Introduction
Psychological tricks you can use to save money when shopping for most households Shopping takes up a significant part of the budget, and despite the rising popularity of online shopping and e-commerce, a whopping 80 percent of Americans still prefer heading over to a physical store to shop.
However, while the shopping experience may be excellent, it often goes against our most rational plans.
Spending more than we planned.
It's not uncommon for you to dash into a store aiming to pick up a few essentials and end up, about two hours later, rolling out a full shopping cart the size of a small dump truck.
This effect is most common in big department stores that have a way of displaying a wide variety of goods at prices that seem like a steal.
This psychological trick successfully ambushes the unwary customer as they walk in and lures them into spending far more than they intended.
This is just one of the tricks that stores, bars, and restaurants use to get you to overspend by pushing the right psychological buttons.
You burn through your shopping budget like a prairie fire and wonder why, despite your willpower, it's impossible to save.
That's why you tend to fall for such insidious manipulation. It's the human preference for instant gratification.
Most people will preferably have a marshmallow now rather than two in the next hour; however, you must keep an eye on your expenses and stick to a budget. Your financial future depends on this.
To arm yourself against the big stores while shopping, you must know all the tricks businesses use to entice you to spend too much on an item or buy more things than you need.
You must understand their effects on you when you recognize them.
You'll be able to shop and walk out with most of your money intact, like a champ.
When next you go into a store, here are some tips for identifying most tricks up their gilded sleeves and how you can circumvent their effects on you.
1. Do not shop with credit cards.
Shop with credit cards. An MIT study published in 2001 in marketing letters revealed that shoppers spend up to 100% more when they shop with their credit card instead of cash.
Credit cards, when responsibly used, offer plenty of travel and cash rewards, but when it comes to shopping, credit card use encourages you to overspend and often sabotages your budget.
The reason is simple. It's easier to spend more with plastic because the pleasure of the purchase is felt instantly rather than the pain of handing over your hard-earned cash, which isn't evident at the moment.
Going out with a limited amount of cash forces you to spend only up to the limit you can pay for with the card. Your spending limit may not matter that much to use newer bills.
2. Use old money.
Before you hit the store without your credit cards, of course, only carry old money.
According to a 2012 study in the Journal of Consumer Research, people prefer newer crisps or cash to shabby or jaded bills, so they're more inclined to spend the dirtier notes.
3. Avoid becoming friends with the staff.
The shop staff's human nature is to reciprocate kind gestures. The more you joke and laugh with the store staff, the more likely you are to buy more stuff from them.
That's why most of them are always eager to help.
You won't want to disappoint such a friendly, helpful person. You can show off your grumpy side, but not too much.
4. Wear high heels.
Wear high heels when shopping. This one's a bit strange, but it's actually backed by science.
Researchers from Brigham Young University observe that when shoppers minds are focused on keeping their balance, they tend to choose a mid-range item instead of a costly or lower-quality one.
They also observe the same effect in participants after they write on an elevator or after a yoga class.
5. Stops and pauses
Stop and pause mindfully. You may feel a dopamine rush when you see a coveted item at 85 percent off, and you don't have to be a shopaholic.
We just continue filling up the shopping cart unrestrained amid all that good feeling. Take time out occasionally to stop and question your decisions.
Ask yourself: How do I feel? Do I need this now?
Does it fit into my budget? Can I wait to see where I keep it?
After the self-examination, you'll find out that your mindless rush is somewhat slowed, and you can see the item in a new light.
Then only complete the purchase if it's something you genuinely need.
6. Think of prices.
In terms of the hours of work put in, you may not think much about dropping $1,000 for the latest iPhone until you think about the number of hours of work you have to put in to earn a thousand bucks.
Say you make $20 an hour. Upgrading to the latest shiny device will cost you 50 hours of labor and sweat.
It's no longer such an excellent idea. When you look at your purchases like an economist, you'll see them in a different light and won't readily part with cash.
7. Reduce the number of shops you visit.
When you go shopping, it feels like you're saving money by hunting for the best deals, but the more stores you visit, the more you'll tend to spend.
You think you ought to reward yourself for your time and effort.
8. Listen to music while you shop.
Big retailers are adept at turning consumers into spendthrifts, and one of their more insidious tricks is to play slow music as you unconsciously slow your walking pace to fall in line with soft sounds.
You'll tend to see more products and tend to buy more as well.
You can liberate yourself from this particular subtle manipulation by bringing your own music with a fast tempo delivered through headphones to help you zoom through the store and out in no time and spare your wallet in the process.
extra bonus if you play Macklemore's thrift shop 9 sucking on mint.
9. Suck on mint while you're shopping.
Sound is not the only sensory weapon retailers employ in their vast arsenal of psychological tricks.
Studies have shown that introducing fragrance into a store increases purchases by 80%. Retail companies artificially introduce smells to create a more hospitable environment that encourages visitors to stay and open their wallets.
Even worse, pumping out a particular fragrance, say a coffee-like smell, increases the sales of the beverage by over 300%.
You should help yourself by sucking on a piece of mint while shopping.
10. Don't open a tab.
Don't open a tab bar or restaurant; it's a license to order drinks and food without much hesitation about the car.
The reason is that when you don't pay immediately for a round of drinks, you won't feel any pain, which makes it easier for you to order for the next round, but once you pay for that first round, the pain of parting with cash will make you think twice about ordering more.
conclusion
Changing habits may take a lot of time, but small changes consistently followed will help you drop bad spending habits and pick up good saving habits.
You can start with the 10 tips above to gain more control over your spending habits and save towards a better financial future without making the shopping experience any less pleasurable.
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