Weekly Ad | Shopping Habits

Oct 15, 2011 by April    2 Comments    Posted under: Shopping Habits

Do you have a physical reaction to the Sunday paper ripe with one weekly ad after another – just full of deals?

If I challenged you to quit your weekly ad habit cold turkey, could you?

• Would you have an anxiety attack?
• Would you stand up straight and accept the challenge valiantly?
• Would you stare at me, wondering why I would propose such a thing?

Or, would you be surprised to find out, many of my previous clients found the motivation for their shopping habits began with a warm beverage, the Sunday paper and their favorite weekly ad? Yup, That innocent delivery can be the start to the shopping habits process.

Before I was an organizing expert I was a weekend ad junkie

notice all the RED they use?

We’d get the nice thick paper. I’d politely separate the weekly ad section from the “news” section & deliver accordingly. Husband read about the world, I read about the fantastic deals.

I’d drool over the colorful slick pages, dream about how life would be better with [fill in the blank], then start my errand list based on the items I wanted to go buy from each weekly ad I flipped through.

Boy, was that exhausting.

How I kicked the weekly ad habit

My personal change came with a move. We uprooted our 2 young kids and moved to Small Town USA. Complete with it’s great schools, tight knit community and slender weekly ad section.

At first I was disappointed. I mean, what was I suppose to do with my Saturday / Sunday mornings? More over, how was I supposed to know what my errands were going to be for the week? The weekly ad section had become such a road map.

After some time, I realized, I was spending less money.

I was going into a store because I actually needed something, not because the weekly ad had beckoned me there. I was less driven to acquire and more driven to focus on other things like reading a good book or having a family date night {{instead of shopping}}.

So, short of moving to a small town with limited shopping resources, how can you stop relying on your favorite weekly ad for momentum?

Adjusting the weekly ad habit:

• If you make your list from the weekly ads, try making your list before you look at the weekly ad section
• Fill your “weekly ad time” with something else you’ve really been wanting to do; watching a movie, getting caught up on the DVR, having a big brunch with your family
• Consider cold turkey tactics :: if you didn’t look at the weekly ads this week, what would happen?

Figuring out if the weekly ad is the source of your momentum when it comes to your shopping habits can be such a powerful tool in improving the way you view your purchasing decisions.

I would love to hear your thoughts, join me on The Mental Clutter Coach Facebook Page and share:

What is your relationship with the weekly ad section like?

Got anything to say? Go ahead and leave a comment!