulsed shop? What tips do you have for fighting it?
Comments
It's certainly not restricted to women. I spend way too much on things I think I want. We are programmed by Madison Avenue to indulge in instant gratification.
Posted by: Richard | October 20, 2009 5:19 AM
I allow myself to impulse buy things, but there's a limit on price. If it's more than $40, and something I don't really need, I usually think about it for a day before making myself go back to the store. Natural laziness works against the impulse buy.
Otherwise, I don't go shopping at the mall all that often, so I don't have the temptation of the clothing stores with their wonderful sales and cute clothes.
Posted by: Justine | October 20, 2009 9:20 AM
Target is ground zero for my impulse buys. 95 percent of the time, it's clothing or accessories.
I'm with Justine -- I just generally stay away. If I stay away, I have little temptation.
>i/i
Posted by: Maryann | October 20, 2009 11:07 AM