With very few exceptions, all the people I know are being very careful about how and where they spend their cash, regardless of their income level.
So when advertisements appear touting limited-time sales events with prices at 30/50/70% of retail, it’s a rare soul who doesn’t sit up and take notice. But before you throw the baby on board and make like Mad Max to the mall, remember this:
You’ve gone all this time without buying the goods they’re now putting on sale. Unless you recall specifically saying to yourself, “That’s a quality product that I’ll use on a regular basis, and as soon as it goes on sale I’m going to snatch it up,” then you don’t really need to buy it.
If you’re not going to use the product every day or at least weekly, you don’t really need to buy it. It’s great that the fur coat is on sale, but not if you live in San Diego.
Retailers know that if they get you into the store, you’re probably not going to just buy the item that’s on sale. If you can’t trust yourself to walk into the store and only buy the item you know is on sale, you don’t really need to buy it.
And finally, remember that if a sale item is regularly $100.00 and it’s marked down to $70.00, if you buy it, you aren’t saving $30.00. You’re spending $70.00.
So don’t be fooled. You’re not saving when you spend. You’re saving when you save.
– BGT