The next minute, you’re confused, muttering to yourself incomprehensibly, trying yet failing, again and again, to discover how exactly you spent all your resources without buying the very products you needed. We know because we’ve all been there. Don’t swear, saying, “I’ll never shop online again!” Religiously follow the underlisted, tested, and trusted strategies. If you do so, they will help you save money while shopping online, as they have helped many people before you—and are still helping people today.
This cannot be overemphasized. In an online store, all the items you desire are available; all you need is to input your card details and voila, your order(s) will be delivered to you wherever you want. To guard yourself against overspending, having a budget is your best bet. Outline how much you’ll be spending and stick to it. You could also set a limit on your card for that day such that if you reach your budget, you’d be unable to make any more purchases.
As counterintuitive as it might sound, avoiding window shopping is a remarkably effective strategy to save money while shopping online. The allure of scrolling through items you don’t need can be as dangerous as it is tempting. Imagine this scenario: you’re comfortably seated on your favorite sofa, perhaps sipping on a warm cup of ginger ale. You decide to visit your preferred online store just to see what’s new. The website loads, and you’re greeted with a plethora of items. It’s akin to walking through Amazon’s best deals, each item vying for your attention with bright colors and enticing descriptions.
First, you tell yourself, “I’m just looking. I won’t buy anything.” But then, a sleek, retro corset on Amazon catches your eye. You don’t need it, but it looks so enticing. It’s almost as if you can hear it calling your name. You answer its call by clicking on it and reading the reviews. People swear it’s the best thing since British independence from Roman dominance.
You go ahead and watch the “How to wear it” video, and then you’re stuck on it, utterly smitten by it. You remember your best pal, Elizabeth, wearing it; how confident, how beautiful it made her feel. Before you know it, you’ve added it to your cart. Then you think, if wearing it once made Elizabeth feel confident , imagine what wearing it twice or multiple times will make me feel. So you go back and add multiple colors of it to your cart.
The day finally arrives. The day you’ll try your long-awaited corset that’ll transform you into a Victorian noblewoman. It comes in a perfect box, packaged just how you imagined. You are already feeling confident, just like Elizabeth must have felt when she opened hers. You open the box, pick out your cherished acquisition, and right there in front of the mirror, upon trying it out, you realize you don’t even like it. You realize, most painfully, that you didn’t feel confident. In fact, you felt worse since you tried it on. Resignedly, you finally admit to yourself that you didn’t like it anyway. You only bought it because it looked good on Elizabeth, and you thought it’d look good on you. You pack it up and dump it in your heap of used clothes you never wear. You hiss loudly and walk away angrily to your business, muttering to yourself, “If I had known. If only I had known...”
This is the danger of window shopping: it plants the seeds of desire for things you absolutely don’t need.
READ HERE HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON GROCERIES
So, how do you avoid this trap? Discipline yourself to stick to your shopping list. Before you even open your browser, make a list of the items you need. Be specific and intentional. When you start shopping, search only for those items. Resist the urge to browse through other categories. If you find yourself tempted by an unplanned item, take a step back and ask yourself, “Do I really need this? Is it worth exceeding my budget?” If you’re honest with yourself, the answer is usually a loud and resounding, “No.”
I know you’re not a cop, ICE, or a neighborhood watch, and even if you were, you should be on the lookout for mega deals, reward deals, and Black Fridays. These opportunities are not your everyday occurrences, so on days when they occur, you should at least, be abreast of them so you can take full advantage, and shop for that Jordan Men’s Air footwear you’ve always desired from Amazon online shopping. Additionally, check out Workerty.com, their cost-free clothing section offers.
Before you venture to purchase any item, ensure you run it by a price comparison tool. This will help you know the best online shops that offer the best deals and will ultimately help you save money as you will be armed with the knowledge of the premier online shops that offer the best prices and the ones that don’t.
When you sign up for newsletters of companies, inclusive of online shops, you get first-hand information on products. Think of it like how spy ravens sent letters to kings in the Middle Ages to notify them of an impending war. Signing up for newsletters arms you with a plethora of information that will help you know the best deals and ultimately help you know how to save money while shopping for your favorite cheap shop online clothes.
This is in many ways a Machiavellian scheme, but as long as it is not done to steal from the company, it is fair. The trick is to pick as many or as few items as you want, get to the checkout phase, then abandon everything. Usually, the customer representative will notice this and reach out to you. When they do, cite the high cost of the items as the reason. They may then offer you a discount in order to finalize the transaction. This way, you save a buck or two, and they secure a deal—a happy ending for both parties.
So don’t fret, don’t curse, don’t say, “I’m never shopping online ever again.” Religiously follow these key strategies and certainly, you’ll consistently save money while shopping online.
Happy Shopping!
One last thing, if you’d like to save money in your home, check out our expert saving tips here
