Saving Money & Wasting Less

Lesson 2: Let's go shopping

Sales, and false economies

Everybody seems to love a sale! In January here in Australia, as in many other countries, people queue for hours waiting for stores to open for the January sales. People have even been crushed and trampled or stabbed in the rush!

Sales seem to trigger an emotional response in people and set off a herd mentality that seems indistinguishable from mass hysteria.

You can save money in sales if you know exactly what you're looking for, and are lucky, and if you don't buy anything on impulse. But many people buy items they don't want simply because they are cheap. Or because they think they're cheap. Many people do not realise that stores often put up the prices of items before a sale, so they can cut them to the normal price during a sale. In other words, the goods on sale are not cheap at all. Furthermore, the stores are still making a profit no matter how much they slash their prices. (An exception to this is a genuine closing down sale where the company is going out of business.)

It is false economy to buy an item just because it is a bargain, on sale, or cheap. Good quality goods usually cost more money than lower quality goods, but they may also last much longer. In the long term it often saves money to buy more expensive, long-lasting goods than cheap products. Good quality goods are less likely to be offered in most sales than cheap junk the stores want to get rid of!

Most countries allow citizens to run their own sales. Depending on where you live, they may be called 'garage sales', 'yard sales', 'boot sales', but I'm sure you know what I mean. You can be lucky and find things you really want cheaply, but the trap here is that we will often buy something we don't need or want, simply because it is a bargain. It's not a bargain if it's going to just add to the clutter of your home. The best use for these sales is to run one yourself to sell off all the unused, unwanted junk cluttering your house.

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