Is a deal only a deal if you are getting exactly what you want?

[diamondseeker2006]

I definitely have to resist doing this! I love great deals! But I am doing much better than I probably did in the past. Latest example was that Beverley K sale. I like BK a lot, and those prices were terrific, but none of the available items were actually on my wishlist. So while I was tempted briefly to buy just for the good deal, I resisted. My criteria is usually that I have to really LOVE the item in order to buy it, even if it is a good deal. (I rarely ever pay full retail for any jewelry, though.)

And then my own tagline comes into play. When I use MrsS''s and mine, and I usually do pretty well!

 

[MissGotRocks]

I don''t settle anymore. Period. If it''s not what I want, I don''t buy it. I won''t like it and that fact in itself makes it a waste of money. I''d rather have nothing than try to make myself believe ''that this will be OK.''

I have a couple of friends that I go to the outlets with occasionally. They run straight for the 50% off racks and try to make themselves like something because it''s on sale. In the end, they are usually disappointed but next trip out, they do the same thing. Funny how we can keep doing the same thing and hope for a different outcome. It just doesn''t work IMO.

However, IF I get a good deal on something I really want, then I am over the moon!!!

 

[musey]

I''ll buy something that''s a "deal" unless it''s close-but-no-cigar to something I really want. If it''s just something that would be good to have (another cocktail dress, another pair of jeans, another whatever), it doesn''t matter to me whether I really want it or not because getting the one (deal) doesn''t really substitute for getting the other (thing I really want). The deal doesn''t cancel out the dream

if that makes sense.

At any given time, there are only 2-3 things that I really want. Right now, I really want a pair of bezeled diamond studs of .4-.6ctw, for example. They have to be 100% perfect - platinum, very fine bezels (no chunky monkey here), very high quality stones. I will save until they are within reach for me.

If I came across a pair of .8ctw thickly bezeled just-okay-cut studs on consignment for $200, I wouldn''t get them - because I know I wouldn''t enjoy/wear them.


I guess, for me, the ''deal'' is a ''deal'' for me unless getting the ''deal'' means not getting the ''dream.'' I won''t substitute something that''s almost what I want for what I really want, but there are lots of things I''m not picky about - so for those things, it''s still a deal.

 

[icekid]

Hmm... well, I can''t really think of much of anything that generally leads me to pay full retail. Being in school for soooooo long, I guess I taught myself not to get "have to have it" syndrome. I dress nicely, but absolutely all of my clothes were on sale when I bought them! And I don''t feel deprived in my wardrobe either

I have tons of clothes that I LOVE. So, I think part of the problem may be developing an EXACT idea of what you want, and then nothing else will do regardless of price?

Come to think of it- I had my heart set on getting an asscher cut sapphire. Nothing appropriate was coming up. Eventually, a round sapphire in the perfect color and size showed up. I hesitated for quite a while, because I *really* wanted the asscher right? But I kept coming back to the stone, and after about a month decided to go for it! And I''ve loved it since I opened up the package. Now that it''s finally set in a ring where I can stare, it brings me joy everyday. So for me anyway, it doesn''t need to be THE EXACT THING to be right.

 

[Mara]

I am the queen of impulse shopping when it comes to deals. Say I want a rug. Or a basket. I might not know exactly what I want...but I will shop at 3-4 stores over the span of 2 weeks. I will probably see something I like at 2-3 of the stores, it will be on clearance or a really good deal, so I will buy it. Then I get it home and think, oh I don't really like it as much in the room or it doesn't work as well as I thought. Then I am too lazy to return it. What does this net me? Well when we just moved from our townhouse, we found that I had filled it with a ridiculous amount of CRAP that was somehow mostly ideas of things that I wanted to flesh out and when I finally found the PERFECT item, I'd discarded 4-5 ideas before it. Lots of extra baskets. Lots of extra rugs. Lots of extra vases. Waste of time, waste of money, waste of SPACE.

So now I have to adhere to a new guideline. Well I"m trying..it's tough to change years of habits. Only buy it if I know absolutely that I want it, regardless of cost. A deal is NOT a deal if you don't get what you want and will use it enough to offset the cost of it. If it's $50 but you can get the thing that you will love for $80 then pay the $80 -- because I would buy 2-3 of the $50's and then be like WTF 5 years later when we are moving and I'm going holy crap I am a dumbass as I have to give all my home decor and extra crap to friends who are jazzed to have such a fabulous impulse shopping pal.

 

[Allison D.]

When the topic of ''settling'' comes up, I look at a few things:

1. If I settle, will I end up being critical of the substitute to the point that it wasn''t worth it? If so, it''s not worthwhile to settle.

2. Is there some external factor out of my control that causes me to HAVE to settle? 13 years ago, I had a Black & Decker coffeemaker that I just loved. When it finally gave out, I couldn''t replace it with the same thing because they no longer made it. I had no choice but to settle for something else since living sans coffeemaker was never gonna be an option!

Sometimes the outside factor is time. I wanted to find something very specific for a gift, but I couldn''t find it in time for the birthday event, so I had no choice but to settle. I''d be less inclined to settle if I weren''t constrained by time and could wait until I KNEW the right thing came along.

3. How significant is the purchase, either in terms of money or importance? When IPODs were new, I wanted a black Nano, but I got a ridiculously good deal on a white one, so I bought that. The reason I wanted it was sound and portability, and color didn''t impact that. On the other hand, when hubby and I bought our house, we bought a fridge. It was more than we initially planned to spend, but we knew we were going to live with it for 10-15 years (we hope), and it was significant enough to us to spend more to get exactly what we wanted. No regrets.

4. How would I feel about having settled if, later on, the perfect thing DID become available? Would I regret that I had settled and feel completely dissatisfied with what I''d settled for? Or would I feel no remorse?

Generally, I''m not a settler on the important things. I''ve learned that for me, the ''deal'' isn''t usually a deal because it ends up being wasted money once I come to my senses and purchase what I wanted to begin with.

 

[Allison D.]

Date: 2/23/2009 8:02:08 PM
Author: Mara

So now I have to adhere to a new guideline. Well I'm trying..it's tough to change years of habits. Only buy it if I know absolutely that I want it, regardless of cost. A deal is NOT a deal if you don't get what you want and will use it enough to offset the cost of it. If it's $50 but you can get the thing that you will love for $80 then pay the $80 -- because I would buy 2-3 of the $50's and then be like WTF 5 years later when we are moving and I'm going holy crap I am a dumbass as I have to give all my home decor and extra crap to friends who are jazzed to have such a fabulous impulse shopping pal.

OMG, I am laughing so hard it hurts.....because I've been there, too.

I've really missed your presence here; it's been SO NICE to see you around these parts a bit more lately. It's a total dose of sunshine for me.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 2/23/2009 8:02:08 PM
Author: Mara

So now I have to adhere to a new guideline. Well I''m trying..it''s tough to change years of habits. Only buy it if I know absolutely that I want it, regardless of cost. A deal is NOT a deal if you don''t get what you want and will use it enough to offset the cost of it. If it''s $50 but you can get the thing that you will love for $80 then pay the $80 -- because I would buy 2-3 of the $50''s and then be like WTF 5 years later when we are moving and I''m going holy crap I am a dumbass as I have to give all my home decor and extra crap to friends who are jazzed to have such a fabulous impulse shopping pal.

Bwah hah hah! I so just did this. My friends all have new fabulous accesorries (wall shelves, vases and the like). Why on earth did I own 17 flower vases.... almost all about the same freaking size?!?!

 

[HollyS]

This is exactly why I stopped browsing and bidding on ebay. I was buying steals, because they were steals, and never wearing them. Once got a pair of onyx SS earrings for $.01. Yep, a penny. Shipping was 5.95, so they cost 5.96. Ask me how many times I''ve worn them . . . . I don''t think I have. Nothing wrong with them; they just arent'' ''me''. So they don''t get worn.

 

[Mara]

dani... seriously...i spent HOURS cleaning out our townhouse and giving stuff away to friends. everyone was like you should sell it... i was like who has time for that?

one of my pals said if i went over to her mom''s house it''d be like i was in my own home...also i gave her family like 6 bags of clothes, same thing....just ridiculous how you can think ''oh this is cute'' and then 6 months later go umm what was i thinking? i won''t even tell you how many VASES i have! but thankfully in our new place we have really limited space so i have to be picky. i still catch myself buying too many baskets though.

luvya too alj....

 

[geckodani]

Date: 2/24/2009 2:57:27 PM
Author: Mara


dani... seriously...i spent HOURS cleaning out our townhouse and giving stuff away to friends. everyone was like you should sell it... i was like who has time for that?

one of my pals said if i went over to her mom's house it'd be like i was in my own home...also i gave her family like 6 bags of clothes, same thing....just ridiculous how you can think 'oh this is cute' and then 6 months later go umm what was i thinking? i won't even tell you how many VASES i have! but thankfully in our new place we have really limited space so i have to be picky. i still catch myself buying too many baskets though.

luvya too alj....

Heh. I have a container/basket problem I inherited from my mother. I thought she was going to have a heart attack with all the stuff I was giving to Good Will.

"You're getting rid of THAT!?! But, it's cute!"

"Don't you want that?!"

"You got rid of all those vases?!"

"You're not keeping that bookself?!"

So on and so forth into oblivion, LOL. I love the woman, and she was an immense help, but sheesh she's a packrat sometimes, lol. I tried so, SO hard to weed out our stuff - I've been doing runs to good will and the salvation army since December... and still.. SO MUCH STUFF!

ETA: Hangers. WTH did I have over 100 EMPTY hangers. Meh.

 

[partgypsy]

Having 2 kids I don''t have time to shop and do impulse buys. Before that I didn''t have the money to

. I have very little storage space for clothes; a small armoire for all my clothes. So it''s easy to say no to clothes because I simply don''t have the room for them, I need to focus on basics that can mix and match and can''t afford space wise to get something I''m only going to wear once or twice. This can be helpful, I have a couple friends who shop more for clothes and bring me clothes they think will work for me and if I don''t absolutely love it I say sorry I don''t have room for it.

The only thing I''m guilty of doing that with is gemstones and jewelry, but I''ve become better at that as well. I''d think I can''t pass up that great deal but it''s not my style so I''ll give it to my mom, or my sister. Till both my mom and sister had an intervention and said stop with the jewelry

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