Are you getting tired of my weekly posts on how to avoid Panic Shopping Syndrome?  

With Black Friday approaching I think we all need to bolster our resolve of restraint and review our shopping plan for the holidays.

Have you ever run across a bargain so wonderful that - even though you didn't have a need for it - you felt that you'd find someone who did need it?  Yeah, me, too.  And every time I've given in to the temptation I've ended up regretting it.




Nerd Wallet posted a very interesting warning before last year's Black Friday.  The article cited specific "deals" that were anything but:

Target advertised a KitchenAid Classic Plus Stand Mixer on sale for $199 (that was $30 off the regular price of $229.99.)  But just a couple of weeks earlier they had sold the same mixer for $183.99.  By waiting until Black Friday customers actually paid $16 more. 

Last year on Black Friday Macys offered a men's designer bomber jacket for a "doorbuster" price of only $79.  Strangely, the same jacket had been on sale months earlier for the exact same price.



We need to realize that Retailers have a plan to get our money:

o  Retail shopping studies found that most customers turn right or look right when they enter a store because over 90% of people are right-handed and right-oriented.  That's why many stores place expensive trendy items to the right of their entrances.

o  Loud uplifting music actually makes us spend more as do bright cheerful displays.

o  Clearance racks are usually placed toward the back of the store so that we'll walk past the more tempting newer merchandise first.

o  We'll often over-spend when we shop with a friend.  If you use the Buddy System when it comes to shopping make sure that buddy is not impulsive.

o  According to Lynn Switanowski-Barrett, a retail consultant with Creative Business Consulting Group, "People are more likely to impulse shop from a table."   Lesson:  avoid sales tables in the aisles.



 o  Impulse items can be a budget's downfall.  Why do you think retailers place small items around the cash register?  Any good sales clerk worth their salt will sweetly ask, "Have you got your stocking stuffers?"

And the No. 1 warning for Black Friday:

That same clerk might offer you an extra 15% off your entire purchase if you open a store credit card.  Don't do it!  Run!

Remember:  plan your shopping and shop your plan!