The Inspired Shopper

• Listen to yourself when you want to dive straight into a home  renovation project. Perhaps there are things you need to consider that you’re not aware of yet. Think about what they are, and where you might get the right information.
  
  
• Before you begin, wait until you’ve considered all the factors involved; wait until you have all the information you need. Think about the plan for your project as a puzzle for which you need all the pieces before completing. Ask yourself if you have all the pieces before you begin to carry out your plan.
  
  
• Consult with someone who can see the whole picture. Individual tradespeople quoting on their own jobs won’t necessarily consider every factor; they may be concerned only with their piece of the puzzle. Even if they are aware of other considerations, some (not all) may fail to inform you of the ultimate requirements and costs because they want to provide a cheap quote.
  
  
• Develop ‘negative capability’. The poet John Keats coined this term to describe the state of uncertainty and unknowing in which creativity manifests itself. When it comes to making big changes to our homes, being open to uncertainty can help us determine the type and extent of research we have to do and all the factors we need to take into account.
  
  
• By all means be organised and use your rational mind. But also let your inner self guide you, when it comes to both the changes you decide to make and the people you contract to help you carry them out.
  
  
• Above all, keep your mind (and your ears) open!

Sometimes it’s the things in our psyche we don’t acknowledge that have the most power over us. Once we’ve taken them out, dusted them off and held them up to the light, they lose their ability to sabotage our lives.

In my last blog entry I listed a set of negative beliefs about money and spending that could be holding you back without you realising. This time I’ve identified a range of positive beliefs that can help motivate you to successfully stick to a budget, save money and spend wisely.

Money is a charged subject, and beliefs about money and spending are influenced by our values and political affiliations. While the beliefs listed below are very general, they’re also subjective. Certainly they’ve helped me to save my hard-earned, and buy things that are right for me and my budget. You may have other positive beliefs that are helpful to you.

If you find any one of these beliefs particularly helpful, you could write it down and place it somewhere prominent so you can be reminded of it on a regular basis.

Here’s my list.

• I can’t control everything in life – the world and life itself are inherently unstable. However, it’s possible to improve my chances of being financially independent by planning ahead and being prudent in my spending.
• The feeling of satisfaction I get from looking after myself by paying a bill can sometimes be as gratifying as the short-term high of buying something I don’t need.
• Just because my parents were poor at saving money doesn’t mean that I have to be.
• Just because I’ve been a spendthrift all my life or lived in insecure housing doesn’t mean I must always remain in that position. Plenty of people have changed their fundamental attitudes to spending as well as their financial situations.
• Some of the best things cost little. I can have fun while spending little or no money.
• Money is not love, and I don’t have to spend a lot of money to tell others I love them. My hyperactive cocker spaniel would much rather I took him to the park for an hour than bought him a diamond-studded collar.
• It’s not self-indulgent to treat myself sometimes – it’s important!
• Money and possessions aren’t measures of personal worth. I don’t need to judge others on the basis of how much money they have and what they own.
• The world is an unfair place. Many people have more money than me, and some of those at the top have rigged the system for personal gain. I can work for a more just society if I choose to, but in the meantime I have to deal with the world as it is, and look after myself accordingly.
• Even though I may be sure that I want something, this doesn’t mean I have to have it the moment I decide I want it. Waiting for it may actually be a good thing.
• Everyone is on their own path. I don’t have to have a particular material item or the latest piece of technology just because my friends, family members or colleagues have it. I buy what’s right for me and my lifestyle.

Try this exercise: find paper and a pen, and brainstorm a list of helpful beliefs about money and spending that you either already hold, or would like to. For the next week or so, keep the list handy and add to it whenever you become aware of any additional positive beliefs that you hold.

Use an e-file  to create your own permanent list of positive beliefs about money and spending. Include any beliefs you find helpful, whether from this list, other lists, or your own.

Whenever you make a spending decision that you think is unwise, refer to your list to help put you back on track.

What positive beliefs have helped you stay on track with your saving and spending?

If you enjoyed this post you might also like Beware the Shopping Shoulds.

One of the traps it’s easy to fall into as a shopper is to buy something because you think you should. This basically means that your rational mind alone believes you need the item.

It’s fine to have a rational basis for wanting to buy something, but your intuition also needs to be involved in the decision-making process.

It’s amazing how many things some of us buy that we think we truly need, then don’t end up using.

The functions of some of these items can be carried out simply by repurposing. The crafty–frugal movement has lots of great information about this.

The Shopping Shoulds crop up in all kinds of situations, some of which are detailed in my forthcoming book, The Inspired Shopper. One scenario that can give rise to the Shopping Should is when you receive a gift voucher or money as a present.

Recognising the Shopping Shoulds

When you receive a gift voucher or cash as a birthday or Christmas present, three things can happen. Entirely new needs can present themselves (pun intended); you may already have a specific item that you’ve had your eye on for ages; or you may have a general idea of an item but not have the specifics worked out.

In any of these scenarios, you may experience the urge to spend the money quickly – both to let the giver know that you bought something worthwhile, and, if you received money, to ensure you don’t simply fritter it away on petrol and groceries.

If you have a specific item that you’d already chosen before receiving the gift, that’s great. You already knew that you wanted and needed the item, and now, with the help of your gift voucher or money, you can ‘claim’ it. As you’re buying it, you still need to check in with your intuition to ensure it’s right.

But if you only have a general idea of the kind of item you want, it’s especially important to proceed with caution. Remember, there’s no hurry. Don’t fall into the trap of buying something before you’re really ready.

Tips for avoiding the Shoppng Shoulds

• Try to let go of your desire to have the item right away.

• Don't conduct bricks-and-mortar searches just for the one item. For example, avoid going to a mall to look for that item alone. Wait until your unconscious mind prompts you, and visit a shopping centre when you’re on the lookout for more than one thing.

• If you’re browsing on the internet, keep telling yourself that you’re just looking – despite the convenience of buying something right away, there’s no need to rush things.

• As you look around, refine the sense of what you’re looking for – the colour, texture and so on. Think about your lifestyle, and what functions the item needs to have in order to enhance it.

• While you’re going through this process, think about whether or not you really need the item. Could an existing item be repurposed?

• Only buy the item when you receive a gentle nudge from your intuitive self. In the case of money you receive as a gift, remember, it’s now yours – if you want to spend it on something practical, that’s fine.

Bear in mind that wherever safety or risk is an issue, this advice doesn’t apply. Always err on the side of caution, for example if you’re planning to take a trip up the Amazon River(!) or buying a product for a baby or child that needs to meet particular safety standards (especially if you’re buying secondhand).

More on how to avoid the Shopping Shoulds can be found in my forthcoming book The Inspired Shopper, which is out soon as a Kindle ebook!

My so-far unsuccessful attempts to buy a lounge suite offer a great illustration of one of the guidelines I offer in my book The Inspired Shopper (yes, I'm changing the name!).

Let me give you the backstory. I have been looking for a lounge suite seriously, on and off, for about six months. This has involved one trip to a lounge suite shopping strip, which was enough to make me decide that a new lounge suite was out of the question. They were all outrageously expensive -- over $2000 for anything decent -- and some of them, though new, already looked cheap and tatty. A few sprawls on the couch with a book, a few minor food spills, and I would be wishing I had bought something in a sensible vinyl. No, it would definitely be vintage for me.

I already have a couch and two chairs, but the chairs are very old and shabby and the couch is simply annoying, because it has a cover over it that has to be straightened up, and the cushions re-assembled, every day. The chairs and the couch don't match, and I'm at a stage in life when I long for a proper lounge suite -- I want my lounge furniture to signify things like 'order', 'security' and 'home'.

I did a search on eBay and found a Jacobean lounge suite, feauturing beautifully carved wood and a decent upholstery job, that I checked out in person before bidding on. I was unsuccessful but the whole episode was a valuable learning experience.

So here am I still waiting for my perfect lounge suite. And I'm getting to that tetchy stage.

In my book The Inspired Shopper I recommend waiting as a strategy for buying well. The old-fashioned art of waiting and saving up used to be the standard means of buying big-ticket items. Now everyone wants to buy first and pay later, usually with a credit card. But many people fail to realise that waiting has advantages over and above only spending what you can afford.

For those who enjoy it, leisure shopping is a sensual experience, but above all an aesthetic one. We see any number of things we would love to take home with us. If we relied on aesthetics and emotions alone, we'd take home half the store every time we shopped. The beauty of waiting is that it allows us to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. When those momentary, impulsive attachments to items are gone, we're left with a better idea of the things that really take our fancy -- those that we genuinely want and need. (We may also need to use 'waiting time' to do further research on our own needs and desires.) And when we let ourselves go without for a while, we can use that energy to take us to the right item more quickly.

I'm not saying that waiting for however long it takes is always the right option. If I had no lounge furniture at all I'd probably go to my local op shop and buy some temporary furniture to tide me over rather than sit on the floor.

At the moment, I'm a little stuck in my search for a new lounge suite. I can decide on the colours I like, measure up my lounge room and get on eBay every day, but until I actually put said lounge suite, once irretrievably bought, into the room I won't really know for sure whether or not it's right for the room and the rest of my furniture -- so different from buying clothes, where a visit to the changeroom is usually mandatory.

What I really need to do, I think, is settle on the particular retro style that I want, rather than just be willing to take the first one that comes along at a good price. I may also need to cast my net more widely, and look in stores and suburbs I might not have considered. Despite my doubts, I know that when I find the right lounge suite my intuition will be evident, assuring me it is the right one.

So for now I'll adopt 'active waiting' rather than 'passive waiting'. And, at the risk of sounding too new-agey, I do trust that if I do the work, the universe will deliver a lounge suite that's right for me at just the right time!