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Shoppers

Can you spend hours and hours at the mall just looking, while hardly making a purchase? Or when you go to the mall, do you try to park, get in, and get out as quickly as possible? Whether we like it or not, we all have to shop at some point. It’s good to be aware of your money mindset so you can rein in your natural budget busters. Which kind of shopper do you most identify with?

The bargain shopper loves coupons, discount books and online codes, as well as store sales. The bargain shopper hunts down deals with the intensity of a rabid raccoon ransacking an unguarded trash can. And that’s a good thing. If there’s one thing you can count on with this kind of a shopper, it’s the fact that they’ll absolutely find the lowest price in town – or, if they can find it on the internet, in the entire world.

The next type is the researcher. Imagine you want to buy a new 42-inch LCD TV. So what do you do? You buy a few consumer magazines. You visit 14 different websites that offer television reviews. You spend five months researching every brand and every model of 42-inch LCD televisions. Based on that information, you might make a decision. Or you might wait until next year’s models come out because, after all, once you make the purchase, you can’t research TVs anymore. And what kind of life is that?

Probably, the worst type for your budget is the impulse buyer. Ooh, that sure is a pretty lamp over there. You know where that lamp would look nice? On the end table next to your bed. Such a pretty lamp. So cute. Sure, it’s $200, but you never spend that much money on lamps, and when will you ever see another lamp that cute again? So you know what to do – buy it! Right now! Buy it! This will be the best, most sensible purchase you’ve ever made – until tomorrow, when you wake up and realize you have $15,000 in debt and just spent $200 on a lamp. These are the kind of people who might actually have several credit cards and need professional help to stop them going on a shopping spree.

For another type, the negotiator, no price is set in stone. Everything is up for negotiation. “That’s not good enough!” is the negotiator’s mantra. Their sole purpose in life is to win the battle with every single salesperson they encounter. Or at least it seems that way, because they approach every negotiation like fighting. That’s a type of a person you really need to take with you to an Asian market where prices are cut twice or even more after bargaining.

The loyalist buys everything, and we mean everything, from the same store. They’ve got 14 different discount and membership cards of varying sizes for that one store. There’s the one for their wallet, their key chain, their smartphone, their purse, their back pocket – and don’t forget the one they customized into an earring for emergencies. When they enter that store, they’re greeted like a king or queen. Everyone there knows their name.

Last, but not least, is ‘the man on a mission.’ They have one objective: to go to the store and buy a new computer monitor. Their record for driving to the mall, buying one item, and returning home is 27 minutes and 42 seconds. Each time they go to the mall, their goal is to break that record. When the man on a mission shops, he or she’s like a laser-guided missile seeking out a target to destroy.

Many of us are addicted to shopping. And some of us can’t seem to get off the hedonic treadmill. Being conscious of your shopping habits is the first step to stop buying things you don’t actually need. Well, the next time you’re tempted to buy something, get out your smartphone to determine whether the purchase fits in your budget. If it doesn’t, all bets are off; don’t make the purchase!