Click here to read all of the 33 Days And 33 Ways To Save Money And Reduce Debt posts.
Day 31:Â Stay Away From The Mall
I am sitting in a hotel room near the Mall of Georgia. Located near Atlanta, the Mall of Georgia is the “largest mall in Georgia and one of the largest malls in America”. We have a family event planned for tomorrow morning, so our entire family is staying here tonight. We have just returned from the mall – and I was inspired to write this post.
If you want to save money, stay away from the mall. Just. Stay. Away.
Four years ago, before we started getting out of debt, we stayed in this same hotel and we went shopping at the Mall of Georgia. I have no idea how much stuff we purchased – but I do remember that we had a difficult time squeezing it all into the trunk of our car.
Tonight, we went to the mall for ‘just a few minutes’ – ‘just to walk around’ – and I was shocked by the size of the place, the massive size of its parking lot, and the huge volume of people. Once inside, we were bombarded by the sound of music, the smell of fast food, and the hum of conversation.
There were people everywhere, spending money, on everything from golf clubs to blue jeans, big cookies to washing machines. And, for a moment, a single, solitary, moment, I wanted to be “one of them”.
I wanted to throw my budget out the window and buy, buy, buy!
But, of course, I didn’t. I just walked around with my family, looked at a new set of golf clubs, did a little people-watching, and went back to the car. Sure, it would have been fun to buy some ‘stuff’ - But, the truth is, I don’t really need anymore ‘stuff’.
It’s easy to be content when we are at home, happy with our family. But, when we surround ourselves with people who are spending money, it’s very, very easy to get ‘sucked in’. Instead of being happy with that ‘comfortable pair of shoes’ – we convince ourselves that our shoes ‘look bad and need replacing’. That hand-me-down bike? Looks great when Billy is riding it around in the backyard – not so great when compared to the brand new Z43X-W Super-Speed at the sporting goods store.
May I suggest that you do yourself a favor and avoid the pressure and temptation of the mall? If you MUST go – go with a list, make your purchases, and get out as fast as is possible! 🙂
I look forward to reading your comments –
Click here to read all of the 33 Days And 33 Ways To Save Money And Reduce Debt posts.Observant readers will note that this series has taken much longer than 33 days. I can assure you, I am blogging as often as life permits.
I like it – especially the last bit. It’s easy to be content at home. Precisely, so we should find contentment, maybe not in material goods, not just at home, but just everywhere we go. In our own skin, so to speak. Maybe getting a touch spiritual here, but once we get that comfort, then we won’t spend so much 😉
Cheers,
Albert | UrbanMonk.Net
Modern personal development, entwined with ancient spirituality.
I’vce said it before and I’ll say it again:
You can’t win the(m)(a)ll.
It’s such an overload. At least when I go to a normal store, I tend to have an agenda. Malls beckon and entice. I don’t know when the last time I visited one was–generally not more than once a month, maybe less than 5 times a year. I’m glad to hear that others aren’t immune either. I guess. It’d be nice to reach immunity someday. 😉
Exactly!! I also avoid commercials (yay for DVR!) and looking at the ads in the paper… If I don’t know about it, then I don’t want it.
I just think about all those people spending money they don’t have and then getting the huge credit card bills in January. That’s enough to make me stay away. I know from experience because I used to be one of those people too.
I agree. Staying away is the best way to go. I’ve noticed lately how I’ll have the desire to go to a store, like Target or Best Buy, but then I realize I don’t NEED anything at those places. So I don’t go. It used to be that I would wander in, browse around, and end up buying stuff I don’t need. Staying away is the best plan!
It’s funny how much more time you have to spend with your family or yourself when the need to spend the entire weekend shopping just vanishes.
Everyone be careful out there – don’t let the season suck you out of your hard earned new habits. 🙂
Stick with your savings and investment goals and after a while you’ll start feeling positively bad whenever you think of buying shiny trinkets you don’t really need. At that point you can enjoy the mall for what it is (a museum of consumer culture) without any temptation to buy anything.