Your step-by-step guide to smart shopping

 

A step-by-step guide to smart shopping 

• Set a budget

Setting a budget for all your purchases is essential to avoid wasting money. Set a budget for your recurring purchases such as groceries, cleaning supplies, and other household items, and another set budget for your baby’s needs such as diapers and wipes, and other consumables that you need to buy constantly. You also need a clear budget for buying clothes, shoes, makeup, and other things that you occasionally buy. When you set specific funds for your shopping this will narrow down your choices of shops and websites and will make you a smart shopper who can buy everything needed and save money at the same time.

• Write a list

Lists are the backbone of successful shopping, lists are not only for groceries, but you can also make a list of your clothing needs, shoes, makeup, perfumes, and home décor so that you know what to buy when the right moment comes. Lists will save you time and money while you do your purchasing and will prevent you from forgetting what you need.

• Follow sales and offers

Sign up for promotional newsletters from different stores and websites, download shopping apps and enable notifications, and don’t miss a sale or an offer! This way you will get to be a bargain shopper easily.

• Buy off-season

Buy your Ramadan decorations after Eid ends, buy the back-to-school essentials during the school year, but your winter clothes in the summer, and your summer clothes in winter to get the best prices. Merchandise is sold at higher prices while in season therefore buying off-season guarantees you a smart shopping experience.

• Quality over quantity

Don’t fall off for cheap bulk offers, this will only make you buy more than you need for a product that might be of inferior quality. It is best to buy smaller quantities of a good quality product to guarantee to get an excellent item without spending too much money.

• Take your time

One of the basics of smart shopping is doing enough research on the things you need to buy, to be able to see the reviews from people who already bought the same thing. Also take your time in comparing prices, to be sure you get the best price out there.

• Be comfortable

Don’t buy groceries while fasting or hungry, you will overbuy, and might even forget what you need. Go shopping without your kids to be more focused and comfortable while choosing. And if you are shopping online, don’t do it when you are tired or in a hurry, this will lead to buying unneeded things or getting the wrong size or color.

• Check the return policy

Whether you are shopping in stores or online, check out the return policy and make sure it is easy and flexible, so that you can return anything that doesn’t fit or that is not as expected, to avoid paying for something you won’t use.

• Shop online

Online shopping is the busy woman’s best friend. You don’t have to stick to the store’s schedule, you won’t need to go out and suffer through awful traffic or waste hours looking for something you can find with a push of a button. When you shop online you can do it night or day, while laying on the couch. Online shopping is often more affordable too.

• Join reward programs

There are many rewards cards, and apps that give you extra discounts, in addition to rewards and gifts that you can get after accumulating points. These programs will also send you notifications about sales and special offers for more savings.