7 compulsive shopping traps

[Flaxbee]

I was never a huge shopper, but I used to (not anymore) be a brand snob... I've never, ever been a gadget person, though.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/7-compulsive-shopping-traps-we-fall-into.html


Here are seven of the most common compulsive-shopping traps and tips on how to avoid them:

Compulsive shopping as a hobby or sport

Cruising for deals online

Having to own the latest technology

Mistaking shortcuts for savings

Buying the brand

Confusing 'clearance' with 'necessity'

Taking couponing to the extreme

[fizzgig]

1. i'm a brand snob for a few things

mostly paper products and peanut butter, but i recently gave up my brand snobbery on mayo because it just got too damned expensive. i'm fine with store brand on everything else.

[Flaxbee]

2. I'm a brand snob if it means the product was sustainably produced.

Actually, I'm a brand slut, I guess you could say. I'll jump from brand to brand without any loyalty whatsoever if I find a product that is produced more ethically / sustainably than whatever I'd used before.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Good list. I especially agree with

confusing clearance with necessity.....or actually confusing anything with necessity. We all buy things that we don't need sometimes. And I even enjoy some of those purchases. But it is so easy to think that a clearance is a must-have. I have changed some of my opinion on clearances to keep from being enticed---these are things that no one else wanted, so why should I want them!

Then again, if I really do need something, clearance is the way to go!

[Flaxbee]

4. yup. I'll check out clearance items if I happen to walk by them - and if there is good shampoo, or

something else we'll eventually use, I'll consider buying it. And sometimes it will encourage me to try certain foods I'd have passed by otherwise. But otherwise, I see no need to buy something just because it has been marked down, especially if I've never wanted it before.