SavvySugar

Does Shopping Feel Good When You've Had a Bad Day?

SavvySugar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:15:17 -0700

Resisting the Retail Therapy Downward Spending Spiral

SavvySugar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:30:27 -0700

Stress often leads to poor money decisions that can create even more stressful situations than we had before. Using retail therapy to soothe our bad day or bad luck can instigate a downward spending spiral, but The Wall Street Journal has some pointers for keeping us above water when the itch to spend can't be scratched.

Ask yourself why you have the urge to spend money and focus on solving those problems first.
Avoid the rationalization that overspending for work attire is necessary. Digging yourself in to debt will create bigger problems later, so figure out what you can realistically afford and go shopping for the best deal.
Plan for your bigger purchases by saving a certain amount each week until you have enough.
Scale down pick-me-ups by going for smaller, more inexpensive purchases or skip the shopping and grab coffee with friends.
Keep track of your day-to-day finances to establish a sense of control, and planning for purchases will become a more natural habit.

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The Best Times to Buy, From Clothes to Cars

SavvySugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:45:57 -0800

The best times to make purchases aren't reserved for the moments when you need a little retail therapy. Sales and special promotions might seem sporadic to most of us, but retailers are relatively systematic operations. Mark these months on your calendar for the best time to buy everything, from clothes to cars.

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How-To: Unwind After a Rough Workday

SavvySugar — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:30:30 -0700

Shaking off a rough day at work isn't always easy. Let go of the workday blues when you leave the office by taking time for yourself. There are plenty of ways to detach from the day's events and none of these ideas involve retail therapy - no need to make things worse by spending money you may not have. Check out these ways to unwind and then take a load off, working girl. Photo copyright 2009 ABC, Inc.

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Do You Go Shopping After Fighting With Your Guy?

SavvySugar — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:28:07 -0700

Bonnie Eaker Weil, author of Financial Infidelity: Seven Steps to Conquering the #1 Relationship Wrecker, dubbed the term "pop shots" to put a name on "pissed-off purchases" made following a fight with your significant other. She ran a survey and found that people usually make these purchases three to four times a year at about $486 a shot.

Her results don't surprise me much as emotional spending is nothing new - retail therapy after a bad day is something most of us have turned to at least once, and stepping into your favorite boutique after a fight with your guy is of the same basic tune. The average $486 seems on the high side, but when you're angry and hurt clouds tend to usurp judgment.

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Sadness Makes You Spend More

SavvySugar — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 04:05:16 -0800

When I'm feeling sad I usually don't feel the urge to go shopping, and according to a new study that's a good thing because when you're sad you're more likely to stray from your budget. The study shows that spending judgment becomes clouded when you're down. Participants who watched a sadness-inducing video clip would pay almost four times as much for a water bottle than the group that watched an emotionally neutral clip.

I'm really curious what the two videos consisted of and am not totally sure what an emotionally neutral video would be - maybe people walking down the street? Whatever the videos featured they helped the researchers come up with some interesting results. When sadness triggers greater self-focus (the sad video group used more references to "I," "me," "my" and "myself") people are more likely to spend freely. And while the results were obvious the participants in the sad group claimed that the video did not affect their willingness to spend more.

"This is a phenomenon that occurs without awareness," Jennifer Lerner, a Harvard professor who studies emotion and decision making, said in a phone interview. "This is really different from the idea of retail therapy, where people are feeling negative and want to cheer themselves up by shopping. People have no idea this is going on."

Next time you're out shopping in a sad state of mind, remember that you may spend a bit more on something than you normally would.

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