If you’re in a foul mood, you should avoid the mall or other retail establishment as much as possible. A recent study by Harvard professor Jennifer Lerner discovered that people who shopped when they were depressed were more willing to spend money…up to 30% more than consumers who were in a better mood!
This shouldn’t surprise anyone…it didn’t get dubbed “retail therapy” for no reason! The problem is that in our society, we act like retail therapy is a GOOD thing, when it’s actually AWFUL. The retail stores have convinced us that it’s normal and OK to shop when we’re down, but they’re only doing that because they want to part us from our money, not because they actually want us to feel better!
The next time you’re feeling down, don’t go out and look for a distraction, go home and find ways to distract yourself! Take a bubble bath, clean the house, take on some of your “honey-do” list etc. Go to a park, or the beach, or some other free place to clear your mind. Get creative. What you do is your choice, so long as you don’t go to a store and spend money. It’s a new year, and that means it’s the perfect time for you to make the change that could make you retire with ease 20 or 30 years from now. It all starts with you, and a step in the right direction is avoiding the mall when you’re down (and whenever else you don’t actually NEED something from there)!
Tags: accountability, saving money, Shopping, Spending Money
