Buying on sale is not saving

[andrew6297]

Does this sound familiar?

You go in to the store to buy a new pair of jeans but hold up, it's buy one get another 50% off! You just "saved" $20,
That's enough to buy that sweet top you saw on the way here.
When you get to the counter, turns out that top was actually half price and you didn't notice! That's another $10 "saved", just enough for your favorite caramel latte.
You've "saved" so much today.

Actually instead of the original plan of spending $40 on jeans, you've spent $80, the exact opposite of saving.

It's easy to get caught up in the moment with all the shop signage shoving "sale" and "save" in your face at every opportunity but unless you are transferring those unexpected discounts to your savings account; it's not saving.

Now if you'll excuse me I need to go hide some receipts from my wife...

 

[marilines]

@andrew6297 Agree. OK if you intended to buy 2 of this actual item, and it is on sale, fair enough, BUt yes, buying something because it tells you you are saving. Rubbish. You save by keeping the money and not spending it in the first place.

 

[andrew6297]

@marilines Yep, even in this example if you wanted two pairs of jeans and it ended up $20 less than you expected, if you go and spend that $20 you haven't saved anything, just got more stuff.

When times are tight it's about getting into the right mindset and separating "saving" from "discount", especially if you talk a lot about saving at home.

 

[snlmommy]

@andrew6297 Could not agree more. You are only saving if you need and were going to purchase the item anyway.

 

[kalovisor90]

@andrew6297 You only save if you buy things on sale that you need, not what you want.

 

[godisworking101]

@andrew6297 Same for food! I bought 2 packages of something last week instead of 1 as they were on discount. Well I didn't get around to eating the second package and it went off and I had to throw it out. I feel pretty stupid haha.

 

[ayeesha]

@andrew6297 What? So spending the money you saved on other items isn't saving? colour me shocked!

 

[sunshine95]

@andrew6297

 

[truthbetold]

@andrew6297 Agree for wants, but exceptions apply for items you need. I'd happily pay 50% for a 10 pack of instant noodles & get 2 packs.