How to Avoid Shopping Mistakes Costing You Big

Everyone has found themselves in that place where they’ve spent far too much than they wanted to, and often are befuddled and lost when it comes to finding answers to what went so wrong.

Whether you’re overspending at the grocery store or fall victim to online or in-store ads or marketing that seems too good to be true, you’ve undoubtedly had more than your fair share of shopping missteps.

Now, this isn’t so much about blowing your entire monthly budget on a pair of $300 heels or NHL playoff tickets. What this centers on are expenses that you’d consider modest and mostly “needs” but doing so in a way that is completely off-centered from how you should be buying and spending money on these products or services.

The other piece, of course, is spending on what you’d dub “wants” but even those can be ventured into without it costing you a small fortune in the process.

As much as we’ve convinced ourselves that are spending woes and subsequent debt comes from extravagant lifestyles or buying what we don’t need, you’d be amazed and saddened, budgetary wise, how much we spend on things like food, for example, when we really can cut that bill in half (or more).

A study that what done suggests, when you’re talking about needs, that the average family spends about 3.8 percent of their annual budget on clothing.^[1]

Are you somewhere in that neighborhood or are you spending more? If the answer leans toward the latter, ask yourself why that is.

Do you find yourself attracted to sales for jeans, tops, bottoms, sweaters and other merchandise that is regularly priced clothing and purchased just because there is a sale?

You could say the same principles apply to grocery store foods, too.

Roughly 6 percent of your budget should be spent on food, but Americans tend to overspend when it comes to our food options since that total sits more at 11 percent overall, with 5 percent added to the grocery bill for dining out.^[2]

When you consider shopping mistakes, food has to be at the forefront as part of the problem, since you’re valuing the convenience of eating out a restaurants and a quick lunch or dinner versus sitting down at the dinner table and eating a meal based on that 6 percent figure, rather than nearly doubling it at a drive-thru window, for instance.

The average person spends about $250 on food each month, so broken down on 3 meals per day plus 2 snacks, you’ll spend about $1.67 per meal using that number breakdown. Consider the average entree at a restaurant is $13 to $16, on average.^[3]

Food and clothing are just a few of the culprits when you look at shopping and buying mistakes and how they can cost you big over time when you really stop to think, and add up the dollar amounts.

And those mistakes aren’t just about what you buy, but when and how you’re susceptible to spending even when you don’t have to.

Here’s a few ways to avoid shopping mistakes that you’re already making:

Sales Farce: Avoid buying at sales for no reason at all

Surely you have a friend or family member that will make it a point to hit every weekend “white” sale, comb through the weekly advertisements from retailers or opt to purchase a product or partake in a service just because it’s available and “on sale.”

The truth is that practice is hardly worth preaching since you’re essentially spending money for no reason whatsoever.

When a product of substance breaks, like an appliance, furniture or television breaks, you should be open to replacing it, and that point hardly can be argued.

How you replace should be more about where and when you buy, for instance.

Appliances and furniture are best purchased in the spring and fall, when new arrivals are at the retailers’ doorstep.

You also can’t discount the idea of shopping at thrift stores, too, particularly if you’re trying to replace something that’s not all that integral in the layout of your home. That office chair, backup refrigerator in the garbage or something else that needs replaced or is useful might be better served to bought previously owned.

Consider that the amount of sales and traffic at thrift stores is more than just decent.

In recent years, the number of thrift stores is up 12 percent overall, with about 16 to 18 percent of Americans optioning to shop at thrift stores at some point in the calendar year.^[4]

Those who purchase based on items being in “sale” are typically just inclined to be whisked away by a percentage off or some other incentive to buy, without having much need as a result (separate from buying to replace, as mentioned previously).

Studies from a psychological perspective have shown that consumers tend to buy when something is on sale, mostly due tot the fact that they feel they’re missing out, more than the actual product itself.^[5]

If something is marked down 50, 60 or even 75 percent, ask yourself the question if you really need it or are you just buying it because of the deal that’s put forth?

Typically, you should exact the 24 to 48 hour rule when you see something you want, no matter if it is a clearance item or not. This allows you to visibly see an item, leave the store without buying it (or online store for that matter) and then determine if you ultimately need it after thinking it through for a day or two.

The other factors involved in spending freely even if you really don’t want the product or service has to do with wording and marketing: sales are often referred to as how much you can “save” when in actuality it’s spending at the root.

Don’t be lured and subsequently fooled by how a sale is framed to get your attention.

Wasteful Spending: Groceries are fine as long as you’re not double dipping

Mentioned earlier was the penchant of most families and individuals alike to simply go for convenience and eat out versus making food at home.

Even though the prep time is often cited as a means for the easier path traveled of ordering food for pickup or delivery, you can’t look past at home much money you’re losing if you’re not brown-bagging your lunch or preparing dinners for the week on a Sunday, for instance.

The cost of eating at home dropped almost a percentage point, while the cost of eating out is up closer to 3 percent, 2.7 percent to be exact.^[6]

In addition, you might not be doing all that great at the grocery store, either, even if you aren’t spending the proverbial arm and leg on take-out food.

Grocery shopping can’t be viewed as a task that takes little or no prep time. Much the same way people opine about how long it takes to make dinner and how difficult it can be, you can’t look past having that same focus and time put forth to the shopping itself.

The most missed part of grocery shopping is the simple art of making and crafting a list with what you need. Not only does not having a list cause you to lose sight of why you're at the store and what you need, but also is tailor made to overspending.

The age group that has a flare for list making are the Millennials (ages 18-36) with 75 percent of that demographic falling back on a list.^[7]

Women are also much better at lists than men with 69 percent of women using a list, while only about 52 percent of men use one.^[8] This isn’t so much to call out the shortcomings of men, but if you’re sending your male partner to the grocery store, maybe you should think twice.

Is that where the overspending comes from? Perhaps.

Money wasted starts again with not having a list, buying too much or things you’ll never use and thus throwing the food away. Roughly one-third of the food produced in the United States gets wasted with a startling 50 percent of the wasted food coming from fruits and vegetables.^[9]

Some use older fruit and veggies for baking purposes so that the food isn’t a total loss, but Americans waste about 165 billion dollars worth each year.^[10]

All because of no list?

Perhaps.

Bad influence: Who, how you shop with can be large part of problem

Everyone has had a parent or someone of authority tell you to steer clear of someone because “they’re a bad influence.”

The same can be said for shopping, too.

Spending money is something very few are good at it in the sense that they do it, get what they need and still have the means to be able to save as a result. That rule of 10 percent of your income to spend on “fun” often is put to the test by most.

Almost half of Americans say their expenses are equal to or great than what they make, suggesting that overspending, not budgeting and valuing wants over needs tends to be the culprits.^[11]

Because the masses are madly spending with little rhyme or reason, don’t believe for a second you’re not influenced by those people, if you’re friends or family members, co-workers, etc. with them.

This isn’t to say you have to sever all ties, but more about awareness of their spending habits and how not to emulate them.

For starters, if you have a friend who likes to dine out quite a bit, they do so and are losing money hand over fist. You can still partake in a night out but do yourself a favor and eat beforehand, enjoy an appetizer and a drink and leave with a bill that isn’t going to be as much as your car payment.

And this blame ultimately can’t be put at the doorstep of another person, exclusively, either.

You have to take into consideration online shopping and social media, too.

Social media is always present and easy to access (much like online shopping).

Roughly 75 percent of the population shops on Amazon most of the time, with Wal-Mart right behind, with 45 percent of the holiday shopping in 2017 done online, for example^[12]

Online shopping is dangerous just due to the fact that it’s so easy to put something in a cart, point, click and spend and not really understand how much.

Back to social media: you want what everyone else has, and nothing is more prone to showing you what everyone is buying, purchasing, wearing and owning than sites dedicated to literally everyone being able to share every aspect of their life (including shopping) at a moment’s notice.

It’s hard sometimes to reason with the average consumer that shopping somehow takes on a negative connotation since it’s such an enjoyable process, particularly when you’re buying something that is fun and creates a sense of enjoyment (probably not coming from the produce aisle at the grocery store, mind you).

Shopping is fun and so is spending money, which is a dangerous combination if ultimately your goal is trying to save as a result of the hard work and dedication you put in daily at work.

This isn’t to suggest that you can’t have fun spending money or set aside a certain percent to use on whatever, whether it’s a vacation, trip to a theme park or buying yourself a gift from one month to the next.

An agreed upon fact regarding budgeting is that you should be spending a certain amount of cash freely, roughly 10 percent by financial industry standards.^[13]

That “fun money” is to be used on whatever you want, but that 10 percent figure shrinks considerably when you’re not practicing good money spending habits and unfortunately doing anything from wasting food, to aimlessly shopping without a plan to simply spending just for the sake of doing so (not every Weekend Sale is worth buying something, right?).

If you’re inclined to spend money on an end cap at a grocery store to “try a product” or aren’t afraid to buy sweaters in sweater season or bathing suits in, well, bathing suit season, then saving money and wise spending aren’t high on your priority list.

And with that, you’ll continue to wonder aloud and to yourself where your money is going.

At some point, you may come up with the obvious answer: into spending that has little or no means of direction or purpose to it.