SHOPAHOLIC

I love buying! There are no words to express the immense joy I feel when I buy something I have been obsessing over for some time. Most of us know this feeling too well and there is absolutely nothing wrong in giving in to it, as long as your buying habits still allow you to live a comfortable life. To me comfortable means still being able to pay your bills and do any activity that involves spending money, going out with friends, traveling, etc.

Very few people go through the process of finding out if a product they really want is worth buying or not (ex: read or watch reviews online, ask the opinion of someone we know and trust, get samples when possible, etc), they just want the instant gratification that buying gives them.

That is why we find ourselves with things we don't use, after the buzz of buying the thing goes away we find out we either didn't need it, or it doesn't look as good on us as it did on the instagram influencer/model, bottom line is we end up with a product we are not going to use. It's true that even when you do a research beforehand you can still end up buying useless things, but I assure you that most of the time it's time well invested, it might actually stop you from buying something you thought you wanted and thus save money. I talk from personal experience! I used to be that person that overspent without thinking twice and then found myself struggling till the end of the month. It really isn't easy to stop yourself from buying when you are bombarded with ads everyday and everywhere, showing products that will revolutionize your life especially when said products are on sale and you need to buy them NOW! So I've adopted a couple of methods to avoid falling into the ads and seasonal sales trap and one of them is research. I cannot stress enough how important it is to research things before buying.

Buying smartly instead of emotionally will save you a lot of money! I will give you a few examples with the areas were I spend the most: make-up, clothes and hair.

Make-up - I am learning which products work best for my skin so I can get the best results when I do my make up. I am a dark skinned woman with a combination skin, it is important to mention this because it decreases the number of options for me preventing me from buying impulsively. I concentrate on eyeshadow palettes with high pigmentation because they will show on my dark skin. Please refer to this article for a more detailed explanation of the products used on combination skin:

https://www.elizebonheur.com/blog/products-that-make-your-foundation-last-longer

Clothes - I've read a book by Anushka Rees called "The Curated Closet", it explains how you can make the most f your clothes, how to find your style, and also how to buy quality pieces. She gives you a lot of ideas and important information to help you become a more informed buyer. It is a very useful book.

Hair - I spend a lot of money on hair care and styling products, and I don't mind buying expensive products because they give you the best results. I see it as an investment because they last me for a long time.

Another thing that helps me save money is buying expensive products, it sounds weird doesn't it? But the truth is that most expensive products last you longer than cheaper ones. We are always looking for cheap products that will give us amazing results, but even though you might find really good cheap products that have almost the same effect as the expensive ones, nothing beats the real thing. You literally get what you pay for. Of course there are products that don't need to be very expensive to have good quality, but from my experience higher end products give you the best results. I'd rather save some money and buy something expensive that will last, than something cheap that i will have to be constantly replacing. Once again I stress that it depends of the product! I don't see the need of buying very expensive clothing for example, but I confess that I spend a lot of money on hair and make up and most recently skin care products. I just love products that work and that do exactly what they are supposed to do. Which doesn't mean that all expensive products work, and that is why it is important to research before buying anything!

What is your opinion on this subject, let me know!