I am not a typical girl when it comes to shopping. Most times I don’t like it, sometimes I even hate it. Even when I was younger, I would sit outside the shops with my Dad and read a comic. And even now, as an adult, shopping is one of those things I wish I could get someone else to do.
I am pretty good when I am buying stuff for myself, except that I just don’t take long picking things. It’s a bit like, I’ll to an general area for something I need, and I’ll just pick whatever I come to, and that’s it. I can’t be bothered with dithering between shops, trying to find something perfect. Oh no, not me. I get what I want, and then get a coffee. Is that not the best thing about shopping. Eating rubbish and drinking too much coffee?
I do have a bit of a list that I am trying to work through, though. A bit of a shopping list for myself, full of things that I like or that I need.
1)New car- or just any car. Doesn’t have to be new. I passed my driving test in November, and I have yet to get a car. It’s what happens when Christmas gets in the way. I just want an old car, one that will get me from A to B, without putting me in debt.
2) A New Stereo- Yes I still use a stereo, or I did. My old one died at the end of last year, and I have nothing to play my CDs on. Because I am becoming a bit of a vinyl fan, I’d like one with a turntable on it. I have a few options that I am looking at, and it would nice to just listen to music again. Go back to where I would switch my phone and computer off, and just listen to some music and read a good book. Without getting distracted.
3)A Bright Lamp- This sounds strange. But as well as being more productive with writing and drawing, I’d like to make more videos. I like talking to the camera, but being that good lighting isn’t a thing in my room, I need to add some myself.
4) Some new gym gear- I love the gym, and once I get back into going regular in the New Year, I’d like some fresh stuff. Because, last year, I didn’t know how I’d feel about the gym, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on stuff that I maybe would only use once.
5) Some new clothes- Like good quality shirts, hoodies and patches. I would like to get back into DIYing things again. Especially as it would be cool for all the gigs I have coming up. I feel like a lot of my clothes are old, and I could do with them being refreshed.
6) A Macbook- I have wanted a Mac computer at home for so long. Just because it is something so good at multi-tasking, when I have used one before. Unfortunately, they are very expensive. When I am on my computer, I never do just one thing, so I’d like a computer that could handle that. And I would like a computer that isn’t Windows based, as that system annoys me.
Yes, I certainly do dream big. I think that a car, is the only urgent thing on this list. I really would liked to have got straight in a car after my test, but I couldn’t afford one on my own at that point. And the longer I am leaving it between getting a car and passing my test, I am getting more nervous. That is about 6 weeks since I passed, and I haven’t driven another car since. It is a lot of money, and I don’t want to waste a lot of money on something bad.
I just have to be patient. Though I am worse for that, than I am for shopping.
Tag: shopping
Last Minute Shopping
It is hard to believe that Christmas is almost upon us already. It is Christmas Eve tomorrow, I can safely bet that a lot of people have some gifts still to buy. And heading into the shops on Christmas Eve is sometimes a bit like a death wish. I have done the bulk of my shopping on Christmas Eve for the last few years. And whilst every year I say I’ll get organised earlier, it never happens. But for those in need, I thought I’d share a few pointers to getting your Christmas shopping done on Christmas Eve.
1. Lists are your best friend- I rely on lists a lot to get things done, but feel it is essential to getting shopping done efficiently. I usually have 2 lists. One, is full of names of the people I need to shop for, this gives me an idea of the number of gifts I still need. Second list of shops I’d like to head to. Do this by looking at your lists, and even looking online to give you ideas on where to look.
2. Give yourself a time limit- There are times where a slow paced doddle round the shops is a great way to spend a day off, Christmas Eve is not one of those days. Your aim should be, to get in and out as soon as possible, as getting caught amongst the crowds can be very stressful.
3. Visit shops strategically- If you park your car at one end of the town, work your way from your car, buying as you go. Hit every shop in sequence, and go to the areas you need. For example, no point getting caught in the make-up aisle, if you are looking for perfume.
4. Look for deals- the good thing about leaving shopping late, is that there are always A LOT of deals going around. Usually deals are situated in specific areas, like Boots and their 3-for-2. Or, end of range items are marked on the shelf. Scan the aisles for any ‘sales’ labelling in areas of interest. Also, if you work for a big company, check with your HR department for any corporate deals you could benifit from. They may be for meals out, which could be a good cost-effective way to treat someone you are struggling to buy for. I did this last year, and treated my friend to a meal instead of a gift.
5. Skip that sit-in Starbucks- Think of what coffee shops are like during the weekend, and multiply it by at least 3. You might think that Latte will help you complete your shopping, but 15 minutes waiting in a queue, surrounded by tired screaming kids, grumpy parents and then find there are no seats. It won’t only de-rail your shopping mission, it could put you in a foul mood.
If you can keep to your plan, and keep focused, you can get shopping all done in a few hours. Last year, I was just over an hour getting all my presents. In fact, I had so much stuff could have done with Santa and his sleigh to give me lift home. I wish all the luck to anyone who is braving their local High Street or shopping centre tomorrow, and I hope you find the right thing for those special people in your life.
Let It Go!
I have a problem.
And that problem is hoarding things. It is not having the ability to let go of stuff when I don’t use them anymore. A lot of the time things might not even get used that much, even at all. And it is terrible. It is a waste of money, but that doesn’t seem to matter. Being in my early 30s, I don’t think unnecessary purchases and hoarding them is unusual. When I speak to people my age about this, they have similar experiences as me.
There has been much said about the single, childless 30-somethings who find themselves clinging to inanimate objects like a consumerists wet dream. For me, my guilt is stationary. I always say that I am going to get myself organised and get my life to the stage where I am satisified. Not that I am dissatisfied with my life too much, more that life has never reached the high expectations that I had when I was younger. I guess that is one of the issues about growing older, but I can’t help feeling a little crestfallen.
I don’t know where my hoarding started, it is just something that seems to have happened over the years. It is trying to figure it what you do, when you realise that your purchasing habits are not the best they could be. How do you change it?
I suppose that it is like every other behaviour, to change it takes time. Due to rearranging a few things, I am attempting to downsize what I own, and it is proving quite hard. It feels like I buy stuff so that I have something to show for all the hard work I have done over the years. Which is silly, because books, DVDs, video games, they don’t matter, really. They are material things that make a person feel better for a while. But that feeling of joy that we get when we buy something is temporary, and because I have had issues with depression, I find that I cling to things that have made me feel better.
When you think like that, is it even possible to completely change a habit so significantly? It’s not even simply behaving different, it is changing how you react, how you deal with life. It almost seems so big, I don’t even know where to start on it.
Sold To
I spend a lot of my money on nonsense. Mostly stationary. It’s never anything that I really need. Just stuff I seem to make up a need for. When I discuss this ‘impulsive purchasing’ with my friends, and it seems I am not alone. It has made me think, if this is more than simple habit. Surely if people walk around with money burning a hole in their pocket, it becomes very easy to spend.
Supermarkets have been widely known for placing products in their stores in strategic places, aiming at unaware shoppers. Sweets and popular brands at the end of isles or at shelving at eye level. Suggestions have been made that brands pay to be displayed at prime locations to influence buyers. Things catch the eye, things a person has no intentions to buy.
These tactics can be taken and used in any store. Book shops displaying cute notebooks, to attract someone into believing it has purpose. Phone shops display expensive headphones near the popular iPhones, convincing people that if you have an expensive device, you need expensive accessories.
The purchases we make, when we think about them, are ideas given to us by the companies that sell them. I wouldn’t have bought a new notebook today, if I didn’t see the new display showing them off. It made me think that I needed a new journal, although i had no intention of buying it when I set into Town. Perhaps it’s worth considering that people, like myself, are not impulsive as such, more easy influenced.
Passion For Fashion (And Make-up)
I am a girl. And as a girl, I am supposed to like certain things such as make-up and fashion. Certain things I have no interest in.
The internet deals with the conception that all female bloggers only talk about either fashion or make-up. I am here to say, it is nonsense. I visited Company and discovered a blogging section full of style blogs. Now, over the last year or so, Company magazine has gone through a re-style, where it promotes the internet and self-expression. But only if it centers around style blogging of make-up tutorials and shopping hauls.
Now, if you like that kind of thing, fine. But there’s so many blogs doing the same thing, I don’t think Company needs to promote some over others. They should promote advice blogs, art blogs, music blogs, because life doesn’t just begin and end with how someone looks. I know the magazine’s routes are fashion, but to fully meet the need of the modern woman, you need to look at other things.
I read blogs that are used like mine. Things about people’s life and opinions. Blogs that people write as an escape to life, where the reader becomes a confidant. When people talk about things they buy, it grates on me because I don’t have a lot of money to spend on things. Which has never bothered me before. But when someone recommends a blog to me, and it looks more like a shopping list instead a sharing if thoughts, I feel short-changed.
Christmas Wishes
It is that time of the year again. I am back from another exhausting shopping experience in the run-up to Christmas. I don’t mind Christmas. I love the warmth you get from showing love to those around you, and the knowledge that you have gifted someone something that someone truely needs or wants.
The thing I don’t like is the actual shopping, and how every person goes crazy. The shops are full, the salespeople are losing the will to live as the days get busier. Its just crazy. The whole experience leaves you tired, broke and sometimes depressed. The pressure put on people for buying the ‘right gift’ and the stress of even trying to manoeuvre around a shop.
It takes away the whole feeling of Christmas. It isn’t about store-bought cards and over-priced trinkets, its about showing love to those around you. The traditional meaning of Christmas has been lost over the last few decades, and it is sad. It’s the hardest time of the year for a lot of people, and a letter within a card, means a lot more than some cheap deodorant.
So spread the love this Christmas. Tell everyone you love, how you feel. Spread the positivity, in the hope that it will make a difference to someone’s Christmas. Write a well meaning note inside every card, and let people know how you feel about them.
Listening to- Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer
Drinking- a nice hot Mocha
sueriot.com 